I posted yesterday that Bush should forget about the Black political organizations and spend his time in the Black Churches. Looks like Ed and I are preaching from the same pew.
GOP chairman sees 'drift' in black votes
By Richard Benedetto
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- Ed Gillespie, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Tuesday that the GOP could attract African-American voters by bypassing traditional black organizations such as the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Gillespie, 41, took over the party leadership Friday. At a session with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service editors and reporters, Gillespie said he believes that President Bush can get more black votes by stressing his policies in areas such as education, home ownership, assisting faith-based social programs and improving job skills.
''I don't expect a massive wave of party switching among African-Americans from Democrat to Republican, but I think there is drift there,'' he said.
Gillespie noted that the percentage of blacks who identify themselves as Democrats dropped from 74% in 2000 to 63% in 2002. ''It's not in the interest of African-Americans to vote 90% for Democrats,'' Gillespie said.
He characterized NAACP ads aired in the 2000 campaign as ''abhorrent.'' The ads linked Bush to the dragging death of a black man in Texas. He said the Congressional Black Caucus, which has no GOP members, spends lots of time attacking Bush.
Although the White House has often been at odds with the leading organizations of African-Americans, it's unusual for such a high-ranking Republican to criticize them publicly.
Doug Thornell, a spokesman for the Congressional Black Caucus, said that the group has been trying to meet with Bush for 2 1/2 years. ''If African-American unemployment wasn't at 11.8%, if there weren't 40 million Americans without health care, if our schools weren't failing . . . then we wouldn't have to spend our time critiquing the Bush administration's proposals.''
Up to now, Republicans have talked a lot about attracting more African-American voters but have had little to show for it. Nine of 10 black voters voted for Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election.
On Monday, the president was politely received when he spoke in Pittsburgh about economic opportunity to the National Urban League, a mostly black organization that lobbies for programs to ensure economic self-reliance.
Democratic presidential candidates who followed him drew bigger cheers when they criticized Bush's stewardship on the economy, education and health care.
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