Barack Obama is doing something that no politician has done in 50 years. He is making black voters politically relevant again. Blacks have been largely irrelevant to the political discussion for much of the last 50 years. Not that they haven’t been important on Election Day. On the contrary, the black vote has been very important on Election Day for decades. It’s the black voters who have been invisible.
The black vote has been relevant to the success of Democrats for years – without the black vote Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all would have lost, not to mention countless down ticket Democrats. Black voters… not so much. Why? Because they are taken for granted. Across the country, across economic lines, in almost any election, blacks vote for Democrats 85% of the time… or more! Black voters (as in the people themselves) are of little importance to Democrats because they understand that regardless of the policies the party puts forth, 85% of black votes will come down in the Democrat column.
For years Democrats simply had to ensure blacks voted, they didn’t actually have to compete for their votes. Democrats knew that if they just got out the black vote, it was theirs. The beauty of this for Democrats is that they didn’t have to worry about discussing policies that might actually help black voters, might improve their lives, might address issues important to them. No, all they had to do was paint their GOP opponents as racists who would somehow repeal various Civil Rights Acts and then the black vote would be delivered. Sound familiar?
And it’s easy to see why blacks have been so loyal to the Democrats over the last five decades. The education gap has disappeared. Black unemployment is equal to the general population. Crime is no longer a concern in Democrat strongholds like Detroit, Gary, and Baltimore. The poverty rate and out of wedlock rate for blacks are the lowest in a generation… Oh, wait, none of those things are true.
The $64,000 question is, what have black voters gotten in exchange for their loyalty to the Democrats. I’d argue, not much.
That is where Barack Obama comes in. By demonstrating with unparalleled clarity the absolute inability of the Democrat / progressive / liberal agenda to make the lives of citizens better, and indeed its penchant for making them worse, I believe he has finally done what the GOP could not: Break the Democrat’s monopoly on black voters.
This might sound oxymoronic, but I believe that Barack Obama may be the Moses who (accidentally) leads black voters to the Promised Land. In this case the Promised Land is not beyond some body of water, but rather it is the garden of success that can be built in their own communities.
And how is he doing that? By focusing the country’s attention on the feckless and, frankly, the pernicious nature of the liberal agenda he will have loosened the grip Democrats have on black voters. They, like so many others in the country will be asking themselves, is there something else, is there an alternative to these failed policies. Not that I imagine black voters will be jumping to the GOP in droves starting tomorrow. No, it will take time, but thanks to Barack Obama, conversations will begin.
The beauty of this is that unlike the Democrats, the GOP doesn’t need to pander to black voters with a platform built on racial grievances and a race based agenda. No, the GOP can focus on blacks as Americans as opposed to the the Democrat policy of focusing on blacks as blacks.
How can the GOP take advantage of the opportunity that Barack Obama has placed at their feet? By reaching out to black voters in places where they have rarely done so. They should buy advertising and pursue interviews on urban radio stations. They should advertise in magazines and various other media that target a black demographic. They should seek to bring their message to groups like the NAACP and the National Bar Association. Importantly, what I didn’t say was that they should change their message.
With the rise of the Tea Party influence, the GOP may finally be able to make inroads with black voters. Conservatives understand that government is the problem and not the solution to problems in America in general and in the black community (to the degree that such a thing exists) in particular.
By focusing on the notion of free market solutions to American problems, the GOP can make itself a viable alternative for black voters. School choice, vouchers and other kinds of education reform have the potential to help black families far more than virtually anything else in the country. Low taxes and reduced regulation are fundamental elements to inducing entrepreneurs and investors to take risks by starting new companies or by expanding existing ones, both of which entail the creation of jobs. With black unemployment 60% higher than the national average, such investments and jobs are particularly important to black voters.
This November, if history is any gauge, 85% of black votes will go to Democrats. Nonetheless, the GOP should not look at that as a lost constituency, but rather as an opportunity that represents 12% of the American population. Black Americans are more American than they are black – a black teenager in St. Louis or LA has much more in common with a white kid from Chicago or Seattle than he does with someone growing up in Liberia or South Africa. As such, the GOP should proactively reach out and make the argument that small government, low taxes and private enterprise are the foundation of success in America for everyone, including blacks stuck in the fog of Democrat / progressive failure. Straightforward discourse on policies that offer everyone the opportunity to succeed in the pursuit of the American dream. Now that’s real relevance.
