Black Voters.org

From BET.com News Staff & Wire reports

Posted Nov. 3, 2006 – Republican efforts to reach Black voters just isn’t working. Blacks voters just aren’t buying the Republican charm offensive, says a new Associated Press poll.

Black voters are less likely to approve of how President Bush does his job than the average voter, and more likely to feel the country is headed in the wrong direction – news that Republican Party officials who have been trying to cuddle up to Black voters might find a little hard to swallow.

With so many tight races this political season, Republicans can’t seem to buy a break when it comes to wooing the Black vote, mainly because most Black voters are diametrically opposed to many of the platform issues Republican candidates are touting, according to the poll The Associated Press conducted with AOL between Oct. 23 and Oct. 30.

When it comes to the Iraq war, Black voters are more likely to say it was a mistake, the survey found. Recent disclosures of scandals and corruption in Congress will most likely cement Black voters’ firmly on the side of Democratic candidates, according to the study’s findings. 

On the issues, Black voters were most likely to rate the economy and health care as extremely or very important to them.

While Black voters say Republicans have done a poor job of representing their interests, they also have misgivings about the Democratic Party.

Almost half of Black voters surveyed said the Democratic Party takes their vote for granted; about a third said the party has done a poor job of representing their interests.

Even so, about nine of 10 Black voters have gone for the Democrats in recent elections. 

Among the other findings:

• Only 38 percent of Blacks are confident the federal government would help them in a major disaster.
• A whopping 89 percent of likely Black voters disapprove of the job President Bush is doing, compared with 61 percent of all likely voters.
• Some 83 percent of likely Black voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing, compared with 75 percent of the general population.
• Two-thirds of Black registered voters say they are following news about the campaign, compared with 71 percent of all registered voters doing likewise.

Curtis Gans, director of American University‘s Center for the Study of the American Electorate, told The Associated Press that while Black voter turnout is generally low, Black voter discontent could boost turnout much in the same way it did during the 2004 presidential election.