Posted on October 27, 2006

African American Democrats Only

Paul Miller, Conservative Voice, Oct. 26, 2006

They are the faces and voices the media wants you to see and hear. Both are young, charismatic, intelligent and African American. More importantly, in the eyes of the mainstream press, they are Democrats. Illinois Senator Barack Obama and Tennessee Senate candidate, Congressman Harold Ford, are the featured stories and interviews in magazines, newspapers and on talk shows. There are other prominent African Americans running for high profile offices, but they are viewed with great disdain because they run under the banner of the GOP.

Over the past forty years something in the American body politick changed and African Americans left the party of Abraham Lincoln and joined the party of Lyndon Johnson. {snip} Today African Americans who support the GOP are perceived as Uncle Toms or Token candidates. Self-proclaimed civil rights leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton support and politicize this view. Their efforts are supported by the mainstream press, who currently won’t acknowledge the existence of high profile African Americans running for office in Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Currently in Maryland, Lt. Governor Michael Steele is seeking the open senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes (D). What the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know is that Steele is African American and … dare I say a Republican. Steele has been viewed as a long shot in the race, but recent polls have him closing the gap, while a Survey USA poll has him in a dead heat with his Democratic opponent Ben Cardin.

{snip} Steele’s campaign has undoubtedly generated excitement and controversy worthy of national attention. A member of his opponent’s staff was fired for posting a racist comment on a blog. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer found himself apologizing after he referred to Steele as “slavishly” supporting the GOP. I’m sure if Ford’s opponent in Tennessee, Bob Corker, had a staffer who posted a racist comment on a blog or if a Republican House member made an insensitive remark, Katie Couric would be making it the lead story on the CBS evening news.

In Pennsylvania and Ohio, African Americans are seeking their respective states highest office. Former football great and Hall of fame member Lynn Swan and Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell have uphill battles in their bids for governor, but they also have to overcome the prejudices of being African American and running under the Republican banner.

Why does the press grant high profile exposure to men such as Obama, who finds himself on Oprah and Meet the Press and Congressman Ford, who graces the current cover of Newsweek, but ignore African American candidates and office holders who are Republican?

The promotion of African American Democrats compared to the apathetic attitudes toward African American Republicans should serve as another example of a liberal bias within the mainstream media. {snip} African Americans make up approximately 13% of the population, but they generate as much as 20% of the total vote cast for Democrats. African Americans tend to support Democratic candidates in upwards of 90%. In 2000 Al Gore received 91% of their vote, while John Kerry got 89% in 2004.

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