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No, pal. It wasn’t the black vote that put Hussein in the White House. It was the WOMEN’S vote, most of whom were WHITE women. Were it up to males, McCain–as weak and pathetic as he is–would be president and the nation would NOT be in peril. So we have a great many, typical female air-heads to thank for 10% unemployment and the advent of the Marxist state. God willing, these paragons of imbecility will STAY HOME on November 2nd. Perhaps a 70% day off at the beauty parlor can be arranged…or Oprah’s 10 BEST…the first All MY Children…or MOST effective, allow only competent DRIVERS on the road!!!
OldPuppyMax, I beg to differ on something you said about McCain.
McCain winning that election would have been the final dagger for the Republican party. We would be in almost the EXACT peril we are in now. Guess what, the republicans would again be the party to blame. Thank God he didn’t win that election. We need true conservatives. Not wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Back to my original comment on this fine article. I agree 100%. If I was a black man, I would be in contact with the Tea Party and getting very involved. Now is the time for a conservative black standout. That has real political equity.
The Liberal Elite and Black Intellectual Serfdom
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/the_liberal_elite_and_black_in.html
Yes, Black people have not gotten anything from the Dems . . . except the presidency! LOL!
Seriously, lotsa conservative groupthink here. But here is a hint — until you cons figure out a way to appeal to my friend the gynecologist (Black female late 40s, kid in private school, lives in $300,000 brick house, drives a Saab) Blacks will continue to vote Dem.
The better question than where Dems have supposedly failed Black voters, is to ask the reverse: what have GOPers done for Black voters? What did Black voters get out of six years of solid GOPer control of the House, the Senate and the White House? What did they get from the Reagan, Bush I and Bush II administrations? Ignore the mote in the Dems eye and concentrate on the 9 foot long 2X4 in your own eye, cons.
Lastly, I think this is a distraction from the obvious issues the GOPers have with a larger, faster growing racial group (Latinos) and the smaller but disproportionately affluent Asians and South Asians. Asians and South Asians went for Obama at about 67%, Latinos were in the 70% range. Why do you think the GOP was so rejected by Asians and South Asians?
Just heard a friend’s brother, a Mexican-American GOP county official, on our NPR station this morning discussing the growing Latino population. They were not even discussing illegal immigration, but he had to toss in the GOP opposition to illegals. Now we are in a county and a state where the population is flat and aging. The subject was the growing number of Latinos who were, in essence, replacing the aging Black and White populations who were moving into assisted living, moving to Florida, or dying — and he wants to talk about how bad we have 12 million illegals in America? The tin ear just cracked me up! And this is a Latino GOPer, not some clueless gringo!
What liberals have done to the black community over the last forty years is something their Jim Crow loving predecessors could only dream of.
kj —
Yes, I agree! Because everything was SO GREAT during Jim Crow.
Here is a suggestion: if you are actually interested in what has and has not happened vis a vis government policy, read “Freedom is not enough,” by Prof. James Patterson. It explains exactly what the state of affairs was BEFORE the Great Society and why there was even any discussion about adopting policies at the federal level to address Black poverty.
Great post and good comments.
I especially liked the article from #3.
I also read a good article about the history of the black vote – by a black writer yesterday.
Eugene Robinson likens how Dems rely on a ~90% black vote as like monopolies which inevitably take their customers for granted.
So true!
With the choice of Barry Goldwater Republicans had tried to capitalize on the racial fears and grievances of Southern whites — by letting black voters drift away from the GOP, and even encouraging them to stay away.
Well, for years it worked.
However we are entering a new era.
Free-thinking black voters are joining TEA parties and voting both Independent AND Republican!
Maybe we will see a backlash to the name-calling by Dems of those blacks who do so.
Yes, Black people have not gotten anything from the Dems . . . except the presidency! LOL!
b-rob.. I thought the presidency was supposed to belong to all Americans?
When African American women are having forty three percent of the abortions in this country I think you can safely say modern liberalism has killed more blacks than Jim Crow ever did
@B-Rob:
One of your questions from another thread.
Now you know how we know, it comes from your big mouth.
@ B-Rob, FDR gave them Cabrini Green Housing in Chicago (1942) among other HUD Housing projects that were located in St. Louis, Atlanta, NYC & NJ and you have to admire what a collection of gifts they were. I can cite other examples in case your memory needs a jump start.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini%E2%80%93Green
In September the U.S. Department of Labor said we had a national unemployment rate of 9.6%
But for blacks in America it was 16.3%.
