Not that you'd noticed, but the GOP is hardly even bothering to make an effort for black voters this campaign season. We all know that President Bush's street money warnings about Gay Marriage sent ripples through the Black church in 04', and helped him carve out enough of the Negro Voting Bloc to edge John "Swiss Cheese On My Philly, Please" Kerry. But with the Barry 4 Prez Movement in firm control of the Black vote this time, they aren't even bothering to make a token (pun intended) effort at convincing us to switch sides this year.
Recently, a secret group of the GOP's Best and Darkest met with DaddyMac to ruminate on their sad prospects of getting the Laquita and Jamaal vote come November.
African-American Republicans told McCain Tuesday not to abandon efforts to court black voters, despite the uphill battle in facing a prominent African-American Democratic challenger, meeting participants told NBC/National Journal.Uhhhh, is Michael Steele (pictured above just in case you were wondering) friggin' kidding me? "Show his heart" by pimping his adopoted teenage kid out? Riiight.
A small group of black Republican current and former elected officials met with McCain at his Virginia headquarters, carrying a message that McCain and the Republican Party should reach out to black voters through “conversation and engagement” on issues like economic policy and healthcare.
Included in the group were Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell -- who ran lost to Ted Strickland in 2006 for Ohio governor -- and former Rep. J.C. Watts, according to the campaign. Lynn Swann, the pro football Hall of Famer who ran for Pennsylvania governor in 2006, participated by conference call.
Steele said the group pressed McCain to speak before the NAACP and Urban League later this month. He said the presumptive Republican nominee promised to open dialogue with African-American leaders throughout the summer.
President Bush garnered 11 percent of the African American vote in 2004, according to exit polls, a two percent increase from 2000. The Republican Party has courted black voters in recent years, specifically by seeking minority candidates for state and federal office.
But Steele said he did not believe McCain could garner 10 percent against Obama. He acknowledged that many black voters will flock to Obama, including some who have not voted in the past.
But that does not mean the party should concede the group, Steele said, adding McCain has a unique story to tell black voters and can “show his heart,” specifically citing the family’s adoption of daughter Bridget, who was born in Bangladesh with a cleft palate.
And to think, I almost considered voting for this cat's Senatorial campaign a few years ago. I absolutely despised the Maryland Democratic candidate (Ben Cardin) so much that I actually entertained the idea of pulling the lever for Steele till I did a bit more digging and figured out he wasn't worth the trouble either. I ended up writing in AverageBro.com. Cardin won going away, but this Steele guy keeps showing me I made the right decision everytime he gets on Fox News and opens his mouth.
Being an apathetic voter never felt so good.
Let's not even get started on Ken Blackwell. Yeah, that Ken Blackwell.
With cats like these advising the party, no wonder Black Republicans stay losin'.
The funniest thing of all if that from a fiscal standpoint (and occasionally a social one as well), I actually consider myself more conservative than liberal on many stances. But the GOP's issues with Black America are far too complex for occasional fear mongering and under-the-table money to megachurch preachers to solve.
You could make an equal number of arguments that the Democratic Party, while seemingly more compassionate to black voters, fails to actually deliver on most of it's tough talk. That too would be true on many levels, which is why I've long since decided to switch my party affiliation to Independent after November's General Election. I had some issues with my voter registration (I moved, had to vote provisional ballot) last Winter, so I'm not making any moves until the stakes atre lower. Once my guy's firmly in office, it's a wrap.
I mean, seriously, look at the sorts of goofball videos they're using to recruit Blacks to the GOP.
Okay, enough of the jokes, here's an actual commercial the "Black GOP" is running, on the web only of course, since nobody's giving them money to fund this nonsense.
No, seriously, that was a supposedly real ad.
I can't see any of these cornball, pandering tactics convincing a sizable portion of the Black electorate to switch sides this November. Sorry Daedulus.
Question: What, if anything, can the GOP do on a national level to make itself more appealing to Black voters?
MCCAIN'S MEETING WITH BLACK GOPERS [MSNBC]
[*] Cyber Capri Suns to the first person who can tell me where this post's title originates.
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Black Republicans - Nas ft. Jay-Z
one of the more insightful hooks since the advent of the hook era.
I feel like a Black Republican, money I got comin' in
Can't turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can't clean my act up for good, too much thug in him
Probably end up back in the hood, like "F___ it then"
I have been approached by GOPers in TX who get confused by my genial nature and moderate underpinnings and make the critical error of thinking I am some kind of Black Conservative waiting to be freed by some well meaning Republican.
