Posted on 10/23/2004 10:40:27 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
According to two polls released over the week just passed, President Bush has picked up significant ground among black voters. A New York Times poll showed black support for the president at 17 percent. A poll of larger scope done by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, an organization specializing in studying black issues, showed 18 percent black support for Bush. Although black support at this level for Bush/ Cheney is still low, it nevertheless represents a doubling of the 8 percent of the black vote that the Republican ticket received in 2000.
In a race that seems to be shaping up as a neck and neck horserace, it can make all the difference for the president to pick up an additional 9 percent of the black vote.
Although some have expressed surprise that the president is notably picking up new support among black voters, those who have been reading my columns over the last several months will be less astonished by these results. I have been writing that traditionally Democratic voters in the black church going community are becoming disillusioned with the Democratic Party and that, in particular, the gay marriage issue has become a focal point of that disillusionment.
The results of the Joint Center poll, which was an extensive survey of current black political attitudes, bear out my observations. Support for Kerry among black Christian conservatives is now 49 percent, 20 points lower than the 69 percent that Al Gore received from this group in 2000. Bush's support among this same group, now at 36 percent, is more than triple what he received in 2000.
The black community is by and large a religious community. When surveyed, blacks respond at higher rates than whites that religion plays a "very important" role in their life.
The interesting reality over recent years has been that blacks have not taken their faith with them into the voting booth as do whites. Regular church attendance has been a reliable predictor of voting behavior among whites, with church goers disproportionately voting Republican. Among blacks this has not been the case.
The gay marriage issue may very well be the tip of the iceberg of change among the black electorate. Gay marriage, and claims equating the gay movement to the civil rights movement, has been a wake-up call. Black pastors and their congregants are waking up to the fact that the liberal agenda that they have been supporting all these years does not liberate but denigrates, dehumanizes, and enslaves. They are beginning to see the liberal agenda, the welfare state agenda, as a moral problem, undermining the dignity and responsibility that makes men and women free.
This disrespect for personal dignity, the treatment of human beings as objects to manipulate that so characterizes the liberal left, is what was at work in John Kerry's comment about Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter in the last debate with Bush. Kerry's dragging Mary Cheney and her private life before tens of millions of viewers who tuned in to hear a debate between candidates for president, goes beyond being an isolated incident of poor taste. When examined carefully, the remark and Kerry's behavior tells us about this man and gives a sense why black Christians are so uncomfortable with him.
Although liberals are allegedly the sensitive ones, those who really care about people, once Kerry sensed that he could pick up political points by using Mary Cheney to advance his personal political interests, he didn't hesitate for a second. It reminds me of Bill Clinton's observation that he took advantage of Monica Lewinsky because he could. John Kerry took advantage of Mary Cheney because he could. The only thing that stood between his violation of this young woman's dignity and privacy was his own integrity, judgment, and respect for others. The "I feel your pain" liberals of the Kerry/ Clinton ilk are con-men of the worse sort, for whom others are simply means to their own ends.
These slick operators translate their basic attitude toward others into political behavior by grabbing power by selling a bill of goods to those who are down and out that government can solve all their problems. Rather than telling the truth, that even in the worst economic environment, it is only through personal responsibility that people can pull themselves up, these con men view others' misfortune as an opportunity for their own political gain.
The substance of Kerry's remarks was as revealing as his behavior. Kerry knows zero about Mary Cheney's personal struggles. However, he used her to claim that there is no choice in homosexual behavior. So, in one swoop Kerry threw thousands of years of religious tradition and teaching into the garbage. We're all victims now. And, of course, from a black perspective, John Kerry will argue that an individual's sexual behavior is as pre-determined as his or her race. So, indeed sexual behavior should fall into the realm of civil rights.
Blacks are picking up on all this. This is what these new polling results are telling us. View this as a trend.
Star Parker is president of CURE, Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education (www.urbancure.org) and author of the recently published book, "Uncle Sam's Plantation."
© 2004 Scripps Howard News Service.
All Rights Reserved.
Bush needs to get a ban on gay marriage passed for his next term. In addition, the GOP needs to start to visit Black churches not just around election time, but at all times so that Blacks don't feel like they are being used as the Dems use them.
***Black pastors and their congregants are waking up to the fact that the liberal agenda that they have been supporting all these years does not liberate but denigrates, dehumanizes, and enslaves. They are beginning to see the liberal agenda, the welfare state agenda, as a moral problem, undermining the dignity and responsibility that makes men and women free.***
I couldn't have put it better myself!
GWB can truthfully and proudly state that despite lack of votes from African Americans in 2000 he has been one of their greatest friends in the White House. He appointed several blacks to his cabinet and prominent leadership roles. His economic and education policies have benefited blacks as much or more than any other group. He eschewed the NAACP due to its partisanship but reached out to blacks through their churches and other leadership organizations. He has acted as any true Christian would and has not blown his own horn. He has provided the Republican Party with an excellent opportunity to finally bring blacks into the big tent - not as a minority faction, but as like-minded fellow citizens.
