I am really rooting for Bobby.
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Jindal making inroads among black voters
BOLD gives its nod to Republican
Friday October 24, 2003
By Jan Moller and Brian Thevenot
Staff writers Times Picayune
Bucking conventional wisdom and political tradition, Republican Bobby Jindal is mounting an aggressive effort to win support among African-Americans, a traditionally Democratic constituency that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco sorely needs on her side in the Nov. 15 gubernatorial runoff.
Using targeted ads on urban radio stations and appeals to black business and legislative leaders, Jindal is making inroads among voters who typically support Democrats over Republicans by a margin of 9-to-1 or greater.
The outreach effort began with a series of phone calls to key legislators even before the votes were counted in the Oct. 4 primary, and continued this week with a commercial on African-American radio stations in which Jindal tells listeners that "a person's heart matters more than his party."
The effort bore its most significant fruit Thursday when Jindal won the endorsement of the BOLD political organization in New Orleans. The group supported Democrat Richard Ieyoub in the primary, but its leaders said an "overwhelming majority" of the group's 44 members voted to endorse Jindal over Blanco. Jindal is Indian-American; Blanco is white.
Blanco is still expected to win the vast majority of the black vote. But sociologist Silas Lee said endorsements such as the one from BOLD might cut into that advantage by chipping away some voters.
To "those African-Americans who were receptive to Jindal but not totally comfortable with supporting him, this does send a symbolic message that it's OK to support him," Lee said. "Now you have African-American political leaders from New Orleans -- a segment of them -- they're out of the closet now."
Rare strategy for GOP
Although it's too early to tell whether Jindal can win a significant percentage of the black vote, analysts say the strategy is uncommon for a Republican in Louisiana and has the potential to make life difficult for Blanco. An independent poll shows Jindal with 11 percent support among African-Americans, which is higher than the single-digit support that Republicans often command from that segment in statewide elections.
"If he can hold on to that and do a little bit better, it puts a lot of pressure on Kathleen to get a lot more white votes," said Bernie Pinsonat of Southern Media & Opinion Research, who conducted the survey.
But others question whether the endorsement will sway many voters to Jindal's side.
"I think it is certainly a positive event for Bobby Jindal, but in order for it to indicate a split in the traditional black Democratic vote it would have to be accompanied by others," University of New Orleans political scientist Susan Howell said. "I don't know that one endorsement from one group will fracture the African-American vote."
Analysts have speculated since the primary that Blanco will need a strong turnout by black voters to prevail in the runoff. Only 18 percent of voters in majority-black precincts voted for Blanco in the primary, compared with 52 percent for former U.S. Rep. Claude "Buddy" Leach and 35 percent for Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, who were far more aggressive than Blanco in courting the African-American vote.
Blanco and Jindal are both socially conservative and differ more in personality and approach than in platform positions.
Blanco 'didn't call' BOLD
Suggesting that Blanco may have taken their support for granted, several BOLD members said Jindal got the nod at least in part because he worked harder at it than Blanco. Former City Council member and BOLD leader Jim Singleton said Blanco hadn't contacted the organization since the primary, while Jindal courted its members heavily.
"She didn't call," Singleton said of Blanco. "Why should I contact her?"
Jindal, in contrast, made persistent overtures to the group that culminated in a lengthy question-and-answer session. "We spent two hours grilling him back and forth, and we liked what he had to say about hospitals, education, neighborhoods, economic development and the LSU medical center," Singleton said.
A Blanco spokesman downplayed the group's endorsement and noted that the support for Jindal was not unanimous among the membership. For example, state Rep. Karen Carter, D-New Orleans, and others back Blanco.
"The majority of the organization opted to go another way than I was advocating for," Carter said. "I'm going to respect the organization's decision, but I am going to do everything I can in furtherance of Blanco's candidacy."
Other groups weigh in
BOLD is one of several New Orleans political organizations influential with black voters. COUP, based in the 7th Ward, has been behind Blanco since the primary. SOUL, which supported Leach in the primary, has not endorsed a runoff candidate but probably will do so in the next couple of weeks, said its chairman, Don Hubbard. The group tends to favor Democratic candidates, Hubbard said.
He said endorsements mean little compared with actual assistance to help a candidate get votes.
LIFE, a political organization of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, backed both Blanco and Ieyoub in the primary.
One of Morial's close allies is prominent African-American businessman Stan Barre, who owns Pampy's restaurant and a catering company in New Orleans. Like many business interests, Barre has contributed to both Blanco and Jindal. The candidates' campaign finance disclosures show Barre has given each one at least $10,000 through personal and company contributions. Barre was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
Nagin mulling endorsement
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who backed Democrat Randy Ewing in the primary, has not yet made an endorsement. His aides say he is mulling a decision while waiting to hear the two candidates' responses to a list of proposed commitments to the city. For example, Nagin wants the next governor's help in getting greater state support to pay for state-related functions in New Orleans, such as operations for the district attorney and criminal court.
Jindal said he has been in contact with more Democratic groups and expects more endorsements, but declined to name them.
Jindal spokesman Trey Williams said the campaign's recent effort to reach beyond the GOP base hasn't changed Jindal's core message. But it does mean the pitch has been tailored to fit his expanded audience.
On urban radio stations Jindal tells listeners that many political pundits wrote him off during the primary. "Now those same political insiders are saying I can't get support from African-Americans because I'm a conservative who believes in strong families," he says in the commercial. |
