Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean spoke to the DNC’s African American Leadership summit and said that no longer could the party sit back and wait until 3 weeks before the election to ask minorities for their vote.
“In many ways, the Democratic Party hasn’t moved itself out of the ’60s and ’70s,” Dean said…
[…]
“If we don’t get smart about having folks on the ticket that look like the people whose votes were asking for, in meaningful positions of authority, then we’re not going to win. And the party that gets to do that first is the party that’s going to win,” Dean said.
Dead on, Mr. Dean. While the Republican Party is running candidates like Michael Steele, the Democrats are doing little more than paying lip service, if that, to the black community. The increase in the number of blacks who vote Republican is no accident. It is a concerted effort on the part of the Republican party, giving a voice as well as a seat at the table to blacks and other minorities. The number of black Republicans being elected continues to increase. As more and more of the black leadership becomes Republican, so will the rank and file.
Here we are seeing the effect of the inroads made by the Republicans in the black community. George Allen toured HU with the Republican president of the university, William Harvey. Creigh Deeds lost the Attorney General race by a very small number of votes, while the black pastor of a very large church here in Norfolk endorsed his Republican opponent, Bob McDonnell.
As it turns out, Mr. Dean, I had the pleasure of spending some time with a cousin of mine from Maryland. She’s the kind of voter any party would be proud to have as a member: well educated, intelligent and upper middle class. Guess what? She’s a registered Republican and plans to vote for Steele in November. When I questioned her about why she had changed her registration, it was almost as if she had read your statement above. She said she was tired of the party not providing her with a good black candidate to support. Sound familiar?
Let me be very clear: I have tremendous respect for the true conservatives within the Republican party. As an economic conservative myself, I agree with many of those principles. But true conservatives are not running that party today. So in its current incarnation, I do not believe that the Republican party serves the best interests of black Americans.
At the same time, I question the Democratic party’s commitment to the black community. Somehow, it seems that everyone thinks the “black community” is a monolithic group that has similar concerns. In my opinion, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The tie that binds the black community is that we are all black. Outside of that, our concerns vary, based on our own circumstances. Both parties seem to recognize this in whites, but ignore this when dealing with the black community.
Treating the black community as an afterthought is dangerous ground for the Democratic party and puts the relationship between the two in serious danger. Don’t just talk about it, Mr. Dean. Do something.
Technorati Tags: Dean, Democrats, Black voters
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
The Dems absolutely take the Black vote for granted. I have a perfect example. Recently, I was volunteering for a Back to School Night handing out lit for George Allen and Tom Davis at a highly respected NOVA High School (yes, I’m Republican and Black). My counterparts were there on the behalf of Webb, Hurst and Moran (I assume). As parents approached, the Democratic volunteers would say “Webb for Senate” as they gave out lit). On the couple of occassions when Black parents approached, my counterparts would say “vote for the Democrat” as they handed out lit. I was absolutely appalled and personally offended, that the Democratic volunteers would hold such low expectations for Blacks.
In addition to ideological issues, the Democrats obvious neglect of Black issues explains why I am now supporting Allen and Davis. Depsite what the media says and the mudslinging, Allen has brought millions to HBUCs and Davis is fighting for D.C. to have statehood.
Lesson: Don’t vote party lines. Vote for the candidates who actually champion your issues.
Vivian Paige — libertarian???
I like it!
Vivian Paige,
I believe you have hit the nail on the head!
The Republicans are not representing Black Americans (or other Americans either…unless they are connected with a corporation).
Hopefully, the Democratic party will wake up and not take anyone for granted.
It has been refreshing lately to see that the Republicans are also able to shoot themselves in the “feet” with pressure like the Foley scandal.
Buzz…Buzz…
“I have tremendous respect for the true conservatives within the Republican party. As an economic conservative myself, I agree with many of those principles. But true conservatives are not running that party today. So in its current incarnation, I do not believe that the Republican party serves the best interests of black Americans.”
Vivian, we’d love to have you come over and help true conservatives take control of the party. As I’ve previously said, any party should feel blessed to have you and I’d prefer to have you on the same side. Barring that, you are an honor to have as the loyal opposition.
