UNREQUITED LOVE :

To Revive Agenda, Bush Courts Blacks : Support Sought for Welfare Reform, 'Faith-Based' Charity, Homeownership (Dana Milbank, July 3, 2002, Washington Post)

African Americans as a constituency are singularly suspicious about President Bush and his policies. Yet Bush, as he tries to revive his domestic legislative agenda, is making a flurry of appeals to black voters. [...]

The effort to appeal to African Americans faces long odds. On Monday, the only black Republican in Congress, Rep. J.C. Watts (Okla.), announced that he will retire. Only 10 percent of blacks supported Bush in the 2000 election, and though Bush is far more popular since Sept. 11 among all groups, a similar pattern continues.

In a new Washington Post poll, 40 percent of African Americans voiced support for Bush and 40 percent expressed disapproval. Among whites, 73 percent approved and 16 percent disapproved. A Gallup poll last month showed a plurality of black Americans still disapproving of Bush.

"They've got a lot of work to do," said Robert Woodson, a black conservative who consults with White House officials. Bush, Woodson said, is making a "concerted push" to drive a wedge between ordinary, church-going black Americans, who have conservative instincts, and civil rights leaders, who are more liberal. "Civil rights leaders are inalterably opposed" to Bush on vouchers, welfare and religious charities, Woodson said, but "those in the pews" feel otherwise.

Republicans had to be staggered by the results of the 2000 Presidential campaign, when George W. Bush, who had courted the black vote more assiduously than any GOP candidate in recent memory, received a lower percentage of the black vote than even Bob Dole had in 1996. But hopefully they'll not be deterred by this lack of results.

President Bush should make a point of campaigning on conservative issues--school vouchers, abortion, divorce, crime, home ownership, Medical Savings Accounts, Social Security privatization, etc.--in the black community, even if he is greeted with skepticism or outright hostility. Conservatives need to demonstrate that they are serious about using these ideas to transform the lives of all Americans, even if blacks do not initially support them. In fact, a willingness to pay a short term cost could even reap a greater long term gain. If, as we suspect, such programs do begin to improve the day to day lives of America's poor, do empower them and do restore a sense of pride and responsibility, then eventually the courage Republicans demonstrate in supporting such ideas will surely pay off politically. And if it doesn't, the GOP will still have done the right thing.

MORE :
A Campaign Plan for Conservative GOP Candidates (Martin Knight)

Can a true-blue all-round Conservative win in a Left-leaning state like Maryland? Judging from what happened to Bret Schundler last year in New Jersey, the conventional wisdom would suggest a strong "No". But ... I believe that Bret Schundler could have won that race in November.

Intteresting essay from Mr. Knight, who one assumes is a black Republican.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 7, 2002 9:59 AM