Ramblings' Journal

Black delegates at 2004 RNC double the number of 2000

The 167 black delegates at the Republican National Convention beginning Monday are more than double the number that attended in 2000, according to a new study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“This dramatic increase in African American delegate participation is a remarkable showing for the Republican convention, and it will be interesting to see whether it filters into the voting booths come November,” said Joint Center president Eddie N. Williams. “Our polling since the 2000 election has indicated some increasing support for Republicans among younger African Americans, although as shown in the 2002 midterms, this generally has not translated into more votes for the GOP.”

Black delegates make up nearly 7 percent of the total number of delegates, the largest percentage since the 1912 GOP convention at 6 percent.

Increases in the black Republican vote have been fleeting though. The black vote for George W. Bush was around 9% of the total black vote in 2000, and the expectation is that a number of 10-11% will vote Republican this fall.

While most people feel that this represents a failure in the GOP's overall outreach, I count a single percentage point increase as a victory -- it indicates that there is an increase in conservative political thought in black America, and as I've said repeatedly, we (as conservatives in general, and black conservatives in particular) must "crawl before we walk."

Posted by mhking at August 28, 2004 08:39 AM