GOP vowing to attract black voters

Last month, a bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument in the Capitol building passed the state House with six black Democrats, among other bipartisan backing, supporting the Republican initiative.

Just last week, the Rev. Keith Butler, founder of the 21,000-member Word of Faith International Christian Church Center in Southfield and a black Republican, formally threw his hat into the race for the GOP nomination for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

With one former Republican National Committee chairman boldly predicting after last year's election that the party would capture 30 percent of the black vote in 2008, are the tables turning? Are more African-Americans, who have for decades voted overwhelmingly Democratic, turning to the Grand Old Party?

Oakland County Republican Party Chairman Dennis Cowan said Butler's visibility in southeast Michigan as head of a large church and a former Detroit city councilman should help him in his quest to receive the nod to take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow. He said Butler's candidacy is no accident, saying he expects to see more black Republican candidates running in 2006 at the local, county and statewide levels.

"I think we're starting to see a little bit of a trend of African-Americans, particularly middle class, who are looking at the Republican Party," Cowan said after Butler's news conference.

"There's similarity in a lot of the issues in the way they believe and the way the Republican Party believes."

That might well be true, but some say there's a divide between issues that black voters support and overall party platforms.

And the Republican Party still faces daunting odds in capturing 30 percent of the black vote. Nationwide, President Bush received 11 percent of the black vote, up from 8 percent in 2000. These gains were caused, many believe, by the presence of ballot proposals to ban same-sex marriages in 11 states, including Michigan.

Still, Bush was heavily trounced by black voters in Michigan. In Detroit, where blacks make up 82 percent of the population, according to 2000 Census figures, more than 93 percent of voters sided with Democrat John Kerry.

Political pollster Ed Sarpolus of EPIC/MRA said Bush received virtually the same amount of the black vote in Michigan last year as in 2000. And he said that, despite lofty predictions by some observers that the state's gay marriage ban proposal would benefit heavily from black support, the measure did not dramatically increase turnout among black voters. He said black voters split on the issue at about the same rate as other racial groups.

In a recent poll pairing Butler against Stabenow, the incumbent Democrat led the church leader 55 percent to 30 percent. Among black respondents, the numbers were more lopsided - 71 percent for Stabenow vs. 22 percent for Butler.

"You can't confuse beliefs and issues with support and (who you're) voting for," Sarpolus said. "Because Republicans are not going to help out Detroit financially, they're not going to help their schools or big government programs. ... These are token gestures to the community that needs help."

Along with Butler, former Republican Congressman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma serves on an advisory panel that meets monthly with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman to discuss ways the GOP can make inroads with black voters. At a fund-raising event in Rochester last week for the Oakland Christian School, he said the party is poised to capitalize on a political realignment among black voters but must first make changes itself.

"The Republicans are missing it. They've got to broaden their morality base. ... Race is a moral issue, but conservatives don't talk about it," Watts said.

He was elected to Congress in 1994 and served four terms before retiring as the No. 4 Republican in the House and the only black Republican in the chamber.

He said black voters generally support traditional Republican platforms such as giving parents a choice in education and opposing abortion and same-sex marriages. But he said they also support issues such as access to economic opportunity, home ownership and access to health care - issues he said Republican leaders mistakenly don't stress.

"If there's six issues and they only hear you talk about three and they don't ever hear them addressing economic issues, they say, 'Well, you know I kind of like what those guys are talking about on the social side, but I don't hear them offering up any economic policies for my well-being.' So, I think that's where we're losing," Watts said.

In Lansing, one of the black Democratic House members who voted in favor of the Ten Commandments bill was Clarence Phillips of Pontiac. He said he'd always vote to support his faith, even though he said the bill was primarily intended as a divisive measure.

But Phillips doesn't necessarily see support from some blacks on issues such as banning gay marriage as a sign that blacks are crossing over to the Republican Party.

On the issues, Phillips said, "the Democratic Party still addresses the concerns of minorities, whether it be blacks, women or people who are underserved. The big question out there is, what are we getting for our support? Some people don't see much."

Phillips said the Democratic Party often takes for granted that black residents will vote Democratic.

"They better show some results or we're gonna see some losses," to the GOP, he said.

As chairman of GOPAC, an organization that focuses on grooming Republican candidates, Watts said black Republican candidates are making gains most prominently on local, state and countywide levels. He noted state Sen. Bill Hardiman, a black Republican from Kentwood, as an example.

"Those gains are being made, I think, in the right area right now," Watts said. "Because of what I see happening on the state and local level, I think we're building that part of it - the farm team - the right way. And I think at some point in time, I think you'll see enough momentum that folks on the state and local level can run for Congress, can run for the United States Senate."

This is big in a state where 14% of the population is black. Most blacks live in a few communities in this state. Here's our challenge. Probably 85% of blacks live in these areas here.

