I would have voted for Gov. Bill Clinton, without thinking twice. Hey, that's just what a typical African would do. There is a Democrat bias in African politics. Though I could not vote in the US elections of 1992 and 1996, my guy won, and it felt like I helped to put him in office. Boy, was I excited, seeing with my own two eyes how real democracy works!
Already, I was looking forward to the next presidential election. Well, I still couldn't vote. In fact, it would be February 2002 before I became a US citizen, with the right to vote. By then I had undergone some soul searching about my knee-jerk support for liberal Democrats. I realized that the key reason Africans favor the Democratic Party in the US has to do with their perceived compassion for the poor and oppressed, and for Africa in particular. Up to the time I came to America, it was more likely for a Democratic president to visit Africa than a Republican one.
When it comes to moral standards, family values or social beliefs, however, Africans are actually more like socially conservative Republicans. It dawned on me that if Republicans could find some way to bridge the compassion gap, they could, over time, win a sizable portion of the black vote that Democrats, for the most part, take for granted.
When the 2000 election season came around, I began to hear something very interesting. A Republican candidate named George W. Bush proposed the idea of "compassionate conservatism", and, with those words, he got my attention. When Mr. Bush visited our city in 2000, I ignored the heavy rains and went to the rally at the airport to see this different kind of Republican. As luck or God would have it, I got close enough to shake hands with Mr. Bush, and that made my day. No, it made my week, my month. OK, much longer than that -- I'm still talking and writing about how I shook hands with President Bush!
If Bush had been mocked by elitist liberals for saying Jesus was the most influential philosopher in his life, he was now being spanked for coining the phrase "compassionate conservatism". But this time, the lashes came from the base of the Republican Party.
To me, Mr. Bush came across as having a balanced understanding of what the Man of Galilee was about. It is for good reason that we find it hard to correctly classify Jesus Christ as liberal or conservative. Jesus was neither. He was both. Jesus perfectly mingled care for the downtrodden with high moral standards. And is that not what most churches do? Show compassion without compromising moral values?
In candidate Bush, I had found my "perfect candidate", or, at least I had persuaded myself so, and when I cast my first vote for president in 2004 it was for Republican G.W. Bush. Shortly after the elections, though, I had this gut feeling that it might be a long time before I had an easy choice like that again: a compassionate conservative, a politician who seeks to marry concern for moral standards with care for the battered and bruise of society.
Come to find out, I was only one of thousands of blacks who became Bush Democrats or Bush Independents. For example, as much as 7 percent of delegates at the 2004 Republican Convention were black. That's significant, considering that blacks make up about 12 percent of the nation's population.
In contrast to 2004, this week, at the 2008 Republican Convention, there was a measly 1.5 percent of black delegates. That's 36 blacks out of a total of 2,380 delegates who attended the convention. This low representation marks a 40-year low for the Republicans. In 2004, Bush won 41 percent of Latino votes. Polls currently show McCain has just 31 percent of Latino support.
Have McCain and the Republicans squandered all the gains President Bush made with minority voters?
What should really concern Republicans is that this trend runs counter to that of an America that growing more and more diverse. According to the Census Bureau, minorities will comprise the majority of Americans by the year 2042, just 34 years from now. The Republican Party may well seal its status as a minority party, unless it learns how and works hard to attract more blacks, Latinos and other minorities. And the party has none better to turn to for advice in this regard than President Bush, the father of compassionate conservatism.
But with his job approval rating in the dumps, who wants Mr. Bush around Republican candidates these days?
Just in case my point is not yet clear, let me ask, "What was it that primarily drew blacks and Latinos to Republicans during Bush's campaign for president?" I wager it was the candidate's brilliant mix of compassion and conservative values. His success with minority voters is partly responsible for his two-term presidency.
Some of this dismal showing of Republicans among blacks is certainly due to Barack Obama, who has the overwhelming support of blacks, mainly because he is America's first black presidential nominee of a major political party. But support for Barack does not provide the sole reason why blacks have run from the Republicans in droves. For one, Senator John McCain has not made any consistent efforts to get minority votes. Yes, McCain did address the conventions of the NAACP and the Urban League, but lately he has not focused on blacks. McCain, the man of "town hall meeting" politics has to do more than address blacks at large gatherings of black leaders. He may need to hold town hall meetings with ordinary black folk to discuss their concerns. Or is it already too late?
Any outreach to blacks by Republicans must be more than words. President Bush's compassionate conservatism has not been talk only. Under Mr. Bush, the US has tripled humanitarian and development aid to Africa. He approved a whopping $48 billion to help combat HIV-AIDS. He's done more to fight AIDS than any other US president. In addition to financial aid, President Bush visited Africa, making stops in Ghana and the small country of Liberia, among others.
President Bush has also demonstrated his compassion through the White House office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which give greater support to community groups, including equal opportunity for faith-based groups to apply for public funds. By standing with private charities in this way, Mr. Bush has been able to touch the lives of inmates, the homeless, those needing assistance with food and utility bills, and many other people served by faith-based organizations.
Though President Bush's compassion credentials were put to the test by the aftermath of Katrina and the blame game that followed, it is fair to say that this man has done more than the typical Republican president in showing compassion for the poor, needy and hurting.
No, Mr. Bush has not perfectly lived up to the ideal of compassionate conservatism, but he has done more than try. And Republican politicians will be shortsighted to abandon his breakthrough in Republican politics. If Republicans sever ties with Bush's compassionate conservatism, their party will be playing right into all the liberal stereotypes that Republicans are friends of the insulated rich, but do not care or do not get it, when it comes to the plight of the poor. By being compassionate conservatives, Republicans can debunk all that.
Another positive thing about compassionate conservatism is that the concept can serve as a platform for Republicans to talk about things like immigration and the economy in ways that regular folk can identify with. A compassionate conservative can discuss the economy as it relates to the cries of citizens suffering the effects of high gasoline prices, health care, cost of college, high cost of groceries, people losing their homes, etc.
The switch that many black and Hispanic voters made to Bush and the Republicans is proof that conservatives need not abandon their high moral standards to attract minorities. Most blacks and Latinos are actually conservative when it comes to moral beliefs or social values. (Whisper: many of us are strongly pro-life too!) For the most part, we lead our lives and raise our children by conservative values. What keeps most blacks in the pocket of liberal Democrats is the perceived compassion of the Democratic Party. That's what Mr. Bush figured out, and he used the bridge of mercy to touch the hearts of minority voters. The notion of compassionate conservative remains the Republican Party's best hope for making inroads with blacks, Hispanics, and other voters in the long run. No, the switch won't be a quick one, but it can happen, as President Bush has proven.