A writer in Black Wealth Magazine wrote a pre-/post-Obama comparison:
Not long ago, Memphis, where a majority of residents are black the city saw a rising black working and middle class. Now rising unemployment and growing foreclosures have combined to destroy black wealth and income.
Tait Russel writes about how Obama hurts black Americans:
Obama has hurt his fellow blacks is by dumping billions more dollars in welfare programs which take away responsibility and initiative from those who have grown dependent on the myriad subsidies.
Today, a record one in six Americans is a recipient of federal anti-poverty programs. ….
But also to make them serfs of the Democrat-led governing body. ….
More than 4.4 million people are on welfare. Roughly half of them are black.
….
Conservatives fear the safety net will be difficult to shrink even when the recession ends.
Some African-Americans by that time may have lost the will to fend for themselves.
To make matters worse President Obama‘s FY 2011 budget request would increase welfare spending by $953 billion, 42 percent increase over FY 2008.
The way Obama may hurt blacks the most, however, is by showing his incompetence.
@ Missy, He knows nothing about anyone that bootstrapped themselves to posterity without benefit of Affirmative Action or those that made their own successful life without playing the race card? Dare I use the word Merit here?
Naw…Why bother…I never considered myself to be a hyphenated American and have a fair modicum of success without resorting to my heritage as a crutch. My ancestors were the Original Americans, destroyed Custer’s 7th Cavalry and were placed on reservations long after the Emancipation Proclamation. Let him try medical treatment at a BIA Facility or sample life on a Reservation.
My Grand Dad was educated at Carlysle, cowboyed in Montana and Wyoming and bought a piece of ground, a few cattle and made it on hard work and merit. I was taught those values and was spanked soundly for fighting at school for someone calling me “Chief”. My Grand Dad told me not to reward ignorance with bad behavior before he lit into me. B-Rob is a real piece of work and forms assumptions based on his limited views, ignorance and bias.
BTW, no one calls me “Chief” today. Some call me Colonel and some call me Mister.
LBJ’s Great Society programs did more to hurt the Nation and perpetuate racism than it ever did to bring any prosperity to the Republic.
Challenge that…
I cite myself and LTC Allen West as examples of those that succeeded on merit.
@Old Trooper 2:
I personally do not know anyone that doesn’t want every member of our society to succeed, since Johnson and the Moynahan Report, for over 40 years….. the liberal way has failed.
Anything “cons” would bring to the table would be twisted into some sort of a racial attack. Sadly, it’s been a liberal lust for power and opm that have kept a portion of our society down, nothing has advanced, the stats are worse.
Soon, they will have many like Allen West and Charles Lollar to reckon with. Fatherless homes will have examples of strength, honesty and courage as examples.
The Democrats treat women the same way, and shame on so many of us (not me), we vote for them anyway. Women completely sold Hillary out in 2008 and where did that get them? NOW was exposed as irrelevant and MS put Obama on it’s cover as the “face of Feminism” – a mistake people are STILL laughing at them for.
Many of us did jump ship in 2008. I voted McCain/Palin because there was a woman on the ticket. I will vote for ONE democrat next month – my female senator – but no others.
I follow the Tea Party but my concern with them is that they might become GOP light, bringing in that party’s bigotry and Christian bias.
One thing is clear, it’s time to stop voting along party lines. 2008 taught many of us to own our vote, and cast it for the candidate from any party that matches our criteria. Obama has ruined the Democratic party and they have no one to blame but themselves. Their arrogance when they sold out Hillary, derided her base, laundered dirty campaign money openly because they knew the lamestream media wouldn’t even cover that – and they still haven’t – all to put someone in the White House who wasn’t up to the job and remains over his head today, two years in.
@ Missy, the use of the word “con” has become the new N-Word lately by those that oppose reduction of spending, taxes and fiscal responsibility in Government. I am neither a Republican or a Democrat but I am a Conservative to the bone and an Independent as neither Party can claim a lack of responsibility on the Economy. However, any clown that leads out with the phrase “con” shows me their economic illiteracy, their ignorance of the current realities and lack of civility.
I am pretty thick skinned on a lot of issues but “Con” refers to guilt of some sort, as in Convict.
I reckon that I am guilty of being judgmental in that regard. For that I will not apologize but I do not want irresponsible folks in Leadership Roles in this Nation that can’t balance the budget, won’t perform their Duties in accordance with the Constitution, enforce existing Laws, recognize the separation of Powers between Federal and State Governments, send Troopers off to Wars that they do not intend to Win and keep their noses in the Public trough too long. I despise Career Politicians that leave office as Millionaires when they were of only modest means when they entered but cannot balance the Nation’s checkbook.
