Black Republicans

There are more than we think, they tell me, but as far as I can tell (and as hard as teams of journalists search), they are not to be found.

I spoke with a black conservative blogger last night who told me despite her best efforts she hasn't been able to find a single black delegate.

Officially, there are 36 black delegates, close to 80% less than in 2004. But a lot of these folks are from Mississippi or Louisiana and were rushed home to take care of Hurricane Gustav (as everyone else is evacuating, it was thought Republicans needed to be de-evacuated and re-evacuated)---this means the Republican party is looking even more lily-white than its already white-washed self.

This is not to say there are not black people here at the convention---there are 15,000 members of the media in town after all---but as far as official Republicans there has been an all out desertion.

I've spent the week trying to prove this obvious fact wrong, speaking to plenty of people at parties and functions, talking to folks on the streets of St. Paul and Minneapolis. But every single time I meet a black person here they're either on staff with a non-profit, working for the media, or just there for the party like us.

Last night we finally did succeed and met what appeared to be a black man who was indeed a Republican. He said he was with the RNCC Outreach committee---his job was to reach out to "ethnic minorities" and pull in the "Arabs, Koreans, and African-Americans" by focusing on safe neighborhoods and school choice.

From the ubiquitous Obama stickers, pins, T-shirts, and folk art I've seen this week, and the energy and enthusiasm for Obama's historic candidacy, Republicans won't even be able to get black votes by co-opting socially conservative black churches as Bush spent millions doing in 2004.

There's a much better chance that John McCain will even surpass Barry Goldwater's record of receiving the smallest percent of the black vote in the history of American politics(Goldwater received 6% of the vote in the 1964 election).