As Black Leaders Split With Democrats, Republicans Jump Into the Opening
By Karen Foerstel, CQ Staff Writer
African-American leaders in two states have launched angry wars against the Democratic Party, and some national lawmakers say the battles could spread across the country if Democrats do not act quickly.
In Florida and Missouri, top black organizers have started to work for Republican candidates, charging that Democrats are ignoring the interests of black people while assuming they will get black voters' support anyway because they always have.
"This is a threat to the loss of their base vote. They have been cautioned about this many times," said Rep. Carrie P. Meek, D-Fla, who is black. "[Blacks] are beginning to feel they're being taken for granted."
The troubles in Florida and Missouri come as Democrats head into crucial midterm congressional elections, in which the party desperately needs its traditional loyalist voters to hold ground in the House and Senate.
And the Democrats' difficulties have only accelerated efforts by Republicans to make inroads among black voters, a constituency they have had trouble attracting.
Trouble in Florida
The Florida controversy started in January, when state House Speaker-designate Willie Logan, a black Democrat, was ousted from his top position by white members of his own party.
Logan's critics said the move came because Logan was a poor fundraiser and organizer, but many black lawmakers took it as a racist slap in the face.
"If they had just sat down with us and said, 'We need some change,'" Democratic Rep. Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, who is black, said of the party members who ousted Logan. "But they didn't. Nobody's even apologized yet. . . . Blacks are saying, 'I'm fed up with the crumbs. I'm fed up with the tokenism.' Among blacks in the United States, the rumble is dull at the moment, but it will be a loud roar if Democrats are not careful."
Since the ouster, Logan, who remains in the state House, has formed a political action committee (PAC) aimed at educating black voters and mobilizing a bipartisan black vote.
Florida GOP Chairman Tom Slade gave Logan a $500 check for the PAC and personally served Logan lunch during an event where Logan was speaking.
The uproar has also boosted GOP gubernatorial candidate Jeb Bush, who recent polls show has 16 percent to 21 percent of the black vote in the state -- an unusually high number for a Republican, who Florida political analysts say would usually top out at less than 10 percent of the black vote. Bush has taken advantage of the Democratic breakdown and is reaching out to the state's black community.
Another black Democrat is now expected to take over as Speaker-designate, after the white Democrat who was originally installed in the post six months ago resigned from office. But the racial wound is still very tender.
"We're not suggesting we're going to have a large turnover [of blacks joining the GOP], but the idea is we'd like to be a little more savvy in giving our vote to individual candidates," Logan said. "For the first time, [blacks] are really looking at their options."
The Missouri Rift
In Missouri, a similar split between black leaders and Democrats has taken place in the race between Republican Sen. Christopher S. Bond and Democratic challenger Attorney General Jeremiah "Jay" Nixon.
Nixon has angered many African-Americans in Missouri by backing plans to end state funding for school busing as a desegregation tool. Local black leaders have picketed Nixon events and have vowed to support Bond instead. Rep. William L. Clay, D-Mo., has also been trying to drum up opposition to Nixon.
"As the black community gets more sophisticated, they are realizing this kind of rote support of Democrats is not in their best interest," said Donald Suggs, a self-described "anti-Nixon Democrat" and publisher of the St. Louis American, the largest African-American newspaper in the area.
"The Democratic candidate thinks he can collect automatically the vote of African-Americans," Suggs said. "They've cheapened our votes to almost nothing."
Suggs, who has been encouraging Bond to campaign hard in the black community, conceded that he may not be able to mobilize the majority of traditionally Democratic blacks to vote Republican this time around, but he said the efforts could prevent black Democrats from voting for Nixon.
In a year when analysts predict a historically low voter turnout across the nation, both parties will have to rely on their base support to make any gains. If blacks stay away from the polls this year, the results could be disastrous for Democrats.
"The Florida trend is affecting the national scene. They know what's happening in Missouri. Word gets around," Meek said. "Democrats are concerned about Florida because of the black vote in 2000," when Florida will be a key presidential battleground. "It's going to have a decided effect. It's a ripple effect."
