McMarketing

This past Sunday, I was listening to the Tavis Smiley Show and his first guest was none other than Sen. John McCain (via telephone).

They talked about the economy, the war, media coverage...then McCain brought up the African American community, asking if Smiley minded if he switched gears.

Well, we all knew Tavis was going there, and the host said as much himself. "But go ahead," he told the Republican candidate.

"I'm a realist. I know I'm not going to get a majority of the African American vote," McCain conceded. "But I'm going to go all around this country...I'm gonna fight for their votes."

Smiley acknowledged that McCain has been on the right side of several issues of concern to the Black community, mentioning his support of the MLK holiday in Arizona and his views on immigration reform. But Smiley made a thinly-veiled reference to McCain's willingness to switch sides.

"I've said before, if this John McCain shows up...he has something to say to Black America," Smiley told McCain.

"There really isn't much that Sen. John McCain can do to convince Black voters to vote for him," said Frances Rice, chairman of the National Black Republican Association. "The Democratic Party has spent the past 40 years convincing them Republicans are the racist party, when really it's the exact opposite."

Though she says her organization doesn't endorse specific candidates, she told me they support all Republicans and that they might even change their stance this year and endorse McCain.

"We may decide that this is a good year," she said.

...if the "right" McCain makes an appearance? I have a feeling her idea of the right McCain and Smiley's might differ. Now, if Bush's McCain shows up...

How about some electoral history?

Bush got 11 percent of the Black vote in 2004 and 9 percent in 2000. And this is the guy who ignored the country's premier civil rights organization until 2006!

Going back to the B.W. ("before Dubya") era, Republicans scored 12 percent in 1996 and 10 percent in 1992. But these numbers are even more shocking when you consider America's "first Black president" only got 83 and 84 percent in those two elections, significantly less than both Gore and Kerry (Perot stole a good share of the African American vote both years-7 and 4 percent, respectively). I am really more surprised by George W.'s success with the Black vote than Clinton's failure, however. Not that I'm an identity voter, but it would piss me off if a male candidate that only goes to church every once in a while was billed as America's first woman or agnostic president...

In all, I think Tavis got it right. Support the right issues and you'll get the votes you deserve. Identity politics is so out of style. Or if it's not yet, it will be by the time we get to November.