Advocating for A.G. Nominee: Alberto Gonzales

If you’re an attorney in the U.S. and willing to advocate (e.g., by telephone call or letter to your Senator) for the confirmation of Attorney General Nominee Alberto Gonzales, please email me your contact information for inclusion on the list.

The Black Vote

President Bush managed to garner 11% of the black vote on November 2nd – hardly anything to write home about, but it is nearly 50% better than he did in 2000.
I admit to being mystified by the voting habits of my fellow Americans who happen to be black. Day in and day out I work with, talk to and otherwise interact with black people – I live in a city (Las Vegas) which I consider to be the most un-hungup on race that I’ve ever seen (the number of inter-racial couples here initially astonishes, but becomes the accepted norm after living here a short while) – in spite of all of this, I don’t have a clue as to why even in a good year the GOP can’t get much more than one in ten black Americans to pull the Republican lever.
Sure, I know about what everyone says is the problem – the perceived racism of Republicans as evidenced by the likes of Strom Thurmond (dead), Jesse Helms (retired from office) and Trent Lott (hounded out of power due to a maladroit statement – and, btw, thanks Liberals; we GOPers were looking for a way to get him out of the Majority Leaders office…since you did your bit, we’ve increased our GOP Senators by four). Supposedly the GOP has garnered the support of all those racists in the South who used to vote Democratic back when the Democratic Party pandered to Southern racism – I don’t know: I don’t live in the South, though I did live in Florida for a while where the only thing I noted was that black and white Floridians got along a heck of a lot better than black and white New Yorkers. Even living in the South, I wasn’t part of it – I’m a California boy now transplanted to the only really sane city in the United States (sane being a place where I can get prime rib at 2 am if I have a mind).
Fortunately, modern American conservatism is ecumenical in nature, and the always wonderful La Shawn Barber gives us hidebound white guys a peek at how black people view their political choices:

So President Bush managed to garner 11 percent of the ìblack vote”, up from 8 percent from four years ago. My opinion? I think itís a good sign. While Bush didnít need black voters to win this election, Iím sure he appreciates it nonetheless.
Iím not really excited about it or interested in trying to convince blacks to vote for Republicans. I wrote on the blog a few months ago that doing so just doesnít appeal to me anymore. Perhaps running this blog and dealing with irate black liberals has jaded me on the process. All that nonsensical tripe about voter disenfranchisement! Downright embarrassing.
Iíll direct you to an op-ed written by Stefani Carter, a law and graduate student at Harvard. She takes a somewhat subdued approach in this USA Today piece:
President Bush won four more years after an election marked by serious divisions, real choices and record turnout. The president and first lady likely have a long thank-you list to compile. Unfortunately, blacks ó who gave Bush just 11% of their votes ó wonít make that list.
As a young black person, I long for the day when conservative policymakers like Bush will be able to make true inroads in the African-American community. Democrats have long taken the black vote for granted, talking the good talk, yet failing to offer meaningful reform in their communities.
While I certainly understand her concern, Iím more interested in the 11 percent. I know all about the 89 percent. I was once part of a group that really believes liberal policies are in the best interest of blacks even though I saw the destruction with my eyes every day.

Go read the whole thing – both Ms. Barber’s comments and the article she links to. I guess the only thing we can do as GOPers is to keep plugging away at it – eventually self-interest, if nothing else, should bring ’round a sizeable portion of black Americans to the GOP. After all, we agree on everything – the desire of black Americans to run their own businesses for the benefit of themeselves and their community; the desire to opt out of failed public schools; a general aversion to abortion; a respect for family as tbe bedrock of society – these are all highly conservative Republican notions, and black Americans (if polling is correct) are in entire agreement.
Time, hard work and patience – this must be the answer.

Senator Specter and the Judiciary

Senator Arlen Specter is one of the most liberal Republicans in the United States Senate. This is not a problem as we are, indeed, a big-tent Party – but we, as a Party, should be insisting upon at least a modicum of Party loyalty from the men and women who benefit from being members of the Republican Party.
Back during the primary season of this election year, Senator Specter faced a strong challenge from a very conservative Republican – Specter narrowly prevailed in this contest, largely due to his firm backing by President Bush and the Republican Party establishment. Now that Specter emerged from his primary challenge and win re-election, how does he repay the President and the Republican Party? This way:

ODOM: Is Mr. Bush, he just won the election, even with the popular vote as well. If he wants anti-abortion judges up there, you are caught in the middle of it what are you going to do? The party is going one way and you are saying this.
SPECTER: When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v Wade, I think that is unlikely. And I have said that bluntly during the course of the campaign and before. When the Inquirer endorsed me, they quoted my statement that Roe v Wade was inviolate. And that 1973 decision, which has been in effect now for 33 years, was buttressed by the 1992 decision, written by three Republican justices-O’Conner, Souter, and Kennedy-and nobody can doubt Anthony Kennedy’s conservativism or pro-life position, but that’s the fabric of the country. Nobody can be confirmed today who didn’t agree with Brown v. Board of Education on integration, and I believe that while you traditionally do not ask a nominee how they’re going to decide a specific case, there’s a doctorate and a fancy label term, stari decisis, precedent which I think protects that issue. That is my view, now, before, and always.
ODOM: You are saying the President should not bother to send somebody up there like that.
SPECTER: Can’t hear you
ODOM: You are saying the President should not bother or make the move to send somebody up there who is clearly anti-abortion.
SPECTER: I don’t want to prejudge what the President is going to do. But the President is well aware of what happened when a number of his nominees were sent up, were filibustered, and the President has said he is not going to impose a litmus test, he faced that issue squarely in the third debate and I would not expect the President, I would expect the President to be mindful of the considerations that I mentioned.

Emphasis added. Since that interview, Senator Specter (apparantly under pressure) has issued a statement saying that he wouldn’t try to block a judicial nominee simply on the fact that such a nominee had expressed pro-life views, or views that call into question the validity of the Roe decision. That is all fine and dandy – but I’m unconvinced. We’ve just won a gigantic victory for conservative ideals and I don’t think we should allow our victory to be thwarted by week-kneed liberal Republicans who are afraid of a hostile editorial in the liberal newspapers.
I urge everyone to call or e mail their Senators stating their opinions on whether or not someone as overtly liberal as Senator Specter should become Chairman of the Judiciary Committee – my view is that he should not but at the very least we should at least let him and the rest of the Republican Senate know that we want no more pussy-footing around on this: we elected a conservative Republican President partially so we can get judges who actually enforce the laws, not make up laws to suit their personal opinions.

There is Still Time… Call Swing State Voters

If you are reading this now, you have no excuse to not call 15 voters in a swing stte..

The Official Bush-Cheney Campaign site has a new tool where you can call 15 swing state voters. In order to do this, you need to be signed in as a volunteer. If you’re not yet, just sign up, go back to the homepage, click on the top link, ìCall Swing State Voters.î
Logged in, you can go to http://www.georgewbush.com/call/

Have You Called 15 Swing State Voters Yet?

What are you doing now? Can you spare a few moments? Well, you have the opportunity now to play a valuable role in the Get Out The Vote Effort…

The Official Bush-Cheney Campaign site has a new tool where you can call 15 swing state voters. In order to do this, you need to be signed in as a volunteer. If you’re not yet, just sign up, go back to the homepage, click on the top link, ìCall Swing State Voters.î
Logged in, you can go to http://www.georgewbush.com/call/