REMEMBER, HIS SHOES COULD FIT YOUR FEET:

Courting black vote: Republicans reach out to African-Americans (San Diego Union Tribune, March 14, 2005)

In politics, there is one sure-fire way for any bloc of voters to become irrelevant: Allow itself to be taken for granted by one of the major political parties, and written off by the other.

Tragically, that is what has happened to African-Americans. Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, and certainly through the modern Civil Rights Movement, they haven't given the Republican Party much of a fair hearing. And yet, in recent years, they haven't been able to get their concerns heard by Democrats. Come to think of it, the two are probably connected. After all, what incentive do Democrats have to be attentive to African-Americans, when Democratic Party officials seem to think that they're the only game in town?

Which brings to mind this equation: Arrogance plus neglect equals opportunity. The fact that neglectful Democrats arrogantly believe that they have the black vote in their back pocket gives Republicans an opportunity to make inroads. This is nothing new. The same situation has been there for years. And yet what is new is how the GOP is responding.