Bush Shouldn't Write Off the Black Vote (NYT Editorial)

The New York Times ^ | 6-16-04 | Juan Williams

[JulieRNR21]

WASHINGTON - With the presidential election only a few months away, it is time for President Bush to unleash his secret weapon - his relationship with black and Hispanic voters.

The president is already winning a third of the popular vote among Hispanics, according to a Zogby International poll taken this spring. With advertisements and outreach focused on reforms to allow easier immigration for workers, the president has a good chance to add to his numbers among Hispanics.

But in a close race, the key to re-election rests on the president's ability to increase his percentage of the black vote. Here, he has the chance to make tremendous gains - if only because he now has practically no support among black voters. A May Washington Post/ABC News poll showed the likely Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry, with a 79 percent to 6 percent lead over Mr. Bush among black voters. If the president gets only 6 percent of the black vote this year he will have achieved the near impossible task of getting a lower percentage of black votes than he did in 2000, when he won 8 percent.

But the president has the opportunity to flip the script. With a direct appeal, President Bush could win at least 20 percent of the black vote - and the White House.

How can he attract those votes?

Continued here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/opinion/16WILL.html?ex=1088386784&ei=1&en=4b70924f6edba46f

[bayourod]

"A 2002 poll by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a research group based in Washington, found a shift in the political identification of black voters"

Did the pollsters try handing out walkin-round money while taking the poll? If not, the poll isn't reflective of voting conditions.

[saveliberty]

He was on Fox last night, talking about his new book. What I came away with is that he supports a lot of what Bill Cosby had said, but he still endorses interventionist policies.

I disagree with him on many issues, but I like that he is not as unreasonable as Ceci Connelly or Mara Liasson. Plus he seems to be a likable guy.

[gogeo]

The fall campaign should be interesting. I suspect W and Rove have something up their sleeve.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

It might happen. We should try anyway. We need their vote.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Re#10 Laura Ingraham had NR author Delroy Murdock of Project21 on this a.m. Same message. Says if W and the GOP go to the black communities, they will find a responsive audience...

Oh I so hope they do.

[JulieRNR21]

The outreach to Blacks is alreading happening in Florida.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Article published June 7, 2004
Woman tries to persuade fellow blacks to switch, vote Republican

Don Quixote tilting at windmills is one thing. But trying to convince Americans that the Republican Party is the historic and present day party for blacks and that the Democratic Party is full of racists who opposed civil rights legislation, well that is Frances Rice territory.

The difference is that Rice, one of the co-founders of the SaraMana Black Republican Club, is far from alone, has a few facts in her armory and, in her analysis, there already is a shift in attitudes.

We certainly have seen an increase in conservative, Republican blacks in prominent positions, particularly in the Bush administration, where the secretary of state and the national security adviser are both black.

There are conservative black writers and radio show hosts, such as Armstrong Williams, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele and many others, along with a conservative black U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Locally, Sarasota had its first black female mayor who was a Republican, although she lost re-election. The black-owned Tempo News in Sarasota and several other black-owned newspapers endorsed Republican Jeb Bush for governor. And Jim Smith, former chairman of the Sarasota County Republican Party, is black.

SaraMana Black Republican Club was formed in April 2003 with 16 charter members. Seven months later it held its first dinner meeting with 200 people.

That's a lot burbling under the surface. But has the shift among high-profile, successful blacks translated to the broader black community? Not yet. Polls still show overwhelming black support for the Democratic Party, although one poll showed 37 percent of blacks now have a favorable view of the Republican Party. "Favorable" has thus far not translated into votes.

Rice is aiming to change that. She is a lifelong Republican, as were her parents before her. She grew up in Atlanta under Jim Crowe laws and racism that, she is quick to point out, were instituted by Democratic politicians.

"My family was threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, and they were all Democrats," she said. "Only with the Republican Party was I able to register to vote."

She joined the Army as a private and retired in 1994 as a lieutenant colonel and military lawyer, earning her degrees through the military and remaining a dedicated Republican.

But most of the rest of black America shifted in the 1960s toward the Democratic Party -- for reasons that included being taken for granted by Republicans -- and by the 1990s they were the most loyal voting block for Democrats.

Rice became motivated to get active in politics when she watched the debate over welfare reform in the 1990s and the Democrats attempts to block it at each turn. She believes that the welfare state that was meant to help poor blacks had so obviously failed by that point that defending it amounted to keeping blacks poor, ignorant and dependent.

And to her, that meant the Democratic Party was the same as it had always been.

Rice has now begun distributing information on the history of the Democratic Party and an open letter to the party that lays out three pages of pull-no-punches history of racism in the Democratic Party and ends with a demand for a written apology.

The letter includes well-known historical facts, such as the Republican Party being the party that freed the slaves and fought the Jim Crow laws in the South, and lesser known factoids about Democratic presidents Roosevelt and Truman rejecting anti-lynching laws.

She also includes little publicized numbers showing that 80 percent of House Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but only 61 percent of Democrats.

Rice has researched her topic and lived it. But only time will tell if she and others can persuade a substantial number of blacks to embrace Republicans.