Hastings said he warned Democratic presidential hopefuls Vice President Al Gore and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri this year about the growing anger among black voters. Hastings, who also issued a similar warning to Democratic National Committee Chairman Steve Grossman, is working with Gore to create a strategy to heal the wounds in Florida.
"The vice president has been asked to get involved in the Florida situation, and he has done so," said a Gore spokesman. "We're optimistic we'll have some programs to announce in the near future, and we'll continue to work on it."
Most black leaders who express unhappiness with the Democratic Party say they would rather give their own party a wake-up call than jump to the GOP. "We're attempting to raise the bar for the Democratic Party," said Suggs.
Suggs likened black Democrats' frustration with the Democratic Party to the Christian Coalition's periodic exasperation with the Republican Party. Blacks have been the backbone of the Democratic Party, he said, and the party needs to acknowledge that.
"I don't think they're going to abandon the party. I wouldn't recommend it," Meek said. "Many of us feel the party can come back from this. I want to see us come together and mend the fences."
Republicans Reaching Out
But Republicans are doing everything they can to take advantage of the rifts and appeal to African-Americans.
The party says almost 100 black Republicans ran for local, state and federal office across the country this year, more than ever before.
According to Michael Levy, a Republican National Committee (RNC) spokesman, in Georgia alone there were 21 black GOP candidates at all electoral levels. That compares with just five running in Georgia in 1996, and no black GOP candidates in 1994.
And in other states, black Republicans are running for dozens of state-level offices, including Joe Rogers, who recently won the endorsement of 1996 GOP vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp in his bid for Colorado's lieutenant governor, and Bill Wilson, who is running to become the first Republican mayor of Louisville, Ky., since 1969.
"This is a first step," said Levy, who added that many of the black Republicans who win state or local seats will probably move on to run for federal office. Right now there is just one black Republican in Congress: Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., gave very public support to one of those candidates, congressional hopeful Dylan Glenn, who was vying for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. of Georgia, who is also black.
But in a sign that Southern Republicans may not be ready to accept African-American candidates, Glenn was soundly trounced in the primary July 21 by white businessman Joe McCormick.
Elsewhere across the country, Republicans are spotlighting black support.
In Connecticut, state Democrats faced an embarrassing situation during their local conventions this month, when it became apparent they had no African-American candidates at the top of their ticket.
Republicans, on the other hand, have two blacks running for top positions as well as two Hispanic candidates. Gary A. Franks, who served in the U.S. House from 1990 to 1996, is now running for the Senate, and Ben Andrews, a former president of the Connecticut NAACP, is running for secretary of state.
Connecticut's Republican Gov. John G. Rowland, who faces a hot re-election race this year against Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly, D-Conn., has been portraying his party as a beacon of diversity.
Seeing the lack of color on the Democratic ticket, Kennelly abruptly threw her support this month behind an African-American candidate who is running for state treasurer and faces a primary challenge from a white Democrat who has spent two years maneuvering for the spot.
In South Carolina, GOP Rep. Bob Inglis is hoping to win over black voters in his race against Democratic Sen. Ernest F. Hollings.
Inglis has been reaching out to blacks by calling for the Confederate flag to be taken down from the dome of the state Capitol. He has also vocally criticized the Republicans' "Southern strategy," a plan to attract disaffected white Democrats who oppose welfare and affirmative action programs.
"I believe there is a significant percentage of black South Carolinians who believe in free enterprise and family-forged values," Inglis said. "If we extend a warm welcome, they'll join us."
In New York, where the RNC was holding its summer meeting this week, the Rev. Floyd Flake -- who retired from Congress last year after keeping New York's 6th District in Democratic hands for 12 years -- was on the RNC's schedule as a speaker. Republican participants in the meeting were invited to attend Flake's Sunday sermon at his Allen AME church. RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson was expected to attend.
"For a long time, the Democrats claimed ownership of the African-American vote. They've been taking that for granted," said the RNC's Levy.
"Republicans are saying we have an opportunity to be the majority party well into the future. We need to expand our base to keep the majority," Levy said.
© 1998 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
News
Click here