Sooper Stoopid or Calculated Tyrant?
Does Bush Really Want the Black Vote?
Tactics seem designed to keep Blacks at home on Election day or to excite the GOP redneck voter base.
- Last week Republicans launched commericals condeming Kerry and his wife that many Blacks viewed as insulting and outrageous. The ads only mock Kerry - they do not mention Bush - suggesting that their chief aim is to get African-Americans to stay home on Election Day. Bush won 8% of the black vote in 2000, and his popularity sank even lower after the disputed Florida election.
]
- Last Month George Bush disrespected the NAACP by
not attemding its Annual Convention for the fourth year in a row. As
such, he became " the first sitting president since Warren G. Harding
not
to address the NAACP ." At first he lied about why he could not attend
citing scheduling conflicts that did not exist [more ] and [more ].
Then he insulted the NAACP leadership and said he did not want to go
because of differences he had with them. Such moves seem to be an attempt only
to excite his voter base - as they would do little to attract support
from Blacks. A poll taken last year found that 83 percent of African
American registered voters viewed the NAACP favorably, compared with
only 8 percent who view it
unfavorably. [more ]
- Last year, on what would have been Martin Luther King's 75th birthday,
the president "took to the airwaves" to " condemn the University of
Michigan's modest consideration of race in fostering diversity on the
still-overwhelmingly white Michigan campus."[more] That same day, Bush punctuated a "brief visit" to Dr. King's grave with a $1.3 million campaign fundraiser [more] , referred to by Rev. Timothy McDonald as " the epitome of insult ." [more]
- On King's birthday this year, Bush used executive powers to "bypass Congress and grant a spot on the federal appeals bench to U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering [more] ," known for his " insensitivity and even hostility toward key principles...that now safeguard civil rights."