Howard Dean, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday the Republican Party has “nothing to offer” black Americans and maintained that Democrats steadfastly support economic parity and social justice for people of color.
“I think most black Americans understand the Democratic Party stands for civil rights and economic justice,” Dean said in an interview with BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday. “The Republicans have nothing to offer black Americans. What have they offered in the last 40 years? You can put lipstick on a pig, but it doesn’t make the pig a pretty girl.”
Both political parties have seemingly been on the offensive lately. The Democratic party has spent the past few months countering the Bush administration’s plan to privatize Social Security. And most recently, Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, traveled to some of the nation’s largest black communities to court blacks face-to-face, part of an aggressive, nationwide campaign to attract more blacks to the GOP.
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said Monday that the GOP will aggressively engage black voters in the months and years ahead.
”Republicans try this every four years, and they’re never successful because their agenda is so awful for black Americans,” said Dean, the former governor of Vermont and a former presidential candidate in 2004.
“Imagine trying to convince black ministers that cutting Social Security is a good idea," he said. "On the other hand, I think it’s a good for the Republicans to reach out because it makes us work harder.”
Last week, Democrats began rolling out a series of national radio ads on black radio stations to explain how Bush’s plan to restructure Social Security would have negative long-term implications for many black Americans.
Some Democrats said they are concerned that Republicans are effectively making inroads in the black community by courting black ministers. Two weeks ago, Donna Brazile, a Democratic consultant and former campaign manager for Al Gore in 2000, warned Democrats not to take blacks for granted.
Brazile said Republicans are being invited to speak in black neighborhoods and are making important connections in the black community through introductions by black ministers. Some blacks, she said, have been receptive to what they’re hearing from Republicans.
In the 2004 presidential election, Bush received 11 percent of the black vote, compared to eight percent in the 2000 election. Republicans say they are making gradual but significant progress among black voters.
Are Democrats taking blacks for granted?
”Absolutely not,” Dean said. “We have to keep the promises we’ve made over the years. We’ve invested in African-American radio ads, we’ve invested in national print ads. We want to make our message very clear that we’re the party for equal rights. We’re the party for economic justice. The Republicans are the reverse Robin Hood party -- steal from the poor and give to the rich -- and that is not good for black Americans.”
“It’s a matter of keeping our word and being respectful to black Americans,” Dean added. “We want to show up and not take them for granted.”
Mehlman’s efforts in connecting with some blacks can be attributed in part to increased support from a coalition of conservative black ministers who say Republicans have helped them care for underserved residents in their communities through government faith-based initiatives and federal funding.
Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said Republicans will continue to converse with black Americans across the country.
”While Howard Dean's Democratic Party is taking African-American voters for granted, the GOP is reaching out and engaging in an honest dialogue with black voters,” Diaz told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “African-Americans are realizing that President Bush's leadership is benefitting their community, enabling a majority of minority families to become homeowners for the first time in our nation's history.”
“President Bush's agenda of hope and opportunity stands in stark contrast to the Democrats' anger and pessimism, and enabled the president to increase his percentage of the African-American vote across the country last year,” Diaz added. “From creating jobs to holding our schools accountable, African-Americans are realizing that if they give the GOP a chance, we will give them a choice."
But Dean insists that Democrats offer black Americans a long history of advocating for domestic issues that directly impact their lives.
“We have the most diverse senior staff in the history of Democratic National Committee, and that’s important because the Republicans are 30 years behind,” Dean told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
“They think if you have [former Secretary of State Colin] Powell or [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice, this means equal rights,” Dean said, “but the Democratic Party knows equal rights is about hiring power, and we know it’s important that people who make decisions should also be people of color.”
