Republicans And Blacks

[Terri]

By Thomas Sowell
April 10, 2008

If Senator John McCain needed to prove that he is a real Republican, he did it when he continued an old Republican tradition of utterly inept attempts to appeal to black voters.

Senator McCain was booed at a recent memorial on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In typical Republican fashion, he tried to apologize but the audience was not buying it and let him know it.

Why would Senator McCain choose a venue where his rejection was virtually guaranteed? Not only did he not get his message out, the message that came out through the media is that this black audience rejected him, which is readily portrayed as if blacks in general rejected him.

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[Jamble]

If only we could get Republicans to listen to Thomas Sowell and stop acting like erstaz liberals.

[jackbenimble]

I had just stumbled on this article over at the Washington Times and was headed to GOPUSA to post it. But here it is!

Thomas Sowel is a genius! Just occassionally I read one of his articles that doesn't quite hang together but usually his analysis is right on target and far more insightful then most of his peers. I would happily vote for Sowell for President.

In this case, he is making the argument that we should appeal to blacks by showing them how they would be helped by conservative ideas. He correctly points out that we have tried pandering al la Democrat-lite for three decades and it never works.


Sowell could easily extend this analysis to the GOPS growing penchant towards hispandering. It is not working and it is not going to work because nobody can outpander a RAT.

But the one flaw in Sowell's analysis is that he fails to note that the GOP is not running a conservative candidate who could believably present these conservative arguments. Instead we are running a Democrat-lite candidate and I guess it is not surprising that he is campaigning to minorities like a Democrat-lite. To put a finer point on this argument, I offer this:

McCain's Outreach Tour

[Rivenburg]

Sewells message to republicans could be reduced to this old saw: be yourself.

[Cynical Pete]

One thing for sure. The Blacks have just as much racial prejudice as any of the Whites.

[phillyfanatic]

jackbe is correct. The problem with John is that he and the RNC will never publish the conservative agendas of the GOP via Reagan in black media, circles or NET TV. The idea of lower taxes, a strong military, less regulations, vouchers for education, protected borders, liberty in economic opportunities would appeal to many blacks. The trouble is , the RNC is simply not good at communication.

[Suomi]

Dr. Sowell, will you please offer your services to the John McCain campaign? Surely there are people in his campaign staff who read your works and admire your thought process and see the value of your ideas. Some top advisory position for you as a way to get McCain to listen would greatly enhance Republican chances for victory. The extreme leftist who will be the competition to McCain will wreak havoc on this country.

[jaydull]

The Republican party had the opportunity to act in the 1950's in a way which would have not only shown black Americans that the GOP valued them, but that Republicans would act to break the back of segregation. Brownell, then Attorney General, took a position paper to Pres. Eisenhower. The paper recommended that Eisenhower fly to Little Rock, and take a black child by the hand and lead that child across the picket lines. At that point in our history, there was not an American who would attack the President who was also a WW II hero. Eisenhower replied that "This is grandstanding, and I won't do it." Instead, troops were sent in the allow black children to cross the picket lines. This is a fact for I knew the person who wrote that positionm paper and she personally related this information to me.
Think how things could have been -- the turmoil of the 1960's and 70's regarding desegration may have been averted had our then President taken bold action and personally become involved. He did not, and that is called a missed opportunity. Republicans lost the appeal to many blacks for they saw Democrats as being willing to take on legislation to provide equal opportunity, and noboby ever looked behind the legislation or the facts to see who really wanted to further black opportunity.

[bob1947]

This just goes to show how inept the Republican oparty has becone since Ronald Ragen. Just a bunch of butt kissers to the demacrats.I am for them.
They are clueless on what to do. They also have lost there way and became liberal light.
Extremely irate and losing faith fast.

[ddrinsp]

Excellent article, Mr. Sowell, and good advice. However, I'm not sure that any Republican candidate can appeal to the majority of black voters. As a 66-year old senior citizen, I have seen entire generations who have taken little responsibility for their own needs, much less take responsibility for their own actions. Being dependent upon the federal government has been readily endorsed by not only Democrats, but the liberal media and leftist groups who advocate socialism, communism, fascism and all kinds of other "isms" that further their own agenda. Until the American voter, whether black or white, realizes that dependence on the federal government is not the solution and only compounds our social ills, I see little chance of the majority of blacks voting the GOP candidate, no matter who he is!

If this posting seems racially insensitive, I am deeply sorry -- that most certainly was not my intention.