That is how I finally understood most Black Republicans (not Black Conservatives) are made.
I have to admit that I am more conservative than liberal also. With that said, McCain for Republicans is like Clinton for the Democrats. I can hardly stomach either.
In order to sway my vote, McCain would have to choose on hell of a running mate...someone that comes across as more intelligent, youthful, charismatic, and cognizant of issues that affect us economically and socially.
@Missy
McCain would have to pick Bobby Jindal then. He's in the Obama mold as far as charsima.
EG
@EG
ewwwwww, Bobby Jindal. Something about him doesn't sit right about me. I remember when he ran for Senate, U.S. Rep, whatever it was back in the day when I was living in Louisiana---just something about him.
Anywho, about the post question:
For whatever reason, there is consistently 10%, about + or - 2% that ALWAYS votes Republican among blacks, particularly in the national presidential general elections. That same 10% give or take 2% in either direction more or less was the margin that HRC won in the primaries; remember Obama was getting 90% of the black vote in most states.
Maybe we're more monolithic than we want to admit.
But, I digress. Perhaps the Republican party should take the Obama Approach, yes, once tried by Bill Cosby, since this idea of talking about "personal responsibility" seems to be working out so well. Preaching/speaking/teaching about "personal responsibility" is definitely falls in the column of conservatism, but many middle class blacks have adopted this as their M.O. and it has historically been part of the Afristocracy--always admonishing their "less advanced" brothers and sisters to "do better."
If the Republican Party can pull a Barack Obama and SOMEHOW come off as not condescending, they may see their numbers come up in certain elections.
Seeing as how I'm for the most part against public speech about "personal responsibility" I would have thought that some people wouldn't be so gullible, but apparently they are. Furthermore, the Republicans would have to do a helluva lot to explain many of their policies that seriously malign the poor, and also the poor black.
However, I did NOT watch the Republican ad, I stopped at second 0:08 after I heard "the Democratic Party is racist because the Clintons..." I just didn't need such blatant foolishness this early in the morning.
JLL
AB,
Look man, Democans and Republicrats. There is no difference! If you look at either party, chances are you share some of the views on either side and both have had their hand in slavery. At that end of the day you're an individual who lives in America. That's it...you're not a Democrat or Republican.
It's all one big game to galvanize votes for one side or the other. If you really want to change the system, either become independent, run for office yourself or vote for members of both parties based on actual merit and not because they represent your favorite fraternity.
The sooner AMERICANS stop falling for political traps like this, the sooner things will get better.
The short answer is nothing. Its a big waste of time.
It amazes me how as a people blacks want to reach back 175 years to slavery (Guess what? ALL the slaves and slave owners are DEAD!) but wont remember that 50 years ago Democrat sherrifs, mayors and governors in the south were the ones who were really opressing blacks during that era. It cracks me up.
Many vote for Robert Byrd. (snicker!)
With that kind of mentality why even bother courting them? Blacks wont give a Republican a chance, even though especially from a religious standpoint they are definitely not the enemy.
The current black wizdom (or lack thereof) dictates that unless its about handouts, set-asides and some kind of "program" they arent trying to hear it. Any kind of vision that makes opportunities accessable on a level playing field or, even school choice is flatly rejected without a single ounce of consideration.
Unfortunately alot of the other things the GOP stands for like capitalism and lower taxes are things that require work in order to access. With that in mind only the talented tenth would even consider being a Republican and half of them (5%) already are.
Its a big waste of time. Until the problems in black culture are worked out, and we all know that will never happen, considering anything else besides narrow minded socialism to support the women and the men who live off of them, will be contrary to the interests of black people.
@ The Ink
For a guy who isn't a huge Jay-Z fan, even I'll admit the guy's got a boatload of quotables. I probably drop 1-2 a week here alone.
Hmmmm, maybe I am some covert Jay-Z fan after all.
@ Missy/Dark Angel
I agree with you guys perhaps more than you think. Stay tuned for a pretty stunning announcement coming Friday.
@ EG
I agree, I actually like Jindal too. He is definitely a poor man's conservative Obama.
On that note, since I didn't really follow his campaign, and had never heard of him until he became Governor, does anyone know if he had to endure any inter-party snipes about his ethnicity? He is American born and bred as I understand it (and sounds like Jeff Foxworthy), but I refuse to believe his GOP primary opponent didn't resort to the same sorta race-baiting and xenophobia the Clintons and the GOP have played against Barry.