Rod Thomson can be reached by e-mail at rod@plow.org, or by writing to the Herald-Tribune.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20040607&Category=COLUMNIST55&ArtNo=406070506&SectionCat=COLUMNIST99&Template=printart

[JulieRNR21]

Frances Rice who is mentioned in the article in post #26 wrote the
'Open Letter to Democrats' discussed on this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1147682/posts

[Conspiracy Guy]

We have a better chance of converting them one at a time as friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I've worked on this since Nixon stepped down. Carter and Clinton really helped sell my case. I don't see Bush overcoming the lie between now and Nov. It took time to sell the lie, it will take time to tear it down.

Reach out sure but reach out to Americans.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Cool! Thanks for the info Julie.

[.cnI redruM]

I think so. If nothing else, putting opposition up against Maxine Waters and Ron Dellums would make both of these Congressional radicals act more civilized. It would have a positive effect on the national dialogue.

Probably, Jaun Williams is one of the smarter liberals out there. He has his biases and axes to grind, but he genuinely tries to put out information and not just pure pro-Kerry BS.

[AppyPappy]

Never pander to people who won't vote for you anyway. Concentrate on getting out the base, regardless of race

[scouse]

But in a close race, the key to re-election rests on the president's ability to increase his percentage of the black vote.

In the last presidential election I believe about 85+% of the black vote went to the dems. How they can become "KEY" in the next election evades me.

[El Conservador]

It's easy to make character judgements when you just glance the title of the article and the author's name, ain't it???

I suppose you didn't read the whole thing...

[JulieRNR21]

If Bush & Kerry are virtually tied as the polls indicate.....every vote becomes 'key'.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Not a bad column, considering the source. President Bush can make inroads into the black vote, in my opinion, but not by moving to the left, and embracing affirmative action, as Williams seems to be implying that he should do.

Signs of hope for increasing the black GOP vote:

• The black middle class is expanding. Suburbs are no longer lily-white. And pollsters, let's not go to the ghetto, measure black sentiment, and assume all black voters are the same. Those who have escaped the ghetto (by virtue of economic ability, and adoption of the mindset that self-segregation is absurd) are more likely to be open to the possibility of voting Republican.

• The reaction of younger blacks to Bill Cosby's remarks, noted by Williams, is encouraging. I've seen it myself.

• Each year, we have more black columnists and journalists, more blacks in high Administration posts, and more black GOP candidates (who almost always seem to be conservative Republicans as opposed to RINOs).

• Many blacks, even those who cling to the old affirmative action crutch, are social conservatives -- on issues such as faith-based initiatives, school vouchers, and gay marriage, to name a few. Economic conservatism is slower in coming, but I doubt that successful (that is,tax-paying) blacks like high taxes and mushrooming "entitlement" programs more than anyone else.

• In the War in Iraq and elsewhere in the military, black soldiers, officers, and Pentagon strategists have distinguished themselves. I think there may be an opening to generate among some blacks some skepticism about Kerry's qualifications to be Commander in Chief, in light of his past actions and voting record.

President Bush and the party need to aim their message not at blacks, per se, but at middle-class ordinary Americans who happen to be black.

A black surge to the GOP won't happen overnight. But breaking into the low double digits soon is a worthwhile goal, and could be the first step away from the plantation run by Rev. Jackson, Rev. Sharpton, and their ilk.

[El Conservador]

Don't go around saying that!!!

You know real conservatives are not supposed to reach out to minorities, because that's pandering.(/sarcasm)

[El Conservador]

Never pander to people who won't vote for you anyway.

...and you, my friend, are one of the people that allow liberals perpetuate the myth GOP=bunch of rich white men.

[JulieRNR21]

President Bush and the party need to aim their message not at blacks, per se, but at middle-class ordinary Americans who happen to be black. A black surge to the GOP won't happen overnight. But breaking into the low double digits soon is a worthwhile goal, and could be the first step away from the plantation run by Rev. Jackson, Rev. Sharpton, and their ilk.

Exactly......I believe it is definitely worth the effort.

[AppyPappy]

And Bush got what percentage of the black vote last election?

[Dr Snide]

Ways Bush could increase his share of the Black Vote

1. Anti-abortion stance: Poll after poll show African American voters to be MORE Pro-life than any other ethnic group

2. Gay Marriage: Again, poll after poll show African Americans to be more anti-gay marriage than white voters. And as long as the democrats compare gay rights to the civil rights movement they will lose Black voters

3. 15 Billion for Aids in Africa

4. Positions of power in administration (Powell, Rice, etc)

5. Go to black churches. Please go to Black Churches. Bush can relate to other christians in a way that is impossible for Kerrey. Use this to your advantage.

6. Faith based initiatives

7. History. Lincoln- Republican, Civil Rights Act-passed over the objections of Democrats in congress. KKK members-Democrats (see Robert Byrd).

In the end the Republicans will win on cultural issues and Bush has to lose his fear of these issues. Its how he can eat into not only the African American but also the Moderate democrat and Hispanic vote. Why do you think the left goes nuts whenever these issues are raised, they know its their biggeset weakness.