The defeatist attitude here is disappointing. Union leaders, except the Teamsters were against Reagan but he got a majority of the union vote. Bush owes his second term to black Christians in Ohio after Rove sent campaign people into black churches in Ohio pointing out that Bush was against abortion and gay marriage. Bush’s increased black vote in Ohio was greater than his total net vote increase over his previous election.
It’s smart to reach out to groups who should be on your side on specific issues.
If Bush did better with blacks and hispanics than the average Republican, it’s more on account of Bush’s policies being to the Left of most Republicans on most issues. The GOP strategy for winning over minorities inevitably involves moving to the left and pandering, be it support for amnesty under another name when pandering to Hispanics or affirmative action under another name when pandering to blacks. That’s not a worthwhile direction to follow