Anyone know about this?!?!
@ Uppity
The GOP's biggest issue is that most of their black weedcarriers (Steele, Swan, Blackwell, etc.) come off sounding very insincere and are total and complete cornballs. My wife says she can "pick the black Republican" anytime there's one on a talk show by simply hitting the mute button and looking at the guy's haircut and general demeanor.
And you wonder why I love that woman so much!!!
@ daedalus
One thing that kinda pisses me (and probably a lot of other blacks) off is the BLACK GOP's insistence that the Dems are the party of victimization and handouts. Uhhh, lemme see, what administration gives billions in no-bid war contracts to their buddies? Which party bails out clowns like Bear Stearns? Which party is in bed with every oil company?
But of course, that's not "welfare"?
Negro please!
I'm with you on "working hard" and not expecting anyone else to do your job for you, but c'mon. Welfare is only .01% of the annual US Budget. War (and it's associated benefactors) is over 40%. You do the math.
Besides, if your party is so upstanding and all about "pushing people to do for self" and "take responsibility for their own actions", how do you explain it's relative silence on pushing whites (who comprise a majority of the welfare rolls) to work harder, to get off the pipe (I guess crystal meth is an "urban" problem) and do better in school (there's a significant achievement gap between white boys and girls, but nobody discusses that)?
Of course you have no explanation for this, because your party is only interested in projecting these very societal ills (and the government's "responsibility" to fix them) solely on blacks.
That shit is racist (and true) and you know it!!!
And that patriarchal sense of "we know what's best for you, you don't know shit" is PRECISELY why the GOP STAYS LOSIN the Black vote!!!
I think I just answered my own post question. But I'll give you credit for assisting, because that's how the GOP rolls.
They know what's better for you than you do.
Michael Williams will be the next U.S. Senator from Texas. He will change the face of the Republican Party.
Best and Darkest...LMAO.
Averagebro is really on fire these past few days- 2-3 new posts a day, I have to check in every couple of hours to keep up with the comments. Keep it coming!
@AB
These issues arent as cut and dry as you think they are. I'll be as breif as possible.
No-bid war contracts to their buddies.
So, for some of the tasks that needed to be done in Iraq, we were supposed to go
to foreign firms out of fairness? I wont go into it here, but a little research
would reveal that Halliburton in many cases was the only *American* firm that
could do some of the immediate infrastructure projects Bremer wanted started.
Which party bails out clowns like Bear Stearns?
Paulson acted correctly to allow Chase Manhattan to buy Bear Starnes. Would you
have rather had the market havoc world wide that having thirteen trillion
dollars worth of assets screwing up would have brought? A lot of "common" people
would have been hurt had there not been this intervention. Some of those people
are black. (Keepin it real) Do a little research on this. You'll find that
Paulson was looking out for you. Check your companies finances. You may find he
was looking out for you personally. (I'm serious)
Which party is in bed with every oil company?
If we go spelunking for ignorance, we can find someone who is willing to say
that the GOP actually owns every oil company. Lets say for grins this is true
(and its not). Energy is a national
interest. So if this argument is true, then who's lookin out for
you? Who went to war for you so we can steal (not) the oil out of the ground? Who's putting gas in to Lil Monsta's new Escalade
he bought for 70 grand on his 18th birthday? I am being incredibly sarcastic here but
you get my point.
Your party is only interested in projecting these very societal ills (and the government's "responsibility" to fix them) solely on blacks.
"Government's responsibility to fix" Isn't that the Democrat Socialist
mantra that socialism is the only solution? I don't see the GOP standing for
anything like that. After 40 years of intervention by social engineers and
socialists (Democrats) , its pretty clear that the government cant
fix anything and prevailing black culture doesn't want it fixed. That wouldn't
be keeping it real now would it?
And if it was fixed, where would Lauren find a husband? Please.. As for the
projection on blacks, I would make the argument that the blacks project this
foolishness on themselves with pride in poverty, pride in illiteracy and pride
in bad behavior.
The issues (especially Bear Stearnes and Oil) are not nearly as cut and dry as you may
think.
daedalus,
Since you are so gung ho about personal responsibility (to blacks only, forget whites and their dysfunction), I'd think you'd love Obama, who seems to be preaching this weekly.
In my opinion, the answer is not much, unless they transformed into a totally different party. At the moment, they're not interested in doing that. What's been most interesting, I think, is the rise of the black independent.
