I'm glad to see there's more of a concerted outreach to minority communities. Outreach is not a dirty word. Anyone who assumes that people will beat a path to their door, whether a company or political party, is fooling themselves. We shouldn't be ashamed to acknowledge that we need to build up trust, and listen to what these communities have to say.
We have heard about the recent outreach efforts toward the Hispanic vote. This is critical for the Republican Party in many states, especially in growing states like Texas, Florida, and California. These are the states with the electoral power. I am thrilled that the GOP has done this and they have no better leader to do this than President Bush.
It is critical to note however, that many regions are different. For example, Franklin County, Ohio is not a Miami-Dade, a Bexar County, a Maricopa County, or a San Diego County. Franklin County does have an increasing Hispanic community, yet it does not even come close in numbers to the African-American community. The "all politics are local" theme needs to be looked at and possibly adapted to in these cases.
As a Columbus resident, I can tell you that this is not small news. I do not know Walter Cates, nor have I met him, but I do know that he has been heavily involved in the community and has worked with government leaders, mostly Democrat. It is stuff like this that could become critical in 2006. With the possibility in Ohio of two African-Americans being the major party nominees for governor in 2006, the potential nominees being the Democrat mayor of Columbus (Mike Coleman), and the Republican Secretary of State (Ken Blackwell) who has received 50% of the black vote, this could make HUGE waves.
It is something to keep an eye on.