March 26, 2004
THE SUBMERGING DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY:
America's Disappearing 'Black Vote' (Todd Boyd, March 26, 2004, LA Times)
[C]onsider this question: What happened to "the black vote"? Once a hot topic of discussion during presidential campaigns, it has been noticeably absent in recent years. Instead, it is the Latino swing vote that appears to be "in play" right now, with both parties vying for this group's attention in the presidential race.It's not all that hard to figure out why. Over the years, Democrats have come to take the black vote for granted. And why shouldn't they, as long as blacks vote overwhelmingly and unwaveringly Democratic?
Republicans feel the converse: No matter what they do — even with prominent African American figures like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in high places — they now realize that their appeal to black voters in large numbers remains limited. So, why address this constituency? Latinos, by contrast, are up for grabs.
A cursory glance across the political landscape reveals another fact: There are no African American politicians with a substantial presence on the national stage who demand any real respect.
Whahappen? Are Powell and Rice (and Rodney Paige) not respected or not counted because they are Republican? Posted by Orrin Judd at March 26, 2004 10:07 AM
We're waiting for that snowy day in hell when Toni Morrison officially announces that "so and so is the first black Republican..."
Posted by: M. Murcek at March 26, 2004 10:11 AMI don't think that Powell and Rice really count as politicians. They've never been elected to anything, just appointed.
Posted by: Brandon at March 26, 2004 10:33 AMGovernment is politics.
Posted by: oj at March 26, 2004 10:35 AMThe appearance is that Bush does not listen to Powell, so Powell's value as a standard bearer in the black community is low. Also, neither Powell or Rice are involved in domestic issues and therefore aren't engaged in black community politics. They meet foreign heads of state, not local black politicians to discuss how Treasury policy or Transportation policy affect local black communities.
Neither are tokens, but both are also outsiders to the black community leadership. They have no consitutuencies, no favors they owe or owe other black leaders. In other words, they have no proof that they serve the interests of the black community.
I think there presence is helpful in that younger blacks will grow up thinking it is acceptable for blacks to be in the GOP, but that benefit is long off.
If Republicans want black votes they'll need politicians engrossed in the black community who have proved their commitment to that community in fat, not just theory.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at March 26, 2004 10:55 AMYou need rank-and-file black politicians at the local level to show people that the party is getting results, but Republicans have yet to attract those politicians in any great quantity, which allows Democrats to assume that base and thus overlook their needs for those of other groups.
Posted by: John Barrett Jr. at March 26, 2004 12:01 PMHermain Cain being elected Senator from Georgia would a good start for the GOP.
Posted by: AWW at March 26, 2004 12:53 PMYou don't need a degree in Political Science to understand how voting for Democrats in percentages that rival those of Russians voting for Stalin has made Blacks politically irrelevant. Democrats can't lose them and Republicans can't gain them, so nobody really notices. Blacks will gain their rightful place in American politics when they stop acting like schoolteachers or homosexuals who have nowhere else to go.
Posted by: Lou Gots at March 26, 2004 1:06 PMOooo-- electing both Cain and Obama would give quite a fight over who gets to be the "third black Senator". Sometimes the sitting Senator retires early so that its successor gets a slight edge in senority, but in these cases, we'd be having party switches.
The problem for black voters is that they've been herded into gerrymandered ghettos. This makes it easy for a Maxine Waters to become a Congresscritter, but never have a chance statewide, where you have to appeal to a variety of interests instead of just making sure enough of the base turns out. (We are seeing the same sort of thing on a national level with Kerry and Mass. voters.)
As for Powell-- you don't get to be Chairman of the JCS without a talent for politics, and having a counterweight as Sec't State can be more useful than an Albright or Christopher.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 26, 2004 1:24 PMRemember what Harry Belafonte said about Rice and Powell. But I think he was just jealous.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 26, 2004 2:40 PMThere's a good practical reason, notwithstanding the good points other people make in this thread, why nobody is paying any attention to the "black vote" this year and everyone is concentrating on Latinos.
There are now more Latinos in the U.S. than there are blacks.
Posted by: Joe at March 26, 2004 6:33 PMAnd soon there will be more Asians.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 26, 2004 8:23 PM"You need rank-and-file black politicians at the local level to show people that the party is getting results"
This is the problem with democratic black voters, they are awaiting salvation from government action, like some cargo cult. Powell and Rice are showing blacks that results come from your own initiative. Go out and get results, don't wait for government to bring it to you.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at March 27, 2004 1:42 PM