THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

FAITHFUL COLORED COMPANIONS | 2004-07-31

Every year the Democratic Party spends millions to get out the black vote. They assume that one black skin equals one Democratic vote.

Blacks will sometimes give a heavy vote to a Republican when the Republican gets 70% of the rest of the vote. They joined the Eisenhower landslides in 1952 and 1956 and they joined in the last Bush landslide for governor of Texas. That's what makes Republican strategists throw away real votes to "appeal to the black vote."

But when blacks join in the landslide, it doesn't matter. The election would have been won without them.

Blacks never vote Republican when it counts. In every real electoral contest, a black skin means a Democratic vote.