Detroit - 82% black, 93.65% for Kerry
Southfield - 54.2% black(more now), 81.78% Kerry - Largely a black middle class area.
Oak Park - 46% black, 78.99% Kerry - Similar to neighboring Southfield
Lathrup Village - 49.8% black, 75.60% Kerry - Surrounded by Southfield.
Pontiac - 47.9% black, 79.21% Kerry
Inkster - 67.5% black, 88.09% Kerry
Ypsilanti - 30.6% black, 77.99% Kerry
Flint - 53.3% Black, 83.07% Kerry
Saginaw - 43.3% Black, 74.02% Kerry
Muskegon - 31.7% black, 71.25% Kerry
Benton Harbor - 92.4% black, 92.29% Kerry
Grand Rapids - 20.45 black, 55.30% Kerry
Albion - 33% black, 70.11% Kerry
Lansing - 21% black, 65.85% Kerry
Kalamazoo - 20.6% black, 66.61% Kerry

IMHO, If the GOP doesn't stop ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION they will not attract BLACKS! The Illegals undermine the pay status for ALL Americans, Blacks included. Illegals take from the lower tier jobs, often occupied by Blacks. I do not think the Blacks, middle class or in sympathy with GOP values, will vote against their brethren or vote against being American.

The current illegals are not Americans, nor will they become Americans as exhibited by their failure or inability to learn English. Close the border, make English the official language and take care of AMERICANS FIRST, and I assure you, the Black vote will follow. As it is, I cannot vote DUMMMY but I may not vote GOP. My interests are not in changing Social Security or encasing the Estate taxes in cement, but rather preservation of our country and values first. The GOP must think and act for ALL

With one former Republican National Committee chairman boldly predicting after last year's election that the party would capture 30 percent of the black vote in 2008,

Can't help considering "30 percent" to be an easily-knocked-down straw man. But even half that - just 15%, just half again what Bush has gotten. - would put the Democratic Party in a world of hurting.
That would slash the Dem plurality in black districts from

90 - 10 = 80% to 85 - 15 = 70%.
Just achieve that, and the Republicans carry PA and all the rest of the marginal states - an electoral landslide.

The biggest joke is how the GOP 'reaches out' to Blacks. It is just about as much of a joke how they reach out to any minority.. They play the stupid race game, and it always sounds like a game when they do it (vs Jesse Jackson who does it unabashedly.)

To reach out, you go and say, "You want tax increases? Vote Democrat. You want your cigarettes to go up? Vote Democrat. You want your neighborhoods to be tied to welfare checks? Vote Democrat. Wake up, toss off the shackles of those who only come before you when they're up for reelection. They're using you, and damn it, aren't you sick of being used?"

But no, instead what they get is empty rhetoric about how 'we feel your pain' and empty promises of empowerment. Dumb, and pretty much it describes their outreach to American Indians as well.

It is not as if the Democrats have not been TRYING to force the Americans of African origin out of the party. The Democrats have made campaign promises they cannot or will not keep, because once they get back on the legislative floor, they vote (or filibuster) against the very things they said they were going to "do" for the constituencies that have given their unwavering support for years. When the rewards of position and meaningful participation come up within the Democrat party structure, the minorities stand outside the door while the decisions are made inside.

The one really high-profile "person of color" that the Democrats have been crowing over, Barack Obama, has NOTHING in common with the vast bulk of Americans of African origin, as he is demonstrably a half-white, NEVER lived in a ghetto, or had relatives who did, NEVER had a family history of being sharecroppers, and doesn't even boast much of an American upbringing, as he was raised in and around Muslim influences, not the Nation of Islam, either, but the Far East variety of Indonesia, a very militantly anti-Western cult.

Sure the Democrat party "likes" the Americans of African origin, but do you think they would cross the street to lift a finger to provide REAL help?

John F. Kerry would NEVER have had Dr. Condoleezza Rice appointed as Secretary of State. Even if she had never been part and parcel of either the first or second Bush administration.

Democrats have never gotten over the perception that Americans of African origin are just not "smart enough" to be trusted with power. And that is the attraction of Barack Obama. He is not really an American of African origin, but a look-alike without all the baggage.

As long as the good guys (dumb, but good guys) continue to fund the racist, fully segregated, step-n-fetchit, colored only Congressional Black Caucus, black voters will know that the dems are still in control. That caucus must be destroyed and the politicians, without regard to race, who represent black citizens work for their well being.

So long as blacks in this country look to the dems to protect their Congressional thugs and those thus are immune from the diversity requirements that the rest of us face, black voters WILL NEVER change their blind preference ffor neocommunist candidates.

The beautiful issue is illegal immigration. Mexican illegals who work for low rates keep blacks from the job market. The party that advocates improving black employment by restricting illegal immigration will win the black vote. Fat Teddy's effort to raise the minimum raise is a fake because the market, no matter what the legal minimum is, will stay way low so long as there is an unlimited supply of criminals breaking in to our country to steal jobs from blacks and SUVs from anybody.

Are more African-Americans, who have for decades voted overwhelmingly Democratic, turning to the Grand Old Party?

In the long run, I think it is worth fighting for votes by educating the voters, not by changing policies and longterm goals of the RP. The bulk of current black voters will never vote for a Republican, IMHO.

A black Republican has tried for the governor's or lieut gov of MIchigan before. That didn't fly. I think Kwame's having been mentioned as one of the worst mayors will actually hurt the chances for black votes for Republicans -- basing this seat of my pants idea on what happened with Berry in Washington DC.

A divide and conquer strategy might work -- pointing out the divisions between the terrorists, oops, I mean Arab / Moslem communities in some of the Detroit suburbs and the black population, while simultaneously doing pre-campaign work in black churches, would push the terrorist, oops, I mean Arab / Moslem vote more toward the Dims, and paint (or point out) the Dims as the pro-terrorist, oops, pro-Arab (but not pro-Moslem, since the party is de facto atheist) party, would depress turnout by the ask-no-questions straight-party-lever black voters.

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