Romney to NAACP: Obama made it worse for you 'in almost every way'

Romney to NAACP: Obama made it worse for you 'in almost every way' By Jonathan Easley - 07/11/12 10:01 AM ET

Mitt Romney will tell the NAACP on Wednesday that President Obama has made it worse for African-Americans “in almost every way.”

“If equal opportunity in America were an accomplished fact, then a chronically bad economy would be equally bad for everyone,” Romney will say, according to prepared remarks provided by his campaign. “Instead, it’s worse for African-Americans in almost every way. The unemployment rate, the duration of unemployment, average income and median family wealth are all worse for the black community.”

While Obama leads Romney 92 percent to 2 among black voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, Romney hopes his economic pitch will resonate with a group that has been disproportionately affected by the economic downturn. He's made a similar appeal to other voting blocs, such as Hispanics and women.

Romney will acknowledge the historic nature of Obama’s 2008 campaign, in which he became the country’s first black president, but will also make the case for his own candidacy.

"I believe that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible to fully communicate what I believe is in the real, enduring best interest of African-American families, you would vote for me for president," the presumptive GOP nominee will say. "I want you to know that if I did not believe that my policies and my leadership would help families of color — and families of any color — more than the policies and leadership of President Obama, I would not be running for president."

He also will make the argument that Obama’s economic policies are creating similar barriers to those that civil rights activists fought hard to remove.

“If someone had told us in the 1950s or '60s that a black citizen would serve as the 44th president, we would have been proud and many would have been surprised,” Romney will say. “Picturing that day, we might have assumed that the American presidency would be the very last door of opportunity to be opened. Before that came to pass, every other barrier on the path to equal opportunity would surely have to come down.

“Of course, it hasn’t happened quite that way. Many barriers remain. Old inequities persist. In some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before. And across America — and even within your own ranks — there are serious, honest debates about the way forward.”

The former Massachusetts governor will cite unemployment among African-Americans, which at 14.4 percent is well above the national average of 8.2.

“I am running for president because I know that my policies and vision will help hundreds of millions of middle-class Americans of all races, will lift people from poverty, and will help prevent people from becoming poor,” Romney will say. “My campaign is about helping the people who need help. The course the president has set has not done that — and will not do that. My course will.”

Romney will also focus on education, which earlier in the primary season he referred to as “the civil rights issue of our era.” Romney says he will “give the parents of every low-income and special-needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school,” and will link federal education funds to the student, which he says will open the opportunity for children of poor families to attend charter and private schools.

“If equal opportunity in America were an accomplished fact, black families could send their sons and daughters to public schools that truly offer the hope of a better life,” Romney will say. “Instead, for generations, the African-American community has been waiting and waiting for that promise to be kept. Today, black children are 17 percent of students nationwide — but they are 42 percent of the students in our worst-performing schools.”

Obama will not address the NAACP convention this year, but Vice President Biden is scheduled to speak on Thursday.

There are Americans who are pro-business, pro-free enterprise, pro secure borders who can support measures that promote American exceptionalism without regard to color, accents, religious background, tribal ancestry (whether gaul, hun, bantu, asiatic, etc who will vote to give Romney a chance to live up to his word. He has made a case for being pro-business and against racial division.
I still do not trust him on immigration, government control, and know nothing of his foreign policy.

He grew up in wealth, made more money, dodged the draft, enacted gay marriage into law, has not really come down on the secure borders, failed to support openly Arizona and Alabama.
Compare resumes with obama - neither is Christian; obama is a communist, race-baiting ne'er do well who has accomplished nothing. Romney is a capitalist who does not mind government loans, guarantees, etc to bail out or start businesses.
Choices - choices?

The case for Romney is clear - Obama's 2nd Term. It would look just like his first term only with the safeties off. We're in total agreement at the first paragraph. I doubt you'd find a FReeper who had Romney as their top 3 picks during the Primary.

I still do not trust him on immigration, government control, and know nothing of his foreign policy.

I suspect that he's no worse than the last four Republican Presidents on the issue of immigration. It will be states leading the way by passing English only laws for governmental bodies, eliminating welfare and education benefits for illegal immigrants, etc. At the federal level there's a consensus for status quo, plus many immigrants have left for economically growing Mexico. Now is an ideal time for states to make changes to their welfare policies.

On government control I trust few politicians. On SCOTUS I trust only Thomas and we need four more just like him to be certain, five if you suspect he's moving on in less than 20 years. You and I could agree instantly on eliminating both DOEs and remanding that money back to the respective states. I don't see Congress or Romney leading the charge to eliminate any departments, but I'm happy to be wrong on that count.

I pray his foreign policy isn't a redux of Obama's. Hilary's ploy to play giant and "reset" our role with the world was pure theater. Nobody respects Obama and hence America. Hilary's a clown and having her out, along with her boss will only be an improvement.

He grew up in wealth, made more money, - irrelevant to me.

dodged the draft - relevant, but it isn't clear to me that this is what happened.

enacted gay marriage into law - this disturbs me a lot, along with his support of homosexual adoption

has not really come down on the secure borders, failed to support openly Arizona and Alabama - True.

Compare resumes with obama - neither is Christian Romney is a Christian. Obama states that he is, but he attended Rev. Wright's bigoted, crazy Black Liberation Theology church for nearly a quarter century with his daughters and wife. Plus, Obama doesn't act like a Christian,etc.

obama is a communist, race-baiting ne'er do well who has accomplished nothing.

- Agreed.

Romney is a capitalist who does not mind government loans, guarantees, etc to bail out or start businesses. - I don't know about this, but government loan guarantees, etc. exist and you'd be a fool not to use them. I use every opportunity government provides to insure my business succeeds. To do otherwise is stupid. Yet, here I am on FR fighting to get them eliminated. So it isn't clear to me that this is a negative. Actually, it isn't a negative at all.

Choices - choices? - This makes little sense. The choice isn't a hairsbreadth between them, but a Grand Canyon. Romney's the nominee and is an improvement over Obama if he simply gets the economy on track. Let our conservatives in Congress lead the way on everything else.

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