Something they want and won't get from the Dems, Vouchers, vouchers vouchers,vouchers.

I actually wonder if the GOP is closer to African-American values than many people want to admit. Blacks, for example, were strongly in support of Prop 8 in California. Just because they vote--perhaps wisely--for Democrats because of issues like affirmative action does not mean they see eye-to-eye with white Democrats. Noah ought to look a bit more deeply beyond the "racism!" stuff, and vouchers are a good example.

Do you seriously think that the GOP offers anything substantive to black people? This is the party that wanted to stomp them into oblivion. They denied civil rights, then had the "southern strategy" of pandering to racist white southerners and then when a black man is up for president, they claim he is "unamerican" and a "terrorist" and that people who vote for him aren't living in "real America". As a white male from Mississippi who voted for Obama, it sickens me that only 1/10 of us could support a black man for president. I really thought my state had a chance of turning blue, when it almost grows MORE red. Kerry and Gore each had far better support from whites (see <link> Turns out the hope of an Obama victory was a pipe dream, all because racists in my state couldn't even let 20% of the white vote go to Obama (http://www.dailykos.com/story­only/2008/5/18/115022/815). "That's less polarized, however, than the 2000 Presidential results in Mississippi. Gore won 96-3 (!) among blacks, but Bush captured the state easily (58-41 overall) by winning 81-17 among whites." - <link>

geori:

Do you seriously think that the GOP offers anything substantive to black people? This is the party that wanted to stomp them into oblivion.

Like that Republican president Abraham Lincoln?

You're right! Golly, if only Lincoln could run again ...

I dont think it is clear they want vouchers, it would depend very heavily on what those vouchers looked like. A voucher paying for half of tuition at a private school is no good to 60% of the populace.

Saru:

I actually wonder if the GOP is closer to African-American values than many people want to admit. Blacks, for example, were strongly in support of Prop 8 in California. Just because they vote--perhaps wisely--for Democrats because of issues like affirmative action does not mean they see eye-to-eye with white Democrats. Noah ought to look a bit more deeply beyond the "racism!" stuff, and vouchers are a good example.

Excellent point. Many pundits seem lost on the point that people can be quite conservative in certain areas, but liberal in others.

Both parties chase minority votes, but they don't always seem to think ahead to what changes this will eventually bring to their parties. The Dems court Hispanics very heavily, but that tends to be a very pro-life, pro-Christian demographic that certainly isn't lock-step with their social platform. I wonder if they think the party will change the Hispanics, rather than the opposite being the case?

It's an interesting situation. There are indeed many aspects of the GOP that the majority of African-Americans and Latinos would find attractive. Many Blacks and Lations are religious and socially conservative (see CA Prop 8 vote). I think minority small business owners, as well, are in favor of lower taxes; people that own beauty shops/funeral parlors/liqour stores/vending stands (in addition to more mainstream businesses).

On the whole I think affirmative action tends to be a much marger concern for White people than Blacks. While many Blacks support affirmative action, I don't think many Blacks are willing to march over it (see Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice support for affirmative action w/o being married to the issue). White supporters and opponents of affirmative action, on the other hand (opponents in particular) seem far more energized over the issue of affirmative action today.

The sticking point though for Blacks and now Latinos is the perception of hostility from the GOP. It's pretty simple actually: If people think your party doesn;t like them or want them, they tend not to be willing to give you their votes. For Blacks this hostility goes back to the Civil Rights movement and the Southern Strategy. For Latinos, I think the hostility (or perception of hostilty) is more recent; manifested in the anti-immigration fervor of the GOP base in recent years.

I don't think vouchers will sway too many Blacks and Latinos. AS another psoter mentioned; many minorities couldn't afford the cost of the remaining tuition and books that is left over after the voucher. I think more minorities want the publci schools to be cleaned up and improved.

Just an interesting fact about Republicans supposedly wanting to stopm African-Americans into oblivion: 80% of house Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act; 63% of Democrats did. 82% of senate Republicans voted for it; 69% of Democrats did. The GOP gets its bad reputation on Civil Rights mainly from (1) Barry Goldwater, who voted against it on principals (regarding the role of the federal government), not any antipathy towards blacks; and (2) the Southern Democrats who, after 1964, slowly became Southern Republicans.

I think its fair to say that black support for Democrats is based on two main factors: (1) Johnson's courageous stand for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and (2) the Republican party's seeming indifference to the plight of poor people.

mewfert:

Just an interesting fact about Republicans supposedly wanting to stopm African-Americans into oblivion: 80% of house Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act; 63% of Democrats did. 82% of senate Republicans voted for it; 69% of Democrats did. The GOP gets its bad reputation on Civil Rights mainly from (1) Barry Goldwater, who voted against it on principals (regarding the role of the federal government), not any antipathy towards blacks; and (2) the Southern Democrats who, after 1964, slowly became Southern Republicans.

I think its fair to say that black support for Democrats is based on two main factors: (1) Johnson's courageous stand for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and (2) the Republican party's seeming indifference to the plight of poor people.

I would add (3) perception of hostility from the GOP through the Southern Strategy (e.g. harsh poltical ads like the Henry Ford "call me" attacks; Obama is a muslim; Welfare queens; etc)

I'm an African-American independent, but everyone in my entire extended family is a Democrat. We are all Christian (evangelical and catholic), all pro-life, mostly against gay marriage. I would say that most voting Black people are actually pretty socially conservative. The main reason why these socially conservative voters don't go for the GOP is perceived racism. I think of people saying things like "the other folks are voting," the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the insinuations against McCain in 2000 about him fathering a black child, the welfare queen image, etc. The GOP can't consistently insult a block of people and then expect their vote.

Also, as I'm sure most people have noticed, Republicans have been doing a bad job on the national scale lately. So if Black people have to choose between a party that will insult them to their face and ignore their concerns or a party that doesn't not match their values exactly but will at least pretend to fight for them, it shouldn't be surprising that we go Democratic.

I personally don't like either party all the much.

It's sad that you have to go that far back.