My shortcomings here. We folks from Montana don’t need Our Communities Organized unless We do it Ourselves.
@ Jae, I vote for competent folks regardless of race, religion or gender. There is too much at stake to do otherwise. So far neither Party has a lot to crow about.
#4
Another blathering, unverified, anecdotal tale …
Go finish your paper route bub…
There is no way afro-Americans are going to vote R. None. However there is a rising group of Black Americans who are soon to be legistators and fine people too.
I do resent any talk of what has the GOP done for afros, its not the govorments concern to gift certain races at the cost of others. The New GOP can only offer to all Americans, the chance to be Americans equally.
SF Trooper…
Obama, Sharpton, Jackson continue to do damage to the black community by instilling and reinforcing percepts of “inferiority” on it. They made careers of it. You don’t hear them urging the black community to take responsibility for themselves and become entrepreneurs, for example. You hear whining, and you hear clamouring for “get what you’re owed” just for being black and having been oppressed. That’s no way to get out of the shadows.
Sadly, these attitudes are spread and perpetrated by the MSM (daily by the likes of CNN) on black audiences. The Victim message got traction because it has been pounded into the minds of the black community at high decibels. You can go back and revisit previous political campaigns such as Clinton’s, and assess how effectively the Democratic hustle of the black community was implemented. Obama’s pronouncements are probably the most obnoxious and embarrassing . While he may hold disdain for caucasians, he treats black with an evident lack of respect – a respect they should be shown by any President.
The consistent abuse of blacks by “their own” OF “their own” has no parallel in any other racial group in the country.
Careful Tom in CA. You are giving paper carriers everywhere a bad name…
Nice piece, Vince.
Perhaps if we look at the “effects” of equal opportunity, especially in the area of education we can see some tangible results. Even from the perspective that our education system is very inefficient and rife with progressiveism . . . there comes a time when the “rational mind” exerts control over the “emotional”. I will to some extent agree that the education system has failed, as the results do indicate a very low success rate . . . however . . . there are those instances of “singularity” of success and those instances are growing in number. Today, I believe that people of multi-racial background are the stew that makes up this country, being in skin color a rainbow of hues. I say this knowing that this has always been the condition of this country.
Thus, we see a “BECOMING” . . . this means that as the perspectives and intuition of the of an isolation of humanity increases . . . that the members of such isolation . . . do through the intuitive processes, come to grips with the emotion and transition into rational.
Our African-American brother citizens are becoming more alert, aware and motivated by the rational aspects of the American Dream . . . thus the self-empower movement means that they seperate themselves from the droves and become “individuals”.
Conservatism is “self-empowerment”.
@ Missy —
You might want to rewrite your post to me; it makes no sense whatsoever.
If you go back to the post from the other dat, Old Trooper was injecting HIS RACE into a discussion and declaring that, as an American Indian, no one that I knew had faced as much discrimination as he. I challenged him with a friend’s mom, who escaped the Holocaust, and people I know who were Black and lived in the Jim Crow South. Old Trooper, of course, did not respond.
You will never see me posting anything about how I have suffered more than anyone on any level. Because, to be honest, I have led a fairly charmed life. So I would NEVER post something as sefl-reverential and self-referential as what Old Trooper posted . . . but that’s just me.
@ kj —
This makes no sense. “Liberalism” doesn’t cause a female to get an abortion. Being pregnant and unprepared causes that. Now if you pro-lifers REALLY wanted to reduce the number of abortions, you would support more birth control and you would support a French-style social safety net that would induce pregnant women not to abort because their material needs (food, shelter, health care, etc.) and the babies needs would be cared for. But you pro-lifers are NOT really against abortion. Which is why you can simultaneously call yourself pro-life, but oppose the very policies that WOULD decrease the numbe rof abortions, such as more welfare spending on health care and birth control, too.
Old Trooper —
“Cons” the new “N-word”? God, you people are such wimps! The day the word “conservative” has the same social history as the word “n*gger” is the day you can whine about the “insult” of being called a con.
