Democrats are still resting on laurels they created almost 50 years ago when Richard Nixon, leading John F. Kennedy in the polls, was upset in his bid for president of the United States.
At the time Kennedy was the relatively undistinguished junior senator from Massachusetts. What essentially catapulted him into the White House and blacks as a voting bloc away from the Republican Party was Bobby Kennedy's clever political advice to his brother that he should call the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. offering to help gain his release from jail after an arrest during a recent civil rights march. That fatuous message spread through the black community like wild fire.
It wasn't that JFK and Bobby were such great civil rights advocates or very concerned with the lives of Negroes. What especially Bobby Kennedy saw in 1959 and few Republican Party leaders today seem to comprehend is the increased importance of the black vote. Such understanding is required now more than ever with this country's rapidly changing demographics causing great electoral unknowns.
What a hoax that was perpetrated on blacks during the late '50s. In the South what kind of command could Northern liberals -- at the time almost as reviled as Negroes -- demand over local authorities? But, the ploy worked, and the rest is history.
If past voting patterns hold true today the Republican Party faces a grim future. To survive with some degree of relevancy the GOP must think strategically and aggressively promote itself to ethnic groups rapidly becoming the nation's majority. As successful businesses do, the GOP must locate new markets or face the prospect of declining market share.
Regrettably, if the decisions made by leading '08 GOP presidential candidates to pass up invitations to speak before minority audiences signal a lack of interest in these critical voting blocks, it may be valid to mark next year as the period market share for the Republican Party began what has the potential to become a multi-generation decline.
Participating in town hall meetings and forums such as the upcoming PBS-sponsored and recently postponed Univision-sponsored debates focused on issues concerning Americans of color, and appearing at activities supported by Republican activists with deep community ties is a good place to start. Just a one or two percentage point gain could very well determine the next oval office occupant. Must we recall Florida, 2000?
With great promise less than two years ago the clarion call from the national GOP towards blacks was, "Give us a chance and we'll give you a choice." Perhaps the Republican Party can have its JFK moment today, heeding the current human cry from the black community to, "Give us some respect and we'll give you our vote."
Donald E. Scoggins is president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, a national group of black GOP activists.