Vivian… You hit the nail RIGHT on the head! When I was in Maryland I voted Erlich/Steele. The Democratic Party simply seemed to think that BECAUSE I’m Black, I’ll vote for them!
The fact is exactly as you put it… Repub Party has been co-opted by the RELIGOUS conservatives. It makes it hard to want to remain one. If the Party get’s its act together I will vote Republican more often… in the meantime and because I believe in checks/balances in the government I’m more likely to vote for Dem for Senate/House ONLY because the Republican leadership seem to give the Executive Branch carte blanche with whatever they want to do. None of the candidates stand out enough for me to care what they do when elected, just as long as they put the brakes on our out of control President.
Hell of a reason to vote ain’t it. I have to admit… I’m ashamed of my reasoning but there you have it! Oh… I know of at least 15 other locals who are doing the same thing… there’s GOT to be a msg in that somewhere!
BTW- 4THGipper, I cannot tell you how often I get the exact same response from DEM volunteers!
I see y’all had a good conversation while I was away today 🙂
Vivian, just in case no one on our side has mentioned it recently, we’re pretty happy to have you on our side of the aisle, too. Good talking shop with you yesterday.
Thanks so much, anon.
Come join us, Vivian! Lord knows we need more good conservatives vs. the bad ones!!!!!!
Hmm – marginalized with the devil I know or marginalized with the one I don’t. Hard choice 😉
Members of the Caucus during the 109th Congress
(All current Caucus members are Democrats.)
Sanford Bishop of Georgia
Corrine Brown of Florida
G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
Julia Carson of Indiana
Donna Christian-Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands
William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri
Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri
Jim Clyburn of South Carolina
John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan
Elijah Cummings of Maryland
Artur Davis of Alabama
Danny K. Davis of Illinois
Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania
Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee
Al Green of Texas
Alcee Hastings of Florida
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. of Illinois
William J. Jefferson of Louisiana
Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas
Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan
Barbara Lee of California
Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas
John Lewis of Georgia
Kendrick Meek of Florida
Gregory Meeks of New York
Juanita Millender-McDonald of California
Gwen Moore of Wisconsin
Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
Major Owens of New York
Donald Payne of New Jersey
Charles B. Rangel of New York
Bobby Rush of Illinois
Bobby Scott of Virginia
David Scott of Georgia
Bennie Thompson of Mississippi
Edolphus Towns of New York
Maxine Waters of California
Diane Watson of California
Mel Watt of North Carolina
Albert Wynn of Maryland
You’re saying that the party is not providing you with a good black candidate to support? You question the Democratic party’s commitment to the black community?
There are 40+ black members of congress, slightly less than 10% of the overall membership. Every single one is a Democrat. Maybe you think you could do better, but please don’t pretend that the Democratic party hasn’t made the effort to find candidates.
Vivian,
I think the 50 state project that Gov. Dean put in place made the Webb candidacy, despite its manifold flaws, viable. I believe that Gov. Dean gets it. The question is, has the Webb campaign finally gotten it? From the look of their ad campign, it looks like they have an inkling? What do y’all see on the ground?
I’m not saying that the Dems are entitled to your support, just that you overstate your case. Even if the Dems need improvement, the Republicans have a LONG way to go to catch up.
The Southern Strategy is still alive and well, don’t kid yourself. You’re talking about a party that called voters in the 2000 SC primary and asked “Are you aware that John McCain has a non-white child born out of wedlock?” What does that say?
Talk about the Devil you know…
Peter – you miss the overall point. Blacks are the only base vote remaining in the Democratic Party. I think Dean is recognizing this and I agree. The mere fact that George Allen is polling at somewhere around 20% of the black vote – after every racist charge under the sun has been thrown at him – should tell you that something is wrong in taking the black vote for granted.
Perhaps, in your less than 30 minutes of visiting my blog, you were unaware that I ran as a Democratic candidate last year. I can tell you – perspective is totally different on the inside than it is looking at it from the outside.