I totally agree. I have several Black friends (upper middle class) that I can talk about anything with except politics. As far as I can tell, they think they would be doing a disservice to their "brothers" in the inner cities if they voted GOP.
Never mind that they have more in common with me than they do with their inner city "brothers", and never mind that I've spent more time in the inner city than they have.
It's a perceived clan. They won't break the bonds. And it's a huge waste of time to worry about it. There are other Demographic groups that might make more of a difference - like Catholics. Why do they vote Dem?
Yes, the CEO of my company is a black woman who loves to take cheap shots at how stupid Dubya is for one, I'm certain it is nothing more than the reasons you gave, compounded by her "liberal black guilt" if I can coin a new phrase, for driving a BMW. The best the GOP could ever hope for is a lack of motivation of the black vote and it stayed home. As a poster brilliant pointed out early, this kind of advertising suggested by many well meaning but woefully ignorant of political history posters on this thread could backfire big time. ... But they'd also stoke interest in the race, which thus far doesn't seem to be firing up the black community. So, do we want Kerry to get 92% of 12 million black votes, or 90% of 14 million black votes? Do the math. Worth repeating.
They won't break the bonds. And it's a huge waste of time to worry about it. There are other Demographic groups that might make more of a difference - like Catholics. Why do they vote Dem?
Well that is just Post-Of-The-Day greatness right there. I happen to be a Catholic and I attended a couple hundred person lecture by a (liberal) Priest last night. The entire Priesthood is elitist, fashionably leftwing Democrats. He took a pot-shot at Foxnews that really pissed me off, (I had intended to have a talk with him about how blatent liberalism within the Priesthood has left me and other conservatives feeling not welcome --in order to use the best weapon against his kind; a guilt trip, but there was a line to talk to him so I left)
In any event, this same liberal, when asked directly about Ron Reagan's (idiotic) speech at the DNC about Stem Cell research, he totally disregarded its merits politically in helping the Dems because embroynic stem cell research not only is not scientifically practical, it is the termination of a human life and he made no equivications about being against the policy.
My long explaination is to say; spot on, the Catholics have been selling their souls to the DNC for decades, but the party of JFK is a rotting corpse and everyone outside the clergy knows it. There is a tremendous untapped Dem base right there that has no loyalty to "the hood" that would prevent them from "selling out" and if anything voting for a proabortion, progay marriage, social liberal is the kind of demographic that advertising $s could make enormous inroads this particular election. You're right, Catholic advertising or southern Dems should have threads devoted to "suggesting the GOP spend money", not this historical disaster.