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Originally Posted by kg_veteran
I could see older blacks still viewing the Republican party in that manner, but middle-aged and younger blacks? I know for certain that many socially conservative blacks vote Democrat even while they vote otherwise on social issues (e.g., Prop 8 in California). That seems to be an inherent conflict, so perhaps you are right.
If you were a Republican strategist, how would you seek to appeal to black voters and dispel the notion that the Republican party is racist?
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The party has never tried very hard to court the black vote. I think for a long time this WAS because they didn't want to rock the apple cart and threaten the relatively newfound wealth of the new solid-REPUBLICAN-south. (if you look at yesterday's electoral map... where would the GOP be without the south? Utah?) But that is yesterday's news to them, and they have to move forward. A central tennet of Turdblossem's long-run GOP strategy was supposedly to increase inclusiveness, particularly courting latin voters. This was shot in the head by first the enhanced war-on-terror (which in its darker moments lent itself towards a definate fear of foreigners) and then the huge illegal immigration backlash.
In a broader sense... the GOP needs to restablish its link to its third leg of support. The party used to rest on the tripod of 1) social conservatism 2) military strength 3) pro business/fiscal responsibility
they have lost 3. In practice Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers were MUCH better economic managers than Paul Oneil or John Snow (and Paulson has been embroiled in economic crisis... so it is hard for the public to view him as a stalwart of economic efficiency). Rhetoric aside, I think the Dems have simply been better in practice recently (and I also think Obama's economic team was widely more admired than Mac's, as well). The GOP has lost its image that our fathers had of the solid competency. People no longer picture a business man in a leather chair reading the wall street journal when they imagine GOP leadership... now they picture a southern preacher. There is a big difference. The GOP of today decries elitists a little too strenuously, I think.
This has kinda wandered off topic from the stated question... but not entirely. The GOP has essentially abandonded 3) and focused much more of that attention on 1) ... and these cultural issues are volatile. When you center a campaign on anti-gay marriage, you run the serious risk of bringing out the ugly in people. the policy makers may craft the language in crisp smooth terms that do not go too too far... but the general populace certainly doesn't stick to those narrow guidelines.. they take it and run. And they run into seriously ugly territory that to some extent scares away other groups that feel like they might be marginalized. Same with illegal immigration.
Furthermore, by focussing more on social issues, the GOP has also somewhat abandoned the two coasts... and, well, that is where alot of people in this country live.
IMHO, the GOP NEEDS to refocus its core image back on its business side, or it is doomed. In this regard, this drubbing might be an uncomfortable but needed wake-up. Parties are not able to reinvent themselves until they are kicked hard in the scrote, and fall back on their ass. In the medium term, the 1994 elections did the Democratic party a helluva lot of good... it pushed the loon-bat portions of the party back, at least for a while. I hope the GOP does the same --- since the Dems are now super-natuarally situated to step on their own cranks, and embrace their lunatic fringe and commit suicide.