GOP Urged To Focus On "Black Outreach Strategy."

In a New York Sun (3/18) op-ed, Bruce Bartlett, author of "Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past," writes that if Sen. Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, "he will undoubtedly take an even higher percentage of the black vote this year than the Democratic nominee normally gets. But if Mr. Obama loses the nomination in deference to Hillary Clinton, Republicans are presented with a historic opportunity to appeal to disaffected black voters who may feel that the nomination was stolen from Mr. Obama. Regardless of whom the Democrats nominate, the Republican Party needs a black outreach strategy. It will take the edge off attacks on Mr. Obama, if he is the nominee, showing that such attacks are not racially based. Even if such a strategy yields no new votes, Republicans still ought to do more to appeal to African American voters. Not only is it the right thing to do...but there is considerable evidence that blacks are tiring of being taken for granted by Democrats, who are pocketing their votes while expending time and effort reaching out to the larger and faster growing Hispanic population." - The Frontrunner