Posted 9:56 PM by Robert

Listening To Doctor Dean

Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says:

"There's a new generation of African-American leaders and a new generation of African-Americans. We can't go out and say could you vote for us because we were so helpful during the civil rights era."

Dr. Dean is absolutely correct! The problem with his approach for Democrats is that it's a disaster for them - since Democrats essentially depend on African-American civil rights era nostalgia as the main basis for their Democratic support.

That new generation of African-American leaders Dr. Dean recognizes are interested in things like access to good schools - and they don't much care if those schools are accessed by vouchers or something similar. And they also care about family values, especially opposition to same-sex marriage. There are many other such examples, and Republicans are busy, busy, busy working this line:

A conservative black group, the Mayflower Compact Coalition, will also begin collecting signatures next week for its "21st Century Mayflower Compact," a nine-point agenda for black America that includes support for school choice and private Social Security accounts. "We recognize the achievements of the civil rights movement," says Oliver Kellman, the group's chairman. "But we need a civil responsibilities movement." Advised in part by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's consulting firm, Mayflower is planning town hall meetings in up to 20 states--with the emphasis on battlegrounds where black support for Republicans could make a difference, like Pennsylvania and Michigan. The group will publicize the events via black media and churches, being careful to "push this as an issue-driven initiative, not a party-type initiative," says Kellman.

Doctor Dean is right: Democrats shouldn't be relying on civil rights era nostalgia to appeal to African Americans. But Democrats haven't really done much for African Americans lately, and right now Democrats are major obstructions to the new generation of African American leaders reaching their current goals. If African Americans take the Doctor's advice, the Democratic Party will largely loose its most important and loyal constituency.