I refer to you as cons because it is short for “conservative.” Some of you do advocate criminal conduct (like Sharon Angle boasting about “exercising Second Amendment rights” against Harry Reid and the ELECTED Dem majority), while others of you are caught engaging in criminal conduct (both of the men’s room confrontation type, paying off a mistress, soliciting hookers, misusing government computers for political purposes, bribery, etc.) And some of you do support the con game being run by the GOPers now, where you complaind about the deficit, you advocate cutting tax revenues but won’t say what spending you will cut to decrease the deficit as you decrease revenues. So I think “con” is a more than fitting shorthand for conservatives.
@ B-Rob, I hold myself to a higher standard than most folks. Advocating violence through Second Amendment is uncalled for as are Nightsticks carried by New Black Panther thugs outside polling places. I have never committed any of the offenses that you mention and resent the assumptions that you make here in that regard. I am a Retired 0-6 and did not get there by criminal activity.
Any of those offenses would cancel my pension anyway, which is about 15% of my income anyway.
Resorting to name calling seems not to be above your standards though. I am neither a Democrat or a Republican, however, I desire a smaller Government and a more austere budget, elimination of discretionary spending, adherence to Constitutional Limits on powers of Federal; Government as well as some sense of Fiscal Prudence. I’m for the total elimination of Earmarks as well.
Since I know that I am not dealing with someone that shares any of my core values it is laughable for me to respond to any of your ridiculous postings. It appears that the Legislative Majority is going to undergo a return to sanity due to the total incompetence, waste, fraud and abuse that the Current Regine has made their signature.
Folks like you defend the clowns that have committed the offenses that you presented here, for a living, so any change in ethics would be kicking over your rice bowl.
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.
I find the concept of Conservative Blacks with a military background to be an exciting element of the contemporary political situation. They are not trapped in the Progressive Socialist net of perpetual victimhood being promoted by Sharpton and Jackson; hopefully, they will be an inspiration to thousands of Blacks who are caught in the pathetic whirlpool of feeling sorry for their lack of success or initiative. Unfortunately, Blacks have been exposed to professional athletes of sometimes dubious integrity and political radicals and race baiters as role models; now, with role models like West and Lollar, there can be real inspiration and pride.
OT, for some reason, it never occurred to me to refer to you as chief.
Yes, you can unload on me Brob about not knowing the true nature of the Black experience, but please try not to look stupid.
As long as the blacks are ex-military they might get a chance to be an exciting part of politics.
But Obama is doing all he can to cut off the military vote….of any color who serves overseas.
Just last night Jose Gil Hernandez Ramirez, a Texas National Guardsman was shot dead in Mexico, at the border town of Ciudad Juarez.
Where’s Obama?
As far as he’s concerned our men and women in the National Guard can die rather than our border be properly protected.
And Mexico should be an “OFF-LIMITS” area for all Americans serving in the military.
That alone would have saved Jose’s life.
@ Nan G, Ciudad Juarez is currently “Off Limits” and has been for months due to the frequent murder and mayhem that occurs there. That Soldier took a risk and paid for it. There are a lot of southern border towns that are less safe than Kabul or Kandahar right now and I do not recommend visits to that place unless you have a death wish. The US State Department has issued Travel Advisories for a great many places that are potentially not safe.
A US Passport is not a bulletproof deal anymore. Unsecured Borders and minimal respect for the US in that neck of the woods results from the current Relations that the Current Regime embraces.
No sanctions, no Border Enforcement, no problem for the Criminals that accomplish these deeds.
I’m sure that the State Department will issue an apology for American blood shed in the streets of
Juarez and that seems to be the way it is. That Soldier had no business being there if it was declared a no fly zone by the Military.
@Silly Rob: You said:
Then you get what you pay for – an explosion of single mothers. No the answer is to empower people and help them get off of welfare. That is what the Republican Congress (and Bill Clinton being dragged to it, kicking and screaming) did in the ’90s. They reformed welfare and reduced the welfare roles by half. They discovered an odd thing – if you give people jobs and treat them with respect, they begin to respect themselves and start working towards a better life. THAT is true hope and change.
It kinda sounds like the free range ranchers letting the cattle roam the range until it is time to round them up and brand them or sell them.
Bottom line in my estimation, the sooner We become a nation of just Americans and not hyphenated ones, the stronger the Nation will be and those that make their living perpetuating racism will be seeking more legitimate and less divisive ways to spend their time. I’d like to see Affirmative Action go away as the old Jim Crow Laws did. That would really level the playing field.
@Old Trooper 2: You reminded me of something I would like to see over many generations. The different races intermarry generation after generation so that eventually everyone is every race. There wouldn’t be any racism because they would be hating themselves.