Politics
Polipundit
The GOP finally is beginning to use its majority power to help turn around a demographic trend about which, quite frankly, all of us should be disappointed.
* * *
Since its halcyon daze, er, days, back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the former Democrat Party has lost nearly 25 net U.S. Senate seats, nearly 100 net U.S. House seats, and dozens of net governorships, state assemblies, and state senates, despite getting 90-plus percent of the African-American vote.
As the foregoing article makes plain, however, the times they will be a changing.
Given that reality, just extrapolate where the “Party of the People” will be in 20 more years.
And keep that in mind as the liberal media, liberal law professors, and anti-war protesters, are all screaming and shouting about the GOP not doing this, or not having that, or not being this, yadda yadda.
Political cycles in this country last for DECADES.
Incumbents win the overwhelming majority of the time. You can yell, and throw stuff, and shout, and fume, and incumbents still will prevail in the overwhelming majority of the elections in which they participate.
That’s the dirty little political secret the Democrats figured out eons ago, but which the inept GOP and its fickle voter base kept missing. And missing. And missing. And, shockingly enough, still are missing – at least to a certain extent.
Being the majority party keeps you in the majority; in and of itself. And talking about policies does not actually get them implemented. You have to defeat the other side. And since the Democrats have the advantage of controlling the media and academia, the GOP needs to have more of a cushion, so to speak, than George Mitchell might have needed.
Or let me put it this way:
Who ya’ gonna’ believe?
The media?
Trust-fund, McGovern-era professors?
Or your lying eyes . . .
-- Jayson
polipundit.com
GOP ratchets up bid to woo blacks
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 28, 2005
Blacks in both major political parties have felt "marginalized" for decades, but Republicans hope a new strategy will help them reach out to black voters and politicians.
Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican Party, formed the "Give Us a Chance and We'll Give You a Choice" strategy after the 2004 election showed gains for President Bush among black voters.
More than a dozen black politicians are running on the Republican ticket in 2006 for Senate and House seats, governorships and other statewide races.
It could turn out to be the most diverse Republican slate since the mid-1990s, said J.C. Watts Jr., chairman of GOPAC, a Republican political action committee. Mr. Watts won a House seat in Oklahoma in 1994, becoming the first black Republican to reach Congress since Sen. Edward W. Brooke III, Massachusetts Republican, who served from 1967 to 1979.
"I've often said that most black people don't think alike, most black people just vote alike, and if Republicans understood black people better, you would have 70 to 75 percent of black people voting Republican," Mr. Watts said.
Mr. Mehlman's mantra that "the party of Lincoln will not be whole until more African-Americans come back home" has created a movement that black Republicans said they will use to make significant gains in the largely monolithic, Democratic-voting base.
"The black vote is the most marginalized in the country" because Democrats know that no matter what their candidates look like or say, blacks will vote for them, and Republicans will find a way to win without them, Mr. Watts said.
Black Democrats said the change would be welcome.
"I think it is a great thing that both Democrats and Republicans are going to compete for our votes," said Rep. Melvin Watt, North Carolina Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
He said as long as both parties are willing to "substantively" address the disparities between blacks and whites and virtually every other minority, "it is good for America."
Retired Army Lt. Col. Frances P. Rice, chairwoman of the National Black Republican Association (NBRA), said her group aims to "enlighten" black voters about the Republican Party and make the black community one that supports two parties.
She said the Democrats' insistence that blacks rely on socialism -- welfare, public housing, public schools -- is destroying the community.
"Blacks after 40 years of Democrat control are complaining about the same things: poorly performing schools, dilapidated public housing," Col. Rice said. "Socialism has not worked anywhere it has been tried. Why should we do it here?"
Groups such as NBRA are getting their message across with candidates like Richard Holt, a 25-year-old Republican who is running for the House seat in Ohio being vacated by Rep. Ted Strickland, a Democrat.
He said the time for black diversity in both parties is now and that the movement will be successful despite attacks by Democratic activists.
"It is difficult because of people like Harry Belafonte and Dick Gregory calling us 'whitey' and tyrants when all we want to do is make sure that our families are strong, that we own our own businesses and that our children get a good education," Mr. Holt said.
A victory for Mr. Holt would be historic on several fronts. He would become the youngest man ever elected to Congress. But more important, Mr. Holt said, is an opportunity to be a role model for young black men.
"Typically, black men my age are not politically involved and not Republican, and I am. More blacks are moving from the inner city to the suburbs. We have a good education, we have good jobs and we can see now that we can succeed, and socialism is not the answer," he said.
Mr. Watt said he would welcome any new black Republican congressmen into the CBC.
"I just hope it is not a public relations game. ... The issue is how we address the issues facing black Americans, not putting up a public face or what someone looks like," he said. |
