FCNNEWSSOURCE
(FinalCall.com) – The 2004 presidential campaign is making history in mega-bucks being raised by Democratic and Republican Parties.
In past presidential elections, there has been a conspicuous disparity in funds allocated to reach, educate and mobilize the Black vote by both the Democratic and Republican Parties. President George W. Bush implied in his remarks before the National Urban League convention that the Republican Party has all but ignored the Black vote and has a lot to do to prove its worth to Black people.
However, it’s a different story for the Democratic Party. Among its most loyal constituents are Black voters. As a matter of fact, former president Bill Clinton was candid in admitting that, had it not been for the Black vote, he would not have been elected in l992 and re-elected in l996. In addition, it was a surprisingly heavy Black vote in the l998 elections that saved Mr. Clinton from impeachment and being virtually chased from the Washington political scene by House Speaker and arch Clinton foe Newt Gingrich.
We know for a fact that the Black vote is going to be a decisive factor in the November presidential election. We also know there is a general perception, confirmed by a Black public opinion survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, that the Democratic Party has a tendency to take the Black vote for granted.
There is some evidence of this in the funds actually spent by the Democratic Party and its candidates to win the Black vote. In past presidential campaigns, one of the major fights has been to get Democratic Party officials to spend adequate funds to reach and maximize the support of Black voters. Both parties spend tens of millions of dollars in advertising in the general media and then, either seek to pimp off the goodwill of the Black press or come up with “what’s left over.”
This was a problem with the Gore presidential campaign in 2000. And we want to give our friends in the Democratic Party advance advice and notice that we will not tolerate such inequity and third-class treatment in the upcoming elections.
Democratic Party officials and the John Kerry campaign need to demonstrate to Black voters that they are not taking us for granted, by putting their money where their mouth is. This is the bottom line!
