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Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | Political Conventions
Black delegates: GOP doesn't ask or try to explain
The number of black delegates at the RNC isn't easy to tally, but it's the smallest since 1964.
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At the Republican National Convention in 2004, the party touted its record number of black delegates -- 167 or almost 7 percent of the total.
This year?
"We don't know the numbers," said Gina Countryman, communications director of the Republican Party of Minnesota. "They don't check boxes that say race or religion."
The numbers appear to be down dramatically, though. One nonpartisan group, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, counted 36 black delegates this year, which would be 1.5 percent of the GOP delegates.
David Bositis, who oversaw the study, said the party was "not very cooperative," in helping with numbers, so they may be slightly off. But 36 would be the fewest black delegates at a GOP convention since 1964. He said the smaller number is partly because of the Bush campaign's previous rigorous effort to reach out to blacks, some of whom have been left with negative feelings about his time in office.
"Then to top it off you have a black candidate on the other side," he said.
Countryman said the estimate is wrong because it doesn't include "a few" black delegates from Minnesota, though she declined to say how many Minnesota delegates were black.
All minorities, including Hispanics, Asians and blacks, make up 13 percent of delegates, she said.
Among the black delegates in St. Paul there is disappointment that the first black presidential nominee of a major party did not come from the GOP, but they stand firmly behind Sen. John McCain.
"When you look at black voters, most of them are conservative when you talk to them about issues," said George Williams, an alternate from Alabama. "We have been taken for granted [by Democrats] and that's why I left the party. The Republican Party greets us with open arms, and my values are the same."
C.J. Jordan, the national coordinator for the African American Coalitions for McCain, said her party has taken the lead in supporting some ideas that are now in Obama's platform.
"Newt Gingrich [and black advisers] put forth the fatherhood initiative many years ago and we were labeled racist," she said. "Now you have a candidate who is talking about fathers being involved in your sons' and daughters' lives; we've promoted that for years."
Rozalyn Strong, a delegate from Washington state, said the economy is important. "We're in tough times and they are not guaranteed to get easier," she said. "We need somebody with a proven record. We just don't know enough about Senator Obama, and what we do know, he's way too left."
Nick Kimball, Minnesota spokesman for Obama, contrasted the Republican number with last week's Democratic convention, where 24.5 percent of delegates were black.
"Barack Obama is a unique candidate and we are at a unique time. He offers a vision for the future no matter what your demographics," he said. "He's going to focus on the middle class, on the economy, health care and putting people back to work."
Jon Tevlin • 612-673-1702
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