I'm in Michigan. I have SEEN support for Bush from black people in my neighborhood and around the Detroit area in the form of (gasp!) W '04 and Bush/Cheney bumperstickers on vehicles with black people driving. I have NEVER seen this kind of open support for Bush coming from the black community. I think it's the gay marriage issue. Everyone is welcome in the Republican party. GO BUSH!
This is exactly how the democRat party has treated blacks for decades. They exploited Clarence Thomas, Willy Horton and any other convenient black person.
Both sides have done this. But it's a good bet that after kerry loses you won't see him visiting any more black churches.
If he (gulp) actually wins, he'll visit black churches more often...beginning approximately January, 2008.
There are numerous reasons why blacks would go over to Bush. Another is that it is clear to the dullest eye that kerry considers himself to be a superior being, and his audiences to be a bunch of peons.
Some rich Dem politicians manage to obscure the fact that they are children of wealth and privilege, but kerry has hardly bothered to try. Even when he is trying to show himself to be an ordinary, macho guy, he turns up with a fancy snowboard or a spandex bicyicle suit.
He obviously doesn't give a damn about blacks. He only remembers to toss them a word or two about once a month. Even those words are basically spoken downward from above, IMHO. Clinton could pretend to get down among black audiences and did it very well. Al gore could go into a black church and sound off like a Baptist preacher. Kerry is hopeless.
I think one of the most significant events that has happened was Bush not going to the NAACP conference. The Democratic party thought it could be used against Bush, but many blacks see the current NAACP as political and ineffective as the UN. I think there was an initial shock that he didn't go, which later turned to respect. I think the black community is starting to understand that patronage is only a good thing when you have a superior/inferior relationship.
The thought crossed my mind that blacks are thinking.....
My mind is open and I can see opportunity if I simply act in a positive manner. The chains that bound others are not attached to me.
I believe that Bush probably got close to 15% of the Black vote in 2000. There was so much voter fraud in those heavily black populated areas in 2000, the numbers could not help but look like 92%. Jacksonville, FL had over 90% turnout in the black areas......YEAH RIGHT!! Other areas showed the same. Some inter cities showed nearly 100% in Black Communities. THAT IS VOTER FRAUD.
I bet when all the voting comes in this year, Bush will only get about 10% again which will once again prove CHEATING. The MSM will say blacks came home to the Dems at the last minute and look for near 100% turnout again.
I was hopeful until a few days ago. I would love to see Bush reelected, but his stupid team has no idea the massive corruption and thievery of the democrats. The only way the DemoDevils will win is with the help of the anti-Freedom, anti-American MSM. I absolutely HATE with all my heart every member of the MSM. They are all evil. Bush will lose because he doesn't realize his political opponents are more dangerous than the terrorists. Bush and his team are naive and will pay for it with a Kerry win. I pray for a miracle and that Bush wins big.
Blacks are also supporting Bush because they've thought about this one.
Subject: I Got My Draft Card.
“I got my draft card,” that is what you will be hearing, if Kerry wins and you or anyone you love is of draft age. Kerry winning will very likely end up causing a draft; the reasons are because the military is spread thin, Kerry has alienated our alliances, and Halliburton has said over and over that if they don’t have enough protection for their employees they will pull out. Kerry said he plans to add 40,000 troops. So, lets see what will more likely happen if Kerry is elected.
First of all, Kerry has alienated our alliances. These countries will more likely start pulling their troops out. THIS MEANS WE WILL BE THAT MANY MORE TROOPS SHORT.
Second, Halliburton will pull out because their employees will not have enough protection. This means that military personnel will have to fill these thousands of empty job positions. THIS MEANS WE WILL BE THAT MANY MORE TROOPS SHORT.
Third, the military is already spread thin. THIS MEANS KERRY AS PRESIDENT WILL HAVE TO BRING BACK THE DRAFT. This can cause another Vietnam and thousands of lives lost, because Kerry will want to save face. Remember he said, “Just because Bush couldn’t do the job doesn’t mean that he can’t do the job.”
Fourth, Kerry said he plans to add 40,000 troops. THIS MEANS THAT THERE WILL BE A DRAFT.
NOTE: Right now, the United States is training Iraq troops so that they can take over and we can bring our soldiers back home. I hope that we can be smart enough on Nov 2nd to give the Bush Administration the opportunity to accomplish this goal.
DSBull used the term "Massa" to denigrate the Democratic party, not to put down blacks. Read his post again. He was accusing the Dems of the kind of bigoted thinking which takes the black vote for granted.
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