It’s been more than 40 years since African Americans fled the Republican Party in the wake of Barry Goldwater's threat to veto then-pending seminal civil rights legislation if he were elected president. He wasn't but a black Republican remains an oxymoron. Still, the GOP perennial -- “the year of the black Republican” -- is in full bloom.
In a recent column, American University Prof. Clarence Lusane poured water on the current crop of GOP black hopes. Prof. Lusane wrote:
The resistance of black voters to the Republican Party has little to do with color and everything to do with the party’s policies.
The Republican Party is trying to dress up in black face to win the fall elections.
Almost every year now is “the year of the black Republican,” according to party strategists. This year’s gang includes gubernatorial long shot candidates Ken Blackwell in Ohio and Lynn Swan in Pennsylvania. Two U.S. Senate hopefuls are Michael Steele in Maryland and Keith Butler in Michigan.
Swan is a political novice, and both Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell and Maryland Lt. Gov. Steele were beneficiaries of being on winning tickets. Butler is trailing by double digits. GOP officials want black Republican candidates in blue states to siphon off just enough black votes from Democrats to squeak across the finish line first.
To do so, they are playing up abortion and gay-rights issues. But the black electorate as a whole has a passionate distaste for the Republican Party, and Bush in particular.
A May 26 Gallup Poll indicated that black support for Bush had dropped to 11 percent. He is inching closer to Ronald Reagan for the title of black America’s most disliked president…
The resistance of black voters to the Republican Party has little to do with the color of the candidates and everything to do with the nature of the party’s policies. This includes the twin calamities of Katrina and Iraq, as well as affirmative action, tax cuts, the minimum wage, immigration and education.
When it’s not lobbing “Hail, Mary” plays -- such as the nominations of Swan and Butler for office -- the party is working on token politics to undermine the black vote (and here).
And that’s a bitter taste that lingers for many black voters.
Typically, opining that the GOP is making headway is little more than a marketing strategy to get more speaking engagements.
