Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

A Bigger, Blacker GOP
FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | February 8, 2006 | Dick Morris

Posted on 02/08/2006 7:55:37 AM PST by West Coast Conservative

Far away from the speeches of Jesse Jackson, the demands of Al Sharpton and the ranting of Louis Farrakhan, a quiet revolution is taking place in the role African-Americans play in politics. In the very heartland of the nation — in Pennsylvania and Ohio — the Republican Party is getting set to nominate black candidates for governor in the coming elections. In a nation that has not a single African-American governor — not one — from either party, this is its own little revolution.

These are not throwaway candidates in states where the GOP has no chance of victory. These are real candidates, chosen when there were plenty of white alternatives, that are en route to their party's nomination, with real chances to win.

In Pennsylvania, former football great Lynn Swann stands poised to be designated as the Republican candidate at next week's State Convention. The former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, now enshrined in the Hall of Fame, is seeking fame of another sort, trying to be the state's first black governor.

In Ohio, a key swing state, Ken Blackwell, the Republican secretary of state, is running for the gubernatorial nomination in a state Republicans can win. In Maryland, Lieut. Gov. Michael Steele is seeking the open Senate seat.

Add these men to the possibility that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might heed Laura Bush's advice and run for president, and a revolution may be in the making.

Salena Zito, a political columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, notes that "to an extent, Democrats have been blindsided by this growth of black Republicans running for high-profile offices."

The backdrop for this sea change is sketched out in a new book by an ex-Bush White House staffer, Ron Christie, Black in the White House: Life Inside George W. Bush's West Wing. He catalogues a range of policy initiatives which, particularly in education, have led to achievements that rival the best of the Clinton years.

Partly as a result of President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation, the achievement gap between white and black fourth-grade students in reading is at its lowest ever and the math gap is, too. (The eighth-grade tests also reflect a sharp narrowing of the gap.)

And as former Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma found out, African-Americans who reject the entitlement ethic and stand for self-reliance and individual upward mobility are very attractive to white voters. Asked to accept liberal ideology and big tax-and-spend programs as the price of supporting black candidates, many voters say no. But given a chance to find black candidates who share the electorate's vision, most white voters jump at the chance.

Black candidates are highly threatening to white political leaders. Sources close to Rev. Al Sharpton, for example, attribute Hillary Clinton's comparison of the House of Representatives to a "plantation" to her fear of a Rice candidacy. "She boycotted the event for two years in a row and now, when Condi might run, she shows up and uses militant rhetoric," one of Sharpton's key people told me. "She needs to get Al to vouch for her in South Carolina if she goes up against Condi," he added.

The Democratic Party has always treated the African-American vote like a golfer's handicap. A Democrat takes the black vote for granted and a Republican, until recently, takes its loss as a given. But the growth of black candidates among Republicans — a result of the declining power of racism in politics — may force both parties to change that calculation. If the black vote becomes "in play" as the Hispanic vote has, there will be a whole new politics in this country of ours.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Ohio; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: africanamerican; blackwell; conservatism; republican; rice; steele; swann
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last
To: kevkrom

Careful with that "our side" bit.

Have a neighbor from Colombia who was down in Venezuela last year.

Who do you think was standing shoulder to shoulder on a podium with Fidel Chavez?

Yup. Mister Troll Hair himself.

Don King is out for nobody but himself.


41 posted on 02/08/2006 9:31:10 AM PST by Philistone (Turning lead into gold...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: West Coast Conservative
Isn't it interesting that while the liberals scream that Republicans are racists, the Republican party is quietly placing qualified minority individuals into positions of power.

It boils down to this: All that screaming the liberals do is a coverup for their own racial biases.

42 posted on 02/08/2006 9:31:20 AM PST by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Antoninus

That point is going to start on the night of November 7, 2006 as Governor-Elect Blackwell, Governor-Elect Swann, and Senator-Elect Steele give their victory speeches...


43 posted on 02/08/2006 9:31:53 AM PST by RockinRight (Attention RNC...we're the party of Reagan, not FDR...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: PennsylvaniaMom

"Not for the black of their skin, but for their values."
Lynn Swann is a person of great character. I do appreciate his style and grace, but what is his platform?


44 posted on 02/08/2006 9:41:10 AM PST by griswold3 (Ken Blackwell, Ohio Governor in 2006- No!! You cannot have my governor in 2008.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: griswold3

No official platform (that I have seen in print) but, a conservative. Pro-family, pro-Second Amendment, pro-life from various articles I have read.


