Jack & Jill Politics

h/t to BlackPoliticsontheWeb.com

Just read this interesting insight into those wacky black Republicans’ minds these days. What are they thinkin’ bout Obama vs. McCain? Well, apparently, they are feeling dissed and marginalized by the McCain Campaign and searching for a home. To which I say, hey, feel free to cross right back over to Obama.

Here’s the dope from Yvonne R. Davis who is a former national co-chair for African Americans for Bush and a former appointee in the Bush Administration (I know, I know — that poor woman. God only what she’s seen). An excerpt from her piece:

African American Republicans are worried about their place in the Republican Party. There is fear and great trepidation on how inclusive the party of Lincoln will be when President George W. Bush leaves office next January.

I have received a number of anonymous emails from Black Elephant office holders from around the country and I have been a part of some clandestine meetings and conference calls with a number of prominent African American Republicans from Texas to Washington, DC who repeatedly ask: What is going to happen to us? There is no confidence Senator John McCain will do anything to embrace this group. Afraid to come out of the closet for Obama, most are silently breaking for him.

Although President Bush’s national approval rating is under 30 percent, when it comes to African American Republicans, his approval ratings soar through the roof. He is perceived as the only Republican president since Richard Nixon to actively reach out and include African Americans. Bush’s historical appointments of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to the Secretary of State spot as well as other key appointments throughout his Administration helped garner this support. President Bush did more than pepper blacks throughout his Administration. Many of us felt he was personally committed.

Senator McCain said he would like to reach out to African Americans. However, his campaign has done no more than hold some private meetings with a few black Republicans who are trying to figure out how they can play with McCain. Minus a couple of black folks seen with him on the campaign trail, you still don’t see many in the room with McCain when he is meeting and greeting or standing in crowds.

What you see with McCain are packs of what Ron Heifetz in the Harvard Executive Leadership School calls older “silverback” white males. When President Bush was on the stump in 2000 and 2004, and later in the White House, African American Republicans often heard that President Bush strongly admonished his staff for inviting the same old white guys to everything.

The McCain campaign recently launched a web site in all Spanish to woo the Latino vote Bush courted and enjoyed. McCain has a formidable advisory board of Latino leaders from across the country. He should. Latinos do vote Republican and yes they are the fastest growing minority group. However, the McCain web site does not showcase African Americans for McCain. Maybe he will wait until after the RNC Convention in September.

When Karl Rove ran the Bush operation, he was smart enough to know it made good political sense to reach out to African Americans even though the black vote meant very little to his candidate’s victory. He expended dollars on black press, hired black consultants, partnered with organizations and black churches to promote education and faith-based agendas and empowered a significant number of black Republicans, peppering them throughout the campaign from grass roots to finance. When President Bush traveled from state to state, there were always African Americans involved. You never saw so many black dots as at the 2000 and 2004 Republican National Conventions.