Brazile fears loss of blacks to GOP

Washington Times ^ | 2/19/03 | Donald Lambro

[kattracks]

Al Gore's presidential campaign manager yesterday said Democrats cannot take black voters for granted in 2004 and must stop attacking civil rights activist Al Sharpton because Republicans are making "inroads" into one of the party's most loyal voting blocs.

Donna Brazile, a top minority voter outreach adviser to the Democratic National Committee, said Democrats must step up their efforts to court black voters, more of whom are registering as independents and Republicans.

[Sonny M]

Thank God, she in an idiot, but she's an idiot who's got a tough job made harder to do. Here's the basic facts. African Americans do not vote for republican canidates, however, republicans, when they campaign for african american votes, draw, middle of the road centerists, and moderates, when dems try to campaign for the black vote, which they usually take for granted (according to Gore campagin manager Daly, they need to take for granted), they turn off and alienate the center. I.e. moderates want to see repubs appealing to all, and the rats only appealing to them. Another knock on many african american voters in regards to the democrats, is as much as they hate republicans, if they hate the democrat to, or don't see a clear difference, they just don't vote at all. In a sense, if a republican campaigns for the black vote, he won't get it, but if he does well, he (or she) denies there opponent that very same vote. In a twisted way, its like campaining for somone not to vote. Thats why its important for republicans to go for the black vote, and to make rats work for it, make them turn away the center, and spend resources.

[lorrainer]

Donna sounds scared, as if the chattel she thought they owned is suddenly waking up, and wants to leave the plantation for a better life elsewhere. Hey, Donna, these are PEOPLE!

The democrats should be the ones paying these people their "reparations."

[driftless]

Seen any polls showing Black trends to Republicans? I haven't. I'm afraid it is still a pipe dream for us to think that Black Dems will leave the party that has done everything it could to inhibit and discourage Black progress. We're better off going after Hispanic voters where we can possibly pick up a few percentage points because of the Estrada thing. After the smoke has cleared in 2004, I see Blacks voting for Dems over 90% again. Sorry to throw cold water on nice illusions.

[Claire Voyant]

Donna Brazile is the person responsible for bringing in Carol Mosely Braun to run for President to thwart some support for Sharpton!!! What a fork-tongued person she is.

[Claire Voyant]

Amen! Most blacks have been on the Democrat Plantation for so long they know no other way....very sad.

Jews aren't going to vote for Bush either because the anti-Christian feeling is so ingrained.

[uglybiker]

He's[Al Sharpton] an unknown quantity; that scares people.

Oh, he's known alright. And there's certainly quantity! What scares people is the quality!

[LoneGOPinCT]

Seems to me that Brazile is trying to plant a seed of complacency in the GOP by leading them to believe that there is a shift by blacks away from the RATs.

Re: the shift, I'll believe it when I see it.

[keats5]

I atttend an Evangelical church in white suburbia, in Ohio. Several black people (about 50) left their innercity black church en mass to become members of our church. Their numbers grow daily, and they are predominently conservative. These people are hard workers, committed to stable families, and are often the first to request prayers for President Bush.

[cerberus]

We're better off going after Hispanic voters where we can possibly pick up a few percentage points because of the Estrada thing. After the smoke has cleared in 2004, I see Blacks voting for Dems over 90% again.

It seems there may be a few (very few) on this forum who would rather not see blacks in our camp. A 6 percent increase in Republican support is very significant. We do not need to pander to blacks or anyone else, but we do need to show that we want their votes, that our philosophy is good for them also and they should vote Republican.

Thanks to people like Rush, we are doing a better job of educating people about conservatism.

Part of the problem in the past has been not to even ask for the black vote...no campaign efforts in black communities etc.

George Bush is on the right track on this and it is paying off...but it does take time.

[TontoKowalski]

Seen any polls showing Black trends to Republicans?

Actually, the poll cited in the article is a good place to start. In 2 years, self-identified black Republicans went from 4% to 10% of the black population.

The overall numbers may be small, but a 150% increase in two years is not insignificant.

Two parts of the article that Ms. Brazille didn't seem to be able to connect:

1. Blacks are hearing the Republican message.

2. Blacks are trending away from the dimocratic party.

For too long we have written the black vote off as unwinnable. It's about time that the RNC woke up to the fact that many of our fellow-citizens (who happen to be black) share our values, and with a little effort on our part can embrace our party.

[TontoKowalski]

Republicans are aware of the importance of garnering the black vote and are playing for it, she said, noting efforts in key elections last year in Maryland, Florida and elsewhere.

Summer, pinging you to this thread to question you regarding Republican efforts in Florida... Here in Maryland, our new Lt Governor, Mr. Steele, is an black Republican, and, from all I've heard, quite the rising star. I wish I had some numbers on how he and Governor Erlich did in the black community, but they made genuine efforts in campaigning, and I suspect that was a key factor in slaying the Kennedy-Townsend machine.

[randita]

Most any interview with Brazile can be summed up in only a few words:

"We can't let the white boys win."

She is in the process of recruiting minority candidates like Moseley-Braun to challenge Sharpton in several key primary states.

She also knows that if Sharpton is attacked too hard on his checkered past, he will attack back. He was asked recently about Tawana Brawley and he shot back, "why don't you ask Kennedy about Chappaquidick".

Democrats are walking on a razor's edge in dealing with Sharpton. IMO, their best strategy is to treat him as any other viable candidate and let the chips fall where they may.

The fact that they think they have to get rid of him or handle in some way reveals that they think their voters are so stupid that they won't recognize a blowhard like Sharpton when they see one.

[Fzob]

She is regarded as one of the Democrats' leading strategists.

You're doing a GREAT job. Keep up the good work. :)

[kidd]

The democrats would rather have the teacher's union support than the black vote - thus they are against vouchers.

The democrats want image, not substance. Thus Martin Luther King's name is sacred, but the concept of judging a person by the content of their character and not the color of their skin has been completely rejected by the democrats.

The democrats only want black votes, not black leaders. Thus their opposition to Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell and instead the support of white "blacks" (like Bill Clinton - the first "black" President).

Of course they are losing black voters.

[Tabi Katz]

Horror of horrors! - People are actually voting as individuals instead of a group driven by skin color. We can't have that, huh Miss Brazile?

[GOPJ]

Brazile might be horrid, but she spoke a wonderful truth here:

"The GOP is making inroads in the black vote. It's trending away. Groups of [minority] voters are hearing the Republican message," Miss Brazile said in an interview with The Washington Times.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Thanks for posting this, katt.

The Democrat Party should be worried: the entire Democrat message to blacks, for more than a generation, has been this:

YOU CANNOT MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN. WE WILL HELP YOU.

Finally, perhaps, a new generation of black voters are beginning to see the test of history on these assumptions.

[votelife]

I saw Sharpton said something to the effect that people better stop asking him about his past or he would bring up Chapaquidick!

[mhking]

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