After last month’s poll showing Mitt Romney pulling zero percent support among African-Americans, the campaign is ramping up its outreach efforts to minority voters.
A good idea in theory—but perhaps less so in Republican practice.
The co-chairs of Romney’s Black Leadership Council are Reps. Allen West (R-FL) and Tim Scott (R-SC), both of whom have a well-documented history of incendiary remarks.
As the Rev. Al Sharpton put it on Wednesday’s PoliticsNation, responding to two particular remarks made by West: “Comparing the safety net to slavery? That’s quite a dialogue. Comparing the Democratic party to a plantation? That’ll win over black voters for sure.” Mother Jones has video clips of even more of West’s greatest hits.
For his part, Rep. Scott’s first legislative proposal was to repeal President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. He also refused to join the Congressional Black Caucus because he didn’t believe his ideals could be “advanced by focusing on one group of people.” It remains to be seen how well this outreach effort goes, but Sharpton certainly doesn’t believe Romney will be polling much higher next time around with surrogates like these.
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