45 posted on 02/08/2006 9:46:02 AM PST by PennsylvaniaMom (Steeler Nation Rocks!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Nightbird
You are wrong on your first point: Dick didn't say that there was no black governors "ever". Read again, he said there are none now.
46 posted on 02/08/2006 9:49:16 AM PST by fish hawk (creatio ex nihilo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: West Coast Conservative

I can only read every other one of Little Dick Morris's pieces since he alternates between telling the truth and lying to get attention. This one is one of his reasonable pieces. The next one will say that he expects the rat to retake the House in November. It's just his stupid way. He even reported on a poll showing Bloomberg + 14 over his challenger and said the numbers told him that Bloomy was going to lose. See you the week after next Little Dick.


47 posted on 02/08/2006 9:49:33 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (We will never murtha to the terrorists. Bring home the troops means bring home the war.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NonValueAdded

:)


48 posted on 02/08/2006 9:52:47 AM PST by serendepitylives
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Warrior Nurse
...Charles Barkley whe he said I make too much money to vote and be a Democrat

Which one did he give up, the voting, or the Democratic Party?

49 posted on 02/08/2006 10:26:57 AM PST by nina0113 (We got permits, yes we DO! We got permits, how 'bout YOU?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Philistone

Thanks for the info.


50 posted on 02/08/2006 10:29:39 AM PST by kevkrom ("...no one has ever successfully waged a war against stupidity" - Orson Scott Card)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: kjenerette

...reading.


51 posted on 02/08/2006 10:44:59 AM PST by Van Jenerette (Our Republic...If We Can Keep It!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: popdonnelly

52 posted on 02/08/2006 10:52:07 AM PST by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Jibaholic
Whenever a white Democrat righteously mentions their own presence at Selma it always makes me wonder which side they were on.

Barack Obama forces me to modify that position somewhat: articulate, liberal and and of black american heritage. Pick and two.

Although Democrats along with their Old Media allies keep trying to tout Senator Obama as a newer blacker JFK it seems to me that a black governor realistically enjoys the best odds of actually becoming President.
53 posted on 02/08/2006 11:06:28 AM PST by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: PennsylvaniaMom
No official platform (that I have seen in print) but, a conservative. Pro-family, pro-Second Amendment, pro-life from various articles I have read.

The following is copied from Lynn Swann's website:

Lynn Swann believes that the Commonwealth has an obligation to protect its citizens, and that includes the most innocent among us, the unborn.

As Governor, Lynn Swann would support extending protections to the unborn. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe. Vs. Wade, Lynn Swann would sign a bill the legislature sends him extending additional protections to the unborn.

He is also for tax cutting and pro second amendment. Being pro second amendment in PA does not set him apart from any PA candidate, as there are over 1,000,000 hunting licenses issued each year and most vote. Even fat, fast eddy would never mess with gun control in PA.

54 posted on 02/08/2006 11:40:38 AM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorist savages - In Honor of Standing Wolf)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: West Coast Conservative

55 posted on 02/08/2006 11:48:33 AM PST by DM1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Do not dub me shapka broham

Are there term limits in PA? Can he come to WI when he's done??
;o)

56 posted on 02/09/2006 4:12:44 AM PST by Watery Tart (Who is the quote from?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Watery Tart
lol.

Lynn Swann kicks ass!

This is one of the few times in my life when I wish I actually lived in Philly.

I'll have to remind my mother's cousins to vote for him later this year.

:0)

57 posted on 02/09/2006 8:38:38 AM PST by Do not dub me shapka broham ("The moment that someone wants to forbid caricatures, that is the moment we publish them.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

What do expect from the likes of my high school classmates, which includes the Wabbler, Richard Ben- VaNitte, and a few years later ..Mr Susan- Robbins Surandon.




58 posted on 02/09/2006 10:21:41 AM PST by cusp
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: JamesP81
I've read about Ken Blackwell some, and he's pure solid gold. He's a true heir to the ideas of the Reagan revolution.

Yes. He is. Of course, he has a primary fight on his hands.

59 posted on 02/10/2006 8:15:43 AM PST by NeoCaveman (When they asked me if I wanted it Super Sized, I didn't think they were asking about the federal gov)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Wurlitzer

I have that same thought-I don't want the Republican Party to have to weaken it's platform in order to attract new voters of any kind-I hope those new voters come because they see the wisdom of the things that Republican Party stands for-smaller government,self-reliance,lower taxes,strong defense,defense of traditional family values,etc. It does the party no good to water down the message to get new voters-it's hard to go back once you've done that.


60 posted on 02/10/2006 8:27:21 AM PST by mrsmel (Men possess talent. Genius possesses men.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson