Republican Blacks Poised for High Office Takeovers

Recall the words of Howard Dean: "[Republican Party] It's pretty much a white Christian party....You can't succeed electorally if you're a person of color in the Republican Party."

Blacks Poised for Political Positions: "Far away from the speeches of Jesse Jackson, the demands of Al Sharpton and the ranting of Louis Farrakhan, a quiet revolution is taking place in the role African-Americans play in politics.
In the very heartland of the nation, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the Republican Party is getting set to nominate black candidates for governor in the coming elections. In a nation that has not a single African-American governor, not one, from either party, this is its own little revolution.

These are not throwaway candidates in states where the GOP has no chance of victory. These are real candidates, chosen when there were plenty of white alternatives, that are en route to their party's nomination, with real chances to win.

In Pennsylvania, former football great Lynn Swann stands poised to be designated as the Republican candidate at next week's State Convention. The former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, now enshrined in the Hall of Fame, is seeking fame of another sort, trying to be the state's first black governor.

In Ohio, a key swing state, Ken Blackwell, the Republican secretary of state, is running for the gubernatorial nomination in a state Republicans can win. In Maryland, Lieut. Gov. Michael Steele is seeking the open Senate seat.

Add these men to the possibility that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might heed Laura Bush's advice and run for president, and a revolution may be in the making.
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The Democratic Party has always treated the African-American vote like a golfer's handicap. A Democrat takes the black vote for granted and a Republican, until recently, takes its loss as a given. But the growth of black candidates among Republicans — a result of the declining power of racism in politics — may force both parties to change that calculation.

If the black vote becomes "in play" as the Hispanic vote has, there will be a whole new politics in this country of ours.

We've already seen Democrats, desperate to keep their minority voters on the plantation, use every dirty trick in the book, including stealing the credit card records of candidate Steele in Maryland and comparisons of Condi Rice to Aunt Jemima.

As election day nears, it's likely these tactics will intensify. The diviseness of the King "funeral" may look like a lovefest by comparison.