Posted on 08/04/2005 9:36:29 PM PDT by smoothsailing
GOP wants urban voters
By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 5, 2005
Republican leaders on Thursday used Pittsburgh -- a city controlled by Democratic elected officials for seven decades -- as an example of where the GOP hopes to expand its membership with minorities and inner-city voters who traditionally align more with Democrats.
"We believe there are many people that populate these urban cities that are Republican-leaning," said Republican National Committee Co-Chairwoman Jo Ann Davidson. "We're not giving up on the urban centers." Davidson, a former Speaker of the House in the Ohio Legislature, said Pittsburgh also was chosen as the site for the RNC's annual summer meeting, which started yesterday, to underscore the importance of Pennsylvania in national politics and show support for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's re-election bid next year.
Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, is facing a serious challenge in 2006 from state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., who is a heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
"I think it will be what most people are considering the premium Senate race in the country," Davidson said. Santorum, a two-term senator from Penn Hills, gets the spotlight today when he and Davidson speak during a luncheon at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, where the three-day conference is taking place. RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman is scheduled to speak at a general session this morning.
The theme of the conference is "Give Us A Chance, We'll Give You A Choice: Strengthening Lincoln's Legacy."
Mehlman, who became chairman in January after managing President George Bush's re-election campaign last year, has made several speeches articulating the GOP's "outreach" objective to broaden the party's base. "Everybody is excited about it," said Eileen Melvin, of Somerset, the Pennsylvania Republican chairwoman. "Ken Mehlman is providing fabulous leadership...
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
I disagree with the part of stressing Lincoln, but all in all, I believe this is the right approach to be taking.
In many cities across the country, we have seen a rebirth, for whatever reason, people are starting to come back to the cities, most cities in this country saw a major renewal in the 1990s. Giuliani was the best thing New York had in a long time, but by no means was he unique, many mayors across the country were doing in their towns what they did in New York. It would be a mistake for us as a party to just push this part of the country aside.
Plus, I live in the city, and other than my state legislators, every district I am in has a Republican of some kind in office.
I believe in Ken Mehlman. Hispanics see the GOP as the party of opportunity and President Bush as a true gentleman. That resonates well.
Where did he say that?
ping
say what? What are you talking about?
This would be fine if the party were showing more concern for its base. And more attention to it.
The party needs to take care of it's base.They will never win over the urban vote.They better wake up from dream land.
"The party needs to take care of it's base"
Before it's all over the GOP will in fact be wanting the "conservative" vote. The party has turned into the party of rinos including the current administration. There really doesn't appear to be a place in the republican party for true conservatives.
I just thought I missed something in the article.
"True conservatism" has been replaced with neoconservatism. Sorry you feel you don't have a place in the party anymore.
Why is it folks like you come out of the woodwork whenever republican leadership talks about bringing the message to black people? Or the 'urban vote'. Urban vote, base,etc. all code words anyway.
One myth is that cities are gaining population. A few such as Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland picked up miniscule numbers of people in the 1990s but started losing people again since 2000.
However, this tiny growth was nothing compared to people fleeing to the wide open land in the suburbs, exurbs, and rural communities. During the late ‘90s, a relative boom time for cities, five people moved out of central cities for every three who came in.
Minneapolis is a good example of a city leaking people. In the ‘90s, the Midwestern city’s population grew about four percent. Since 2000 it has shrunk by 2.5 percent, losing some 10,000 people; in contrast the surrounding suburban region grew by over 100,000.
Fannie Mae characterized the mythical “rush” to big city life as merely a trickle.
People moving to America’s largest cities is projected to gain 125,000 souls by 2010. In contrast, one suburban region in San Bernardino-Riverside, California, is expected to gain well over 1.2 million people.
Even newly minted American immigrants are fleeing over-taxed cities for the far reaches. Ditto for recent retirees. Demographic studies show that 75% of retired folks are staying planted in the suburbs where they lived prior to retirement. The other 25% are heading for the exurbs or rural communities.
“Everybody in this business wants to talk about the odd person who moves downtown, but it's basically a ‘man bites dog story,’” said Sandi Rosenbloom, a professor of urban planning and gerontology at the University of Arizona. “Most people retire in place. When they move, they don't move downtown, they move to the fringes.”
As much as the big city utopians like to speak of “sustainability,” it’s the cities themselves that are unsustainable. People fleeing by the millions is the proof. High taxes, bloated bureaucracies, cronyism, crumbling streets, leaking infrastructure and hostility toward business are not sustainable.
People are voting with their feet. They are deserting the old cannery row and Boss Tweed.
Almost 30 million people, one in 10 Americans, now live in exurbia, that open land between big cities but not quite into rural America. These are low population communities ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 people that are outside the sphere and influence of metropolitan areas.
America’s population is decentralizing faster than at any time in history, say demographers. They’re saying “Bye-bye” to the cities with their high crime, high taxes and high-handed bureaucracy. It’s off to the hills and dales we go.
""True conservatism" has been replaced with neoconservatism."
Neoconservatism is just a modern way of saying socalist.
It's time for conservatives to leave your big tent to burn and be left in the ash heap of history.
Neoconservatism is equivalant to a whorehouse that will take anything that will put an "R" behind their name in the quest for a one world socialist government.
That's a good question. Also, I would like a definition of the Republican "base." The way I see it around here, that base appears to be an exclusive club that hates any idea about growing.
If I'm not mistaken the base are white southern conservatives. I'm not making any obtuse comment about southerners or white people now. That's what I always thought people meant by the base of the republican party.
BTW, I don't know what some people are so afraid of. Sometimes I think the folks who whine about the GOP 'pandering' only want one or two black people and that's it.
If they try to gain urban voters, they will end up losing more voters than they would gain. Urban voters will never be GOP, they have entirely different preferences than from what the GOP stands for, forget them.
Yeah. After all, all those black Republicans that are starting to show up aren't really Republicans, right? They're just black liberals sullying up "your" GOP, right? [rolling eyes]
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