Wooing the Black Vote

To survive, Republicans figure they need a 15% share

"Black people need the Republican Party to compete for us so that we have real alternatives ... The Republican Party needs black people if it is ever to compete for national office."

That claim of mutual interest was made last week before 155 members of the Republican National Committee, all but four of them white, at Washington's Mayflower Hotel. The speaker was no party functionary but the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Chicago's flamboyant preacher of black activism. Jackson is a far cry from the usual G.O.P. orator, but his call for closer ties between blacks and the G.O.P. comes at a time when the party is looking for ways to woo black voters.

Party Chairman Bill Brock, a former Tennessee Senator, launched the effort after returns from the last presidential election showed that Democrat Jimmy Carter had won an overwhelming 90% of black votes. Carter outpolled Gerald Ford by 1.7 million votes overall; his margin among blacks was 4.7 million votes. As Jackson told his Republican audience:

"Hands that picked cotton in 1966 did pick the President in 1976, and could very well be the difference in 1980."

To improve on the dismal G.O.P. performance, Brock hired a firm of black political consultants in Columbus, Ga., promoted the appointment of blacks to organize Southern states for the G.O.P. and visited Georgia and Mississippi to see what else could be done. Last November two top officials of the Mississippi Republican Party created a stir by making an unprecedented appearance at the state's convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "We're not likely to attract a large number of blacks," concedes Kansas Senator (and former G.O.P. chairman) Robert Dole, "but we can attract substantial numbers." Brock says he hopes to garner 15% or more of the black vote--enough to swing close elections. Notes he: "There's no alternative. To survive, we must do it."

Perhaps the chief barrier between Republicans and black leaders is the party's emphasis on reduced Government spending, balanced budgets and laissez-faire economics, quite the opposite of the programs sought by black leaders. Urban League Director Vernon Jordan last week blasted Carter's proposed tax cut of $25 billion (popular with Republicans), claiming it was large enough to threaten "vitally needed urban and social welfare programs." Noting an Urban League study that puts black unemployment at 13.2% (v. 6.3% for whites), Jordan called for increases in job-training funds and public service employment, proposals that most Republicans greet with a distinct chill. Before the Republican National Committee, Jesse Jackson called for a domestic Marshall Plan to revitalize the nation's cities. In spite of such obstacles, Brock insists that black voters can be won to traditional Republican economics. "What have Democratic proposals done for blacks?" he asks. "Thirty-seven percent of black youth is unemployed. We won't be taking the big-spending route." The lone black in the Senate, Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, agrees. Says he: "It's not a question of the free enterprise system; there is plenty of black support for free enterprise." But, adds Brooke, the party "must prove that it is for equal justice for blacks."

Indeed, there is some evidence that blacks--who began this century as faithful adherents of the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln--are more ready than they have been in decades to be courted by the G.O.P. In Louisiana, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Robert Livingston, 34, won 30% of the black votes last September to become his district's first Republican Congressman since 1874. The first Republican mayor in the history of Charlotte, N.C., Kenneth Harris, won 41% of the black vote last year. In Virginia, Republican Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman received 25% of the black vote. All are white.

Among some black voters, there is frustration at being taken for granted by a Democratic Administration that seems as committed as the Republicans to balancing the budget. Moreover, blacks are increasingly attaining middle-class status; 30% of black families now have incomes of $15,000 or above (compared with 53% of white families), an income group whose interests diverge from those of the ghetto and black leaders. Says black Miami Businessman David Fincher, a registered Democrat: "Democrats think we are still on our knees begging and praying. I'm looking for anyone to deliver what we need to be good Americans in the arena of free enterprise. If Republicans are serious, I'm sure I will go to them." Additionally, differences between Democrats and Republicans are blurring somewhat as both parties endorse policies that do not call for massive spending, such as tax reductions for businesses that hire the hard-to-employ. Still, the G.O.P. has a long way to go. Among ordinary blacks, says Maryland Democrat Parren Mitchell, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, disappointment with Jimmy Carter is "not enough to even make a dent." Adds James Compton, the head of Chicago's Urban League: "I don't see any philosophic approach in the Republican Party that will attract large numbers of black votes."

At last week's Republican National Committee meeting, the delegates resoundingly defeated the bid by a black woman, Dr. Gloria Toote, a supporter of Ronald Reagan, for the party's co-chairmanship. The 118-to-37 result primarily reflected incumbent Mary Crisp's first-rate performance, not racial division. Still, before the vote, one G.O.P. leader explained his preference for Crisp by noting: "We're getting Jesse Jackson tomorrow. That's enough."

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