January 29, 2005
WE WERE BLUE WHEN IT WAS COOL:
Recasting Republicans as the Party of Civil Rights Strategists reach back to GOP's antislavery roots in an attempt to lure black voters. (Peter Wallsten, January 29, 2005, LA Times)
Condoleezza Rice took the oath Friday as the first black woman to be secretary of State, then immediately reached back into history to invoke the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.Her words were the latest example of President Bush and his top aides citing the Republican Party's often-forgotten 19th century antislavery roots — a strategy that GOP leaders believe will help them make inroads among black voters in the 21st century.
And if it reminds voters that the Democrats once embraced slavery, that's not such a bad byproduct, strategists say.
Bush, who keeps a bust of Lincoln prominently displayed in the Oval Office, is making Civil War references a staple of his speeches promoting democracy overseas and policy changes at home. And a glossy, GOP-produced "2005 Republican Freedom Calendar," spotlighting key moments in the party's civil rights history, has been distributed to party officials nationwide.
"We started our party with the express intent of protecting the American people from the Democrats' pro-slavery policies that expressly made people inferior to the state," Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) wrote in a letter printed on the calendar.
The letter continued: "Today, the animating spirit of the Republican Party is exactly the same as it was then: free people, free minds, free markets, free expression, and unlimited individual opportunity."
The Democrats certainly seem grayer every day. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 29, 2005 8:39 AM
The icing on this cake was televised by C-Span the other night.
A Congressional delegation which had recently visited African countries including Sudan investigating human rights abuses held a press conference in Washington. Don Cheadle who stars in "Hotel Rwanda" spoke.
A black California Democrat asked the press if there was a Los Angeles Times representative present. There was none. She lashed out at the newspaper's absence.
As a card-carrying member of the MSM, the LA
Times' Wallsten at least recognizes the problem.
Nor does one have to go back to Lincoln for examples. Johnson's 1964 Civil Rights bill was passed only because 85% of the Republicans in the Senate voted for it, while Johnson had trouble rounding up enough Democrats (IIRC, only 60-65% of Senate Democrats voted yes).
Posted by: jd watson at January 29, 2005 10:16 AMSometimes history doesn't matter and this is one of those times.
The reality is that many Black Americans are beneficiaries of government profligacy with the taxpayers' money in the form of welfare and food stamps, government favoritism based on race like affirmative action and quotas, and government spending in 'distressed areas.' They will continue to vote for the party that promises to keep the gravy train running, and that party is the Democrats. Also, it should be understood that there is a certain percentage of Blacks who are as nihilist as any turtleneck wearing, espresso sipping denizen of the Rive Gauche, desiring the defeat of the US because lots of White people would suffer, regardless of its affect on them.
Posted by: Bart at January 29, 2005 12:48 PMWell, the Dems seem to have no problem with their past as the party of slavery, secession, rebellion and segregation. At times, it appears they've never given them up ("blue states" joining Canada, racial quotas, a Kleagle as party leader, etc.)
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at January 29, 2005 12:48 PMSometimes history doesn't matter and this is one of those times.
The reality is that many Black Americans are beneficiaries of government profligacy with the taxpayers' money in the form of welfare and food stamps, government favoritism based on race like affirmative action and quotas, and government spending in 'distressed areas.' They will continue to vote for the party that promises to keep the gravy train running, and that party is the Democrats. Also, it should be understood that there is a certain percentage of Blacks who are as nihilist as any turtleneck wearing, espresso sipping denizen of the Rive Gauche, desiring the defeat of the US because lots of White people would suffer, regardless of its affect on them.
Posted by: Bart at January 29, 2005 12:49 PM"We started our party with the express intent of protecting the American people from the Democrats' pro-slavery policies that expressly made people inferior to the state," Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) wrote in a letter printed on the calendar.
The letter continued: "Today, the animating spirit of the Republican Party is exactly the same as it was then: free people, free minds, free markets, free expression, and unlimited individual opportunity."
Stirring. Run ads saying that, and maybe we'll get somewhere.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at January 30, 2005 2:26 AM