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FinalCall.com News
National News
Black Republicans seek voters, but face distrust
By Joe Davidson
Focus Magazine
Updated Sep 14, 2004 - 10:51:00 PM
NEW YORK (NNPA) - Black Republicans know they have their work cut out for them.
They represent less than 10 percent of Black voters and nothing that President George Bush or Dick Cheney said at the Republican National Convention (RNC) is likely to change that.
Nonetheless, "African Americans for Bush" are determined to get as many Black votes for the Republican ticket as they can. The group met at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for pep talks from J.C. Watts, chairman of the group; Jenette Bradley, Ohio’s lieutenant governor; and Lynn Swann, a former NFL great.
Mr. Watts asked, "Why are there so many Black people in this country who think like J.C. Watts, but they don’t vote like me?"
In fact, polling by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has found that, since the 2000 election, there has been "some increasing support for Republicans among younger African Americans," although as shown in the 2002 midterms, this generally has not translated into more votes for the GOP.
That’s the Republicans’ challenge —turning some Black support on issues into votes for the GOP at the polls. To do that, those attending the meeting were encouraged to develop "personal precincts" among friends, neighbors and relatives. The personal precinct activities range from something as simple as talking to next-door neighbors to establishing an online network with people across the country.
"Add names to your online address book and we’ll provide messages you can send to them," reads literature distributed at the meeting.
The GOP also says it can supply the names and addresses of independent and undecided voters, a brochure that can be downloaded and distributed, and "a script with some questions to ask."
When Black Republicans are asked why they support Pres. Bush, Ms. Bradley suggested they talk about the need for a safe and secure nation, and the administration’s support of small businesses, faith-based programs and Black homeownership.
"For the first time ever," she said, "more than half of the minority households own homes in their communities."
Republicans will need more than that to get a substantial increase in Black support. A fundamental problem for the party is that Blacks simply don’t trust it, according to David Bositis, a Joint Center senior policy analyst.
In the Joint Center’s newly released "Blacks and the 2004 Republican National Convention," Mr. Bositis argues that young Blacks who identify somewhat with Republican policies don’t fully join the party because GOP blunders drive them away.
He explains, "What is happening is that some younger African Americans begin to identify with the GOP—what pollsters refer to as ‘weak identifiers’—and then the GOP leadership adopts some policy position (e.g., opposition to affirmative action) or subsequently commits some gaffe (such as the South Carolina confederate flag or Trent Lott episodes), and the weak identifiers cease identifying with the Republican Party."
Some younger Black voters are comfortable with GOP positions on such issues as education and Social Security, he adds, but "the overly conservative and Southern White nature of the national Republican Party keeps young Blacks—when they vote—firmly in the Democratic column."
(Joe Davidson is the editor of FOCUS magazine at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.)
