Posted on 07/11/2012 8:19:58 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Romney to NAACP: Obama made it worse for you 'in almost every way' By Jonathan Easley - 07/11/12 10:01 AM ET
Mitt Romney will tell the NAACP on Wednesday that President Obama has made it worse for African-Americans “in almost every way.”
“If equal opportunity in America were an accomplished fact, then a chronically bad economy would be equally bad for everyone,” Romney will say, according to prepared remarks provided by his campaign. “Instead, it’s worse for African-Americans in almost every way. The unemployment rate, the duration of unemployment, average income and median family wealth are all worse for the black community.”
While Obama leads Romney 92 percent to 2 among black voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, Romney hopes his economic pitch will resonate with a group that has been disproportionately affected by the economic downturn. He's made a similar appeal to other voting blocs, such as Hispanics and women.
Romney will acknowledge the historic nature of Obama’s 2008 campaign, in which he became the country’s first black president, but will also make the case for his own candidacy.
"I believe that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible to fully communicate what I believe is in the real, enduring best interest of African-American families, you would vote for me for president," the presumptive GOP nominee will say. "I want you to know that if I did not believe that my policies and my leadership would help families of color — and families of any color — more than the policies and leadership of President Obama, I would not be running for president."
He also will make the argument that Obama’s economic policies are creating similar barriers to those that civil rights activists fought hard to remove.
“If someone had told us in the 1950s or '60s that a black citizen would serve as the 44th president, we would have been proud and many would have been surprised,” Romney will say. “Picturing that day, we might have assumed that the American presidency would be the very last door of opportunity to be opened. Before that came to pass, every other barrier on the path to equal opportunity would surely have to come down.
“Of course, it hasn’t happened quite that way. Many barriers remain. Old inequities persist. In some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before. And across America — and even within your own ranks — there are serious, honest debates about the way forward.”
The former Massachusetts governor will cite unemployment among African-Americans, which at 14.4 percent is well above the national average of 8.2.
“I am running for president because I know that my policies and vision will help hundreds of millions of middle-class Americans of all races, will lift people from poverty, and will help prevent people from becoming poor,” Romney will say. “My campaign is about helping the people who need help. The course the president has set has not done that — and will not do that. My course will.”
Romney will also focus on education, which earlier in the primary season he referred to as “the civil rights issue of our era.” Romney says he will “give the parents of every low-income and special-needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school,” and will link federal education funds to the student, which he says will open the opportunity for children of poor families to attend charter and private schools.
“If equal opportunity in America were an accomplished fact, black families could send their sons and daughters to public schools that truly offer the hope of a better life,” Romney will say. “Instead, for generations, the African-American community has been waiting and waiting for that promise to be kept. Today, black children are 17 percent of students nationwide — but they are 42 percent of the students in our worst-performing schools.”
Obama will not address the NAACP convention this year, but Vice President Biden is scheduled to speak on Thursday.
I’m white. My father is white. We are both conservatives. He belongs to our local NAACP and I have attended many of their banquets and breakfast meetings. Our local NAACP has a lot of white members. The black members have always been welcoming and open minded. Though the national leadership is in the tank for Obama and Obama will probably win the overwhelming majority of the black vote, that doesn’t mean that black parents don’t care about their children. Kudos to Romney for going there and speaking today. And I think his message is the one that stands the best chance of cracking the lock that democrats have on black voters. Republicans have the best solutions to failing schools that sentence children of all races to failure.
When school choice was opened up in DC, black parents lined up in droves to get a spot for their kids. They want their kids to have a chance, and a good education is the best way to get there.
If Romney can convince voters that the education unions that dominate the democrat party actually don’t want what’s best for the kids, he wins. And teachers unions in Chicago and Pennsylvania threatening to strike, as well as the behavior of the union fools in Wisconsin are great examples.
He gave a very good presentation today in what was always going to be a hostile environment.
He did not pander and throw on a fake voice like obama would, and like biden will tommorow.
He went in and told the truth today.
A caller, from Detroit, said he had voted for Obama but he that he was greatly disappointed that Obama has done so much to destroy jobs and the economy and has made things even worse for blacks.
Glen asked the obvious question, "Are you an African-American?"
The answer was priceless.
"No. I am an American. American first and foremost. I have nothing in common with Africa. I am a black American."
What a breath of fresh air to hear him go on about the debacle that is Obama.
He had to make his one token appearance, like most candidates. Just had to.
Hey, it’s all (soap) opera anyhow. So why not an organ.
I’m a member of the local black bar association and they are always very friendly and welcoming at their meetings to me, who is white.
I actually prefer it to the other bar association meetings since the other ones are a lot more tense and fake.
Romney did good today and the message to take away is that he did not pander to them, which in the long term will get him more respect than had he gave a phoney promise to him like Biden will tommorow.
Not politically correct on Romney’s part, but accurate.
I’m sure that the NAACP and the complicit DBM are developing their “racist” charges against Romney as I type.
Truth hurts!
The organist was saying “Amen” in agreement.
I watched it too and was impressed in spite of myself with the straight talk. He received a lot of applause as well, (which also shocked me a little.)
Great. An unsourced "the Republican hates black people" post.
More and more like DU everyday around here.
Rush mentioned that all presidents/candidates speak there, well with the exception of the Outsourcer in Chief. It was gutsy.
The ABR’s are getting more hysterical as it appears mittens might actually win this thing and actually oust the Obamunist from office.
I guess that is possible. Romney got pretty histrionic toward the end of the speech. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine that kind of emphatic approval by very many in the room.
McLame did not speak to them.
As for the organist punctuating what he likes with a fast chord...that is SOP in many Black churches.
1.) The best he might hope for is that NAACP members don't fear him -- and so maybe will be less inclined to get out and vote for Obama in November. So if he gave a good speech, and nobody threw anything at him, he did well.
2.) I think it's a reasonable strategy if Romney is keeping much/most of his powder dry. It's early July, who is focusing on an election in November? Besides hard-core political junkies, and Republican ads directed at us would be preaching to the choir.
Same with gays and lesbos-they are only 3% of the population, but you were think they were a majority the way they are pandered to by the left.
Really? In spite of his service to his country, McCain comes off as a PC-i-fied wuss.
Rush has this all wrong. Romney did well today.
looks like a mature, sober, and rational person to govern the country vs a race pimp like obama who wont even show up.
McCain refused to show up in 2008 remember?
Please, spare me about McCain’s record - i volunteered for him because of Sarah, but he ran the WORST campaign in memory.
I respect McCain for his record, who couldnt?
However, he was a complete mess as a candidate.
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