archived: 30 Jan - 5 Feb, 2005 Back Next
BUSH CHIPPING AWAY
Last week, TPJ analyzed the progress that Bush made in black voter support. – Black Evangelicals Bush is taking a two pronged approach; meeting with black elected officials and black evangelical pastors. Note who Bush actually met with first.
President Bush is opening the White House this week to black leaders including pastors and legislators, including a North Carolina lawmaker, in a second-term overture to a community that overwhelmingly opposed his re-election.
"I believe in fresh starts,'' said Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., new chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has had an adversarial relationship with Bush but has a chance to get off on a better footing at a meeting Wednesday.
The meeting with black lawmakers comes after Bush is to receive about 20 black pastors and other community leaders Tuesday afternoon at the White House. Bush administration officials would not reveal identities of those at the meeting except to say the group includes some of the president's black supporters.
Exit polls showed that Bush received just 11 percent of the black vote in November's election, a slight increase over the 9 percent he received four years earlier.
"This is an opportunity for the president to talk about our priorities and the agenda,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "It's also an opportunity for the president to listen to issues of interest to these leaders.''
During last year's political campaigns, Republican officials said they were making a more concerted effort to reach out to blacks through religious leaders. Bush campaign aides cited issues such as school vouchers and the president's support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that could help him gain more support among blacks.
Bush's efforts to steer more federal dollars to social programs conducted by so-called faith-based groups also has been received favorably by church leaders. – NBC 17
Bush is striking at the core constituencies of the Democratic Party. The article above notes Bush’s modest 2% increase in blacks support in the 2004 general election. However, as noted in TPJ’s article last week, the 2% national gain is deceiving as Bush’s increases ranged nearer to double digits in some critical states:
California +7%
Florida +6%
New Jersey +6%
North Carolina +5%
Ohio +7%
Pennsylvania +9%
This analysis is one of the best TPJ has found on the subject:
A Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies poll in 2004 found that blacks by a far larger margin than the overall population opposed gay marriage. That raised a few eyebrows among some political pundits, but there were much earlier signs of blacks' relentless hostility to gays and gay rights. A survey that measured black attitudes toward gays published in Jet magazine in 1994 found that a sizable number of blacks were suspicious and scornful of them. Many blacks also loathed Kerry's perceived support of abortion. In polls, Kerry got 20 percent less support from black conservative evangelicals than Democratic presidential contender Al Gore received in 2000.
In the right place and under the right circumstance, black evangelicals posed a stealth danger to Democrats. As it turned out, the right place for Bush was Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. These were must-win swing states, and Bush won them with a considerably higher percent of the black vote than he got in 2000. In Ohio, the gay marriage ban helped bump up the black vote for Bush by seven percentage points, to 16 percent. In Florida and Wisconsin, Republicans aggressively courted and wooed key black religious leaders. They dumped big bucks from Bush's Faith-Based Initiative program into church-run education and youth programs. Black church leaders not only endorsed Bush, but in some cases they actively worked for his re-election, and encouraged members of their congregations to do the same. – Alter Net
The Democratic Party at all levels must address the concerns of black evangelical voters. It presents a paradox for the Democratic Party, whose core base depends in large part on blacks of strong religious faith being courted by Republicans on “wedge” moral issues. It is a paradox that requires a resolution to prevent further erosion of this vital Democratic Party constituency.
CHAIRMAN DEAN
Gov. Dean appears to be picking up vital support to become Chairman of the DNC. Three developments this week demonstrate the momentum.
[First,] Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor whose appeal with minorities was questioned during his presidential race, won support Tuesday from several black Democratic National Committee members for his bid to be DNC chairman.
Dean, one of seven candidates for the chair position, won the support of Yvonne Atkinson Gates, chair of the DNC's black caucus, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois and Minyon Moore, a longtime DNC member and former aide to President Clinton. , , ,
[Second,] MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, announced plans to get involved in the race for DNC chair. The involvement of the group, which mounted an active Internet and grassroots effort during the presidential campaign, initially would seem to help Dean-- with the organization calling for election of a chair who will express "strong opposition to Republican extremism"-- though it also could help build opposition from the moderate wing of the party. – Chicago Sun-Times
Third, Clinton protégé Harold Ickes has endorsed Gov. Dean. His rationale:
Harold Ickes, a leading Democratic activist and former aide to President Clinton, said Friday he is backing Howard Dean to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee - giving a powerful boost to the front-runner.
``I think all the candidates who are running have strong attributes, but Dean has more of the attributes than the others,'' said Ickes, who considered running for chairman himself before dropping out in early January. ``Many people say Howard Dean is a northeastern liberal, he is progressive, but his tenure as governor of Vermont was that of a real moderate.''
Ickes, who heads the political action committee of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said the endorsement was his alone and ``does not reflect Sen. Clinton's opinion.''
While Ickes would not comment on the Clintons' preferences, he is a close ally and would not be endorsing Dean against their strong objections. No one was immediately available in Sen. Clinton's office to comment.
Ickes said Dean ``has a real ability to communicate with people in leadership, but also to grass-roots and average Americans. He understands the need for party building.''
Ickes' endorsement comes at a critical time in the chairman's race and gives Dean almost 50 of the more than 215 votes he would need to win the post. – Guardian Unlimited
Ickes endorsement is an important milestone for Gov. Dean. It is indicative that the Clintons will not lead an ABD (Anybody But Dean) campaign.
KERRY’S HEALTH CARE PLAN, PART 2
As noted in TPJ last week, Kerry Health Care Plan, Sen. Kerry unveiled his comprehensive health care plan for children this week.
"Today the president is in Ohio addressing health care, but his effort is the same window dressing, avoidance of reality that we've seen the last four years," the Massachusetts Democrat said.
Bush was in Cleveland Thursday talking about a plan for more computerization of medical records as a way to reduce medication errors and cut cots. . . .
"We shouldn't have to rely on a faith-based initiative for health care," Kerry said, taking another swipe at Bush, who has pushed for more funding for religious programs.
Kerry is pushing a proposal that would provide health care to all children through an expansion of the Medicaid program. The federal government would absorb states' costs for children at or below poverty level, to encourage states to expand coverage to children in families that make less than about $47,000. It would cover children up to the age of 21. – Yahoo
Sen. Kerry is asking for the help of citizens to get consideration of his bill:
It is totally unacceptable that, in the greatest country in the world, millions of children are not getting the health care they need. That's why this week I introduced the Kids Come First Act. Help me push through the Republicans' political roadblocks and take care of the 11 million children without health insurance.
Please co-sponsor my Kids Come First Act by clicking here:
http://www.johnkerry.com/KidsFirst
The Republican leadership will try to prevent this essential legislation from ever seeing the light of day. Help me gather one million co-signers for the Kids Come First Act, and we'll force them to act or to admit that they just don't care enough to act. Here's why it's so important to do something now:
1/4 of children are not fully up to date on their basic immunizations.
1/3 with chronic asthma do not get a prescription for medications they need.
1/2 of uninsured children have not had a well child visit in the past year.
1 in 6 has delayed or unmet medical needs.
1 in 5 has trouble accessing health care.
1 in 4 does not see a dentist annually.
1 in 3 had no health insurance during 2002 and 2003.
Take a moment to help the cause by endorsing Sen. Kerry’s bill at the hyperlink immediately above.
Last Update: 03/23/2006