BLAST FROM THE PAST

Washington Post, January 1, 2004 (via Detroit News):

Winning black voters