PARTY OF LINCOLN

George Will makes a compelling if counterintuitive case that the Republicans are the party of opportunity for African Americans:

Never have African-Americans been as prominent in a presidential administration as they are in the current one, given the war against terrorism and the prominence of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in the waging of it. Before the war eclipsed domestic policy, the president was particularly interested in education policy, which is the purview of Secretary of Education Rod Paige, an African-American.

Britain’s Conservative Party gave the country a Jewish prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, and a woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. The second African-American elected governor of an American state since Reconstruction – Douglas Wilder was elected Virginia’s governor in 1989 – may come from America’s conservative party, the ranks of whose elected and appointed officials are decreasingly monochrome.

And the successes of African-American Republicans in statewide elections will begin to produce modest – and tremendously consequential – Republican gains among African-Americans in presidential elections.

Considering that Republicans seldom garner more than ten percent of the black vote, this is amazing indeed.

FILED UNDER: Race and Politics, Terrorism, , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. John Lemon says:

    Agreed. We have some strong outreach programs for the GOP where I live. The movement is cranking up at the grassroots level; and I’m seeing a lot more minorities showing up at GOP events.