black…MYstory

I guess I am not the only one who feels that the Republican overtures to black people lack any real substance or sincerity. Washington Post Columnist Eugene Robinson breaks it down on the Republican use of black folks as political cannon fodder in its attempts to court the black vote without putting forth any honest efforts to do so.

So, again, what is it that should make me want to vote Republican?

IT DIDN’T work. The Republican Party put up three high-profile black candidates to try to weaken the bond between the Democratic Party and African Americans, and all three got slammed by the voters, big time. After a week of reflection, maybe Ken Blackwell, Lynn Swann and Michael Steele have come to understand that they never were intended to be viable candidates. From the start, they were more like cannon fodder.

There is no reason why Republicans can’t someday win a big share of the African-American vote. All the GOP has to do is adopt policies that most black Americans believe will work to their advantage, rather than leave them behind. Oh, and Republicans also need to drop all those coded appeals to white racists, like the infamous “Playboy party” ad that helped defeat Democrat Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee.

Instead of making a legitimate play for the black vote, Republicans convinced themselves that tokenism would be enough. Judging from last Tuesday’s returns, they didn’t convince anybody else.

Popularity: 5% [?]