Republicans must bear a great deal of the blame. How many Republicans reach out to gun owners, to veterans, to suburban soccer moms? And how many reach out to urban areas, to black Americans? Almost all do the former, but only some do the latter.
I'm glad we have Republicans like Jack Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Jim Talent, Rick Santorum, Thad Cochran, and the Bush brothers, who don't write off the black vote, but I wish there were more.
And it almost always makes absolutely no difference because blacks overwhelmingly and consistently vote for Democrats. Forget "reaching out" - is that the same as dialoging? - with hyphenated Americans. I want candidates who don't feel a need to break the electorate into assorted special interest groups.