tacitus
08-28-2005, 08:40 AM
GOP ratchets upbid to woo blacks (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050828-124926-2718r.htm)
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 28, 2005
<hr>Blacks in both major political parties have felt "marginalized" for decades, but Republicans hope a new strategy will help them reach out to black voters and politicians.
Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican Party, formed the "Give Us a Chance and We'll Give You a Choice" strategy after the 2004 election showed gains for President Bush among black voters.
More than a dozen black politicians are running on the Republican ticket in 2006 for Senate and House seats, governorships and other statewide races.
It could turn out to be the most diverse Republican slate since the mid-1990s, said J.C. Watts Jr., chairman of GOPAC, a Republican political action committee. Mr. Watts won a House seat in Oklahoma in 1994, becoming the first black Republican to reach Congress since Sen. Edward W. Brooke III, Massachusetts Republican, who served from 1967 to 1979.
"I've often said that most black people don't think alike, most black people just vote alike, and if Republicans understood black people better, you would have 70 to 75 percent of black people voting Republican," Mr. Watts said.
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 28, 2005
<hr>Blacks in both major political parties have felt "marginalized" for decades, but Republicans hope a new strategy will help them reach out to black voters and politicians.
Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican Party, formed the "Give Us a Chance and We'll Give You a Choice" strategy after the 2004 election showed gains for President Bush among black voters.
More than a dozen black politicians are running on the Republican ticket in 2006 for Senate and House seats, governorships and other statewide races.
It could turn out to be the most diverse Republican slate since the mid-1990s, said J.C. Watts Jr., chairman of GOPAC, a Republican political action committee. Mr. Watts won a House seat in Oklahoma in 1994, becoming the first black Republican to reach Congress since Sen. Edward W. Brooke III, Massachusetts Republican, who served from 1967 to 1979.
"I've often said that most black people don't think alike, most black people just vote alike, and if Republicans understood black people better, you would have 70 to 75 percent of black people voting Republican," Mr. Watts said.