WHO CAN MAKE THE SUN SHINE?

Republicans push minority candidates (Steve Miller, 8/07/02, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

The Republican Party says it has its largest-ever field of non-incumbent minorities seeking top offices this fall, with party leaders touting 20 black and 39 Hispanic candidates in federal and major state elections. Top Stories

The political hopefuls include candidates for Congress and for such statewide offices as governor and secretary of state, and they come in a political season that will find blacks and Hispanics with a strong voice in deciding the winners.

"This is unprecedented, this kind of effort from Republicans," said Larry Gonzalez, director of the Washington office of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"The Republicans seem to be building a farm team to bring some of these candidates through the ranks, which is where it all starts. They will eventually then have a large pool of candidates to choose from for congressional races."

This is important because...well, you know those big lollipops that are sort of a twisted rope of rainbow colors then curled into a big vortex and rammed on a stick? Okay, so imagine that American politics resembles one of those lollipops. For sixty years now the Democrats have been the pop--sugary, sweet, and representing all the colors of the rainbow. Republicans have been the narrow white stick. We need some color bad. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 8, 2002 4:53 PM