Read Dr. Lenora Fulani's recent op ed where she opens up an important discussion about the role of the black community in the 2008 presidential primary, particularly about the growth of the black/independent alliance.
You can find it at http://www.independ entvoting. org/activistcent er/blackAmerica. html. Also be sure to take the 2008 presidential poll for independents (if you consider yourself an independent, of course) while you're there.
Gwen
Speaking of self-sufficiency, it's always bothered me how politicians (both parties) forget about our so-called meritocracy when pandering to the white lower-class. The "of course you're entitled to your $20+ an hour factory job as a high school drop out, just like your father and his father before him" mentality. No one tells them to get an education so they'll have employment options outside of Wal-mart when the factory closes up and moves out of the country.
There is a wide playing field open for a national Republican party that actually conforms to conservative (and I mean traditional conservative, Bill Buckley conservative, not Christian moralizing rightwinger conservative) values and isn't hypocritical. I'm not seeing much of that from the national party these days but there is hope. Tim Coburn, Bobby Jindal, and some others get it...
I think the GOP could make inroads in the black community but it's going to take time and effort across a wide spectrum of issues. Some of it is impossible to combat, like the "affordable housing" mantra over the last decade... who wants to be against homes for poor people? That's racist!
Of course, you end up with the sub-prime disaster as a result.
Anyhow, I'm not quite sure how to do it, but I'm extremely interested in everyone's ideas because I think unlocking the black community for the GOP would remake the party in a way that'd be much more effective across the political and social spectrum, not to mention better for the country.
What can the GOP do to make itself more attractive to black voters? Nothing! Not one single, solitary thing. Because the second they start doing outreach in black communities, people dismiss it as pandering or token gestures. And hell, they *may* be. But the point is, unless black voters are willing to listen to the GOP with an open mind and not knee-jerk reactions, the GOP has no chance. Hence, the reason they rarely even bother. This "why bother" attitude gets read as "________ doesn't care about black people."
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Personally, I would LOVE to see black people move away from the Democratic Party. (I am not a Republican, by the way. You can't register as an Independent here, so I just don't affiliate.) Dems don't really bother with black people either, except to address poverty. And I mean, isn't that a bold ass slap in the face? We're not ALL poor, are we?
This is my extremely longwinded way of saying black voters have made it so that nobody REALLY has to care about the unique concerns we may have.
That ad is a disaster, by the way. It's too long, WAAAY too fast, and the narrator sounds like he recorded it with a Logitech headset on the desktop in his den. I think I can hear some kids fighting over the xBox in the background at about the 42s mark... or maybe that's just the trumpet in the weak background muzak.
I won't even get into the content... Good lord, that was pathetic.
Yeah....about that Bobby Jindal thing....he does not fit the bill with me. I'll suppose you didn't hear about action (or inaction) on the state of Louisiana losing over 80 million dollars worth of FEMA aid that sat in freaking warehouses for years....
I wish he would come out with a Bobby Jindhal....whatever!!
I like Skyzoo's "Black Republican" more than the Nas/Jay joint.
Peep it...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zyn7v5pxLbc
Then Peep Jay/Nas'
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nMbXAU43Tn4&feature=related
@spool32 @AB
You two are some true fools. (Still laughing)
Seriously though, I don't think that there is much that the GOP can do because we are already Republican like. Republicans like to tout themselves as the party of conservatives.
Black folfs are VERY conservative. We do not like change. That's why for the most part we vote Democrat only. It's in our nature. I mean we held on to 'Soul Train' until the dang thing derailed. You still with me!
Have you ever been to a black wedding where they didn't do the electric slide. It's still going strong. Look how long the Jeri curl stayed around.
In all seriousness, in the black community it is actually a 'liberal' idea to think Republican.
(I'm preaching better than y'all are saying amen)
Black Republican. Isn't that an oxymoron?
Oxymoron: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements
-Merriam-Webster
@daedalus,that was then, this is now. It kills me how "y'all" drag this "fact" out errytime. Ya boy Nixon largely hepled the party change into what it is today. Not to mention Old Dutch Regan, who if Sammy Davis, Jr. were still alive, would have had 2 black people at his funeral.
And about the "No-bid war contracts to their buddies"...
as someone who works for a gov't contractor, I can assure you that the buddy system is in FULL effect. It's all part of the game. You do YOUR research on some of these "veteran-owned businesses", and get back to me.
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