WHERE ARE THE NATIVISTS SUPPOSED TO GO?:

GOP courts Haitian Americans (LESLEY CLARK AND JACQUELINE CHARLES, 7/15/04, Miami Herald)

Haitian Americans, who have seen their clout rise in the Democratic Party over the past decade, are now being wooed by Republicans, a sign of the community's burgeoning political power.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, accompanied by boxing promoter Don King, on Thursday swooped into North Miami -- the largest city in the country governed by a Haitian American -- to tout President Bush's record and urge Haitian Americans to the polls.

''I do think there is an opportunity here to get a good chunk of the Haitian-American vote,'' Gillespie told The Herald. ``There's a sense that a little healthy competition is good for everybody. To have the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee vying for the African-American vote, as opposed to one side taking it for granted and the other side not competing vigorously for it, it's good for America.''

Haitian Americans suggest there is room for the GOP to tap into a growing frustration with the Democratic Party that it doesn't represent all blacks, although blacks are the party's most loyal voting bloc. Black voters nearly put Al Gore in the White House with a record turnout in Florida four years ago. Nationwide, nine of 10 blacks rejected President Bush in 2000.

Republican strategists think they have an opportunity this year because they sense that Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, who will need a massive black turnout, has failed to secure the affections of black voters.

GOP strategists believe they have a chance with Haitian Americans. Unlike most African Americans, whose allegiance to the Democratic Party dates back generations, Caribbean Americans are newcomers to American politics.

And Republicans suggest there is a growing number of blacks who are disaffected with some of the more liberal aspects of the Democratic Party and are eager to embrace the GOP message of lower taxes and smaller government. At the same time, the party is looking to capitalize on the White House's increasing engagement with Haiti.

Asked what he thought of the effort, Congressman Tom Tancredo responded: Know Nothing.

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Capitol Hill Blacks Pan Kerry's Ads (Nick Anderson and Jia Lynn Yang, 7/15/04, LA Times)

Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry unveiled a $2-million advertising drive Wednesday targeted at African American voters, but several black lawmakers who reviewed the radio and television commercials panned them as uninspired and disappointing.

The criticism from Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and other African Americans on Capitol Hill was striking because it revived questions about whether the Massachusetts senator has done enough to reach out to black community leaders — and by extension, spark enthusiasm for his candidacy among black voters.

"The ads … were lackluster to say the least," Cummings said after the black caucus reviewed them in a meeting at the Capitol.

Saying his opinion represented the consensus among the 25 or so caucus members who saw and heard the commercials, he added: "We felt the ads just did not, would not grip African American people in a way that would cause them to be very excited about going to the polls for John Kerry.

The Kerry campaign had better have one hell of alot of "walkin' around money" on hand come November.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 15, 2004 5:08 PM