just simple kindness ~ greeting
At first glance the new poll from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies that shows that more than 40 percent of Black voters like Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush seems preposterous. The supreme article of faith in American politics is that Blacks are the ultimate Democratic party loyalists.Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally syndicated columnist and director of the National Alliance for Positve Action. email:[email protected]In recent presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has grabbed 80 to 85 percent of the Black vote. Since less than fifty percent of whites vote for Democrats, this cinch Black vote is the cushion the Democrat presidential contender must have to win the White House.
Despite this idee fixe in American politics there are good reasons why Black leaders and Democrats should not ignore or ridicule the Center' poll. The Center is no fly by night outfit. It is the one of the nation's oldest and most respected Black think tanks. Many elected officials and political analysts rely on its polls and surveys to gauge the mood of African-Americans. Another reason to take the poll seriously is that Blacks are more prosperous than ever and more conservative than many think. Two recent polls by the Center confirm this.
It found that for the first time ever more Blacks than whites claimed they were better off financially in 1998 than the year before. It also found that the a majority of Blacks favor stiffer sentences for drug use, violent crime, and three strikes offenses, and generally support school vouchers.
Finally, Black leaders must know that many Blacks reflexively vote Democratic not because of any inherent believe that the Democrats offer everything for them, but because they feel that the Republicans offer nothing for them. And Republicans have no one but themselves to blame for this. They have blown every chance they've had to attract more Blacks to their ranks.
The Colin Powell debacle in the 1996 presidential election was a near textbook example of how Republicans have mastered the knack of turning Black voters from potential political friends into enemies. The general was universally liked by Blacks and non-Black voters, liberals, moderates and even many conservatives. But he never got out of the Republican box.
The major conservative groups ganged up on him and threatened to wage war against him if he actively sought the Republican nomination. The general didn't have the right stuff for many in the Republican party. In a twinge of guilt, perhaps, the insiders insisted that Powell deliver the keynote address at the convention, and it was impressive. However, the GOP mistreatment of Powell hurt themselves most of all. Had the party had embraced Powell -- and had he actively stumped for the Republican presidential nominee, it would have forced large numbers of Blacks to listen and ponder the party's political message.
This would have posed deep political peril for the Democrats. Blacks make up a big part of the population in the states that control the majority of the nation's electoral votes. But Republicans mistreat Black voters for another reason. They, like most Americans, buy the myth that Blacks are doctrinaire Democrats.
For nearly a half century following Reconstruction the Democratic Party was the party of segregation and Jim Crow. Blacks by necessity were staunch Republicans. The first dozen Black elected congressional officeholders were Republicans. During the Depression Blacks leaped at FDR's promise of jobs, and relief and voted overwhelmingly Democratic. But they did not totally abandon the Republicans.
In 1956, Republican president Dwight Eisenhower sent the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction to Congress. The same year, Ike grabbed forty percent of the Black vote to win reelection. In 1960, Richard Nixon also received a sizable percentage of the Black vote against John Kennedy. The Democrats got the Black vote back in 1964 partly because LBJ made good on his civil rights pledge. But also because Blacks feared that Republican candidate Barry Goldwater's platform of "states rights" sent a strong signal that Blacks were not wanted in the party.
Blacks got the same negative signal from Nixon. Powell criticized his former bosses Ronald Reagan and George Bush for not showing more sensitivity on racial matters. Despite the three decade-long cold shoulder from Republicans, many prominent Blacks such as Powell and Alan Keyes still vigorously support the party. And in the few places where Republicans have made any kind of real attempt to outreach to Black voters they have significantly boosted their vote total among them.
Bush has a golden opportunity to snatch the political and ideological blinders from the eyes of Republican leaders and change the perception that his party is nothing more than a cozy, good ole�Ewhite guys club. If he does that he will find that many Blacks will join the club. If he blows the chance no matter how many Blacks say they like him, they will again dutifully pull the Democratic lever in 2000.
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Update on Bush: April 2001 - according to a recent poll in the Wall Street Journal, Bush's actual approval rating among Blacks has risen from 13 percent in January to 33 percent April 2001.
Update on Bush: 2002 - Jet Magazine declare that President Bush is at the height of his popularity with Blacks. Blacks who cast their ballots against Bush in the November 2000 election are now giving him a big vote of confidence since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to the results of public opinion polls. A recent Gallup survey found that more than two-thirds of Blacks approved the way Bush is handling his job as president, and one conducted in early October found that Bush's approval ratings among Blacks exceeded 80 percent. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll also found that nearly three out of four Blacks approved of Bush's performance. |
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The New Martyrs