GOP needs Blacks to win
Star Parker BlakPac Columnist
Despite the projected large growth in the Hispanic population, there are still more blacks voting than Hispanics.
An
ongoing point of contention in the Republican Party has been the extent
to which clear identification with traditional Judeo-Christian values
is a good idea.
My sense is that, when we add to the equation the growing
impact of non-white voters, standing strongly for these traditional
values — which would put Republicans in stark contrast to Democrats —
would be a win-win for Republicans.
My organization, CURE, just convened a meeting in
Washington, D.C., of 25 black pastors from around the country, each with
an average congregation size of about 1,000, to discuss ideas and
policy. These are black Americans but they are also Christians, and it
is their Christianity that defines their lives.
Listening to these black pastors and to many black
Christians who approach me in my travels around the country, I hear
growing concern about the indifference and disengagement of the Obama
administration from the values they hold most dear.
The latest example is the silence of this administration on the genocide occurring in the Middle East toward Christians.
We watch in horror as hundreds of thousands seek refuge,
displaced by the violence in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle
East. No one should be indifferent to human injustice and suffering of
any kind.
But this persecution of Christians is unique, because ISIS
and other militant Islamic groups are explicitly targeting Christians
for destruction.
The Hudson Institute's international human rights attorney
Nina Shea writes, "In the summer of 2014, ISIS launched its caliphate
from Mosul (in Iraq) by marking Christian homes with the red letter 'N,'
for 'Nazarene,' before confiscating them and exiling their owners."
Britain's Sunday Express reports, "More than 700,000 of
Syria's population of 1.1 million Christians have already been forced to
leave." It is believed there are now no more than 250,000 Christians
living in Syria.
Yet the American president, who claims to be a Christian, sits frozen.
We hear no strategy for either military intervention or a systematic plan to provide refuge to these Christians.
Meanwhile, at home, Republicans have been unable get through legislation
that would end taxpayer funds flowing to Planned Parenthood, despite
what is now known about the nation's largest abortion provider
trafficking in infant body parts.
Republicans have not succeeded in stopping our taxes funding
this organization because President Obama will veto any such effort and
sufficient Senate votes do not appear present to override the veto.
And of course, the Obama administration has been aggressive
in its support of homosexual initiatives and the redefining of marriage,
something that does not sit well with many black Christians.
Too many conservatives very mistakenly believe that black votes cannot be moved from the liberal party.
It's worth noting that despite the projected large growth in
the Hispanic population, there are still more blacks voting than
Hispanics. In the 2012 election, 13 percent of those voting were black,
and 10 percent were Hispanic. There were about 4 million more black
votes than Hispanic votes.
Also worth noting is that in 2012, for the first time ever,
blacks, at 66.2 percent, had the highest voter turnout rate in the
nation. And it's not just because of Obama. Black voter turnout has
increased in every presidential election since 1996, when it was 53
percent.
Politico has identified 7 states as "toss-ups" in 2016. The
three with the most electoral votes — Ohio, Virginia and Florida — went
to Obama in 2012 and to George W. Bush in 2004. And in all three of
these states black turnout exceeded white turnout in 2012.
A 2012 Pew Research survey showed 56 percent of black
Protestants saying they attend church weekly compared to 37 percent of
the general public.
The black vote can be a game-changer in 2016. Republicans
have an opportunity to capture black voters by aggressively representing
the Christian values that are dear to them and critical to the future
of their communities and the nation.
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