Dear Black People: This is a critical time in our history. Vote Tuesday or be prepared to face serious consequences. Many polls show that Democrats are in trouble.
President Barack Obama’s 40 percent job approval rating in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll is the lowest of his career – and more than half of Americans are viewing Democrats unfavorably for the first time. Democrats are vulnerable in states that include Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Connecticut. If African-Americans ever needed a reason to vote on Tuesday, consider this: South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who may run in 2016, was caught on tape discussing the Republican Party’s reputation for appealing to mostly white men in a racially-charged recording.
“If I get to be President, white men who are in male-only clubs are going to do great,” Graham said.
Does this sound familiar? It should. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Mitt Romney said: “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what” because they are “dependent on government” and “believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.”
Graham is speaking for many white men who take Graham at his word: That he will look out for white men specifically if he gets to the White House. Graham didn’t say anything about representing African-Americans and other citizens of color because the Republican Party is not a party of inclusion. Days before critical mid-term elections when Republicans could take control the U.S. Senate, I could hear a sense of urgency in Rep. Marcia Fudge’s voice.
“We depend on government more than any other group,” Fudge, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said about African-Americans.
“We have to vote in November. We can’t work against our own self-interests.” Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, is rallying Black folks and urging a strong voter turnout on Tuesday. She is both feisty and frustrated because still, in 2014, Fudge has to give black Americans a reason to vote. Some Black citizens, she said, are still questioning whether their vote will actually count.
If You Don’t Vote Tuesday, Then Don’t Complain was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
