Blacks Unhappy Over Racial Makeup
Posted on: Thursday, 4 September 2008, 12:00 CDT
In a rapidly diversifying nation, U.S. Republicans presented a nearly entirely white convention -- and African-American delegates say they can't ignore it.
Black delegates say they find it depressing and evidence of what they call one of their party's biggest shortcomings. Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor in St. Paul, Minn., are black.
"It's hard to look around and not get frustrated," Michael Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland, told the Washington Post. Steele is the only African-American scheduled to address the convention in prime time.
Republicans spent much of the past decade working to improve their minority outreach, particularly to blacks and Hispanics.
But, several Republicans said some major setbacks, including an anti-GOP national mood, anger over the Hurricane Katrina response and the Democratic nomination of Barack Obama, have hurt their efforts.
Party leaders say they think John McCain can still win with the kind of demographics on display in St. Paul.
In an interview with Washington Post reporters and editors, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis outlined a strategy of targeting women and white working-class voters and essentially ceding the black vote.
Source: United Press International
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User Comments (1)
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Posted by Jason Schnur on 09/09/2008, 16:01 How far do you go to attract minorities? The republican party is one of individual freedom and self reliance and the African American culture is one of the freebie. It is hard to teach someone to rely on themselves when they have been taught culturally that they can't succeed by the very people they are looking to for assistance. The dems are a party of minority enslavement and the very ones enslaved don't recognize this. Also, let's be honest, it is easier to sit and wait for "help" than to risk failure on your own. If "the man" is your provider, then he can take the blame for your lack of progress. |
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