Mitt Romney is set to make his most public overture to African American voters Wednesday in an address to the nation’s oldest civil rights group at an event that has become a rite of passage for presidential candidates of both parties.Ray Charles can peep the end game here. This isn't about appealing to black voters at all. It's about appealing to suburban white independent voters by appearing to be more "accepting of all cultures". Period. Romney didn't become filthy rich by being a dummy, and he knows that taking photo ops with black people makes for nice optics, which make white independent voters who might be a bit squeamish about the GOP's recent record of race baiting a bit more palatable. That's it, and that's all.
In his speech to the NAACP in Houston, the Republican presidential candidate faces a daunting task as he tries to appeal to a core Democratic constituency that is largely at odds with his policy prescriptions, suspicious of his record on diversity and civil rights, and largely committed to his general-election opponent.
The NAACP visit is the former Massachusetts governor’s attempt to move beyond the traditional Republican Party base by trying to deliver a message that the GOP is serious about attracting black voters.
Critics say the effort is pointless for his chances in November. Supporters say it is important for the future of the party.
Romney’s campaign began preliminary outreach efforts in May by hiring a senior black consultant to engage African American voters and by visiting a predominantly black charter school in Philadelphia. Campaign officials say those efforts will be expanded in the coming weeks in an effort to wrest as many votes as possible from President Obama.
For anyone naive enough to think Romney will launch into some apology about the Mormon Church's deplorable history with blacks, I have oceanfront property in West Virginia you might be interested in. So yeah, Romney will give his basic stump speech about "economic freedom", prolly pepper in a reference or two about "school choice", he'll probably avoid even remotely mentioning the President by name, and he'll be back in his private jet by the time the 2nd episode of Judge Mathis comes on.
Lets just hope this doesn't happen in the interim, cause that would be turrible on so many levels.
"Woof! Woof! Woof Wooooooof!"
I do, however, find it interesting that President Obama isn't attending this year's NAACP convention. I obviously know why he isn't, but I still find it interesting.
Update: Here's Mitt's speech. The media's undoubtedly going to focus on the booing, but it only happened a couple of times, most notably when he mentioned repealing ObamaCare. But seriously, what did he expect? It's Obama's signature accomplishment and these are Obama supporters. Still, the reception was mostly warm/indifferent. He also got a standing ovation at the end. So yeah, this was pretty much what I predicted. Don't let the 24 hours news cycle spin this negatively. The NAACP was very polite to Romney, and I give him credit for going there and taking his lumps.
Question: Does Mitt have a prayer of getting 5% of the black vote? Why is Obama skipping the NAACP's annual pow wow?!?
[1] My money's on either Megyn Kelly or that chick with the crazy eyes on Fox & Friends.
