Blacks comprise 4.1 percent of delegate total at GOP convention

From CNN's Sean Loughlin

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- African Americans will make up 4.1 percent of the total number of delegates at the Republican National Convention, an increase when compared to the last GOP gathering, but still far behind minority representation at Democratic conventions.

A report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank in Washington, found that 85 of the 2,066 delegates at the Republican convention, which kicks off Monday, are black. That compares to 52 black delegates at the 1996 convention, when they comprised 2.6 percent of the total.

David Bositis, the author of the report and an expert on black voting trends in American politics, said Friday the numbers are obviously an improvement over 1996, but he did not believe they would translate into more black votes for presumed Republican nominee George W. Bush this fall.

"Trust is not something that's re-established overnight," he said. In 1992, black delegates comprised 4.8 percent of the total at the Republican National Convention.

Bositis is still compiling a delegate breakdown for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, but he said he expects blacks will make up roughly 20 percent of the delegates there, as they have in previous years.

Democratic presidential nominees have a history of capturing 90 percent or more of the black vote, a trend that intensified during the Civil Rights era. Bush has made a point of appearing before minority audiences on the campaign trail -- including a high-profile visit to the NAACP earlier this month -- and he has repeatedly called on his party to do a better job of reaching out to black and Hispanic voters.

Convention officials, who had not yet seen a copy of the report, Friday rejected suggestions that the overwhelmingly white nature of the Republican gathering would hurt their outreach efforts. They also dismissed claims that running mate Dick Cheney's conservative votes in Congress -- where he served for 12 years as a representative from Wyoming -- would prove to be much of an issue. Democrats, however, have seized on Cheney's voting record, including one vote he cast in 1986 opposing a resolution that called for Nelson Mandela's release from a South African prison.

"Governor Bush has a long track record of bringing people into the party that might not otherwise be there," said Andrew Card, co-chairman of the GOP convention.

Ed Gillespie, chairman of the convention's program advisory committee, said the convention roster includes several minorities "who will certainly signal that we very much want their participation." Retired Gen. Colin Powell, for example, is scheduled to address the Republican faithful Monday night.

Gillespie conceded that Republicans need to do more to break the Democrats' decades-old stronghold on black voters.

"I think we've made a lot of headway, and, again, we have a nominee who is very serious about reaching out to African American and Hispanic voters," Gillespie said. "We want to increase participation of minorities in the party and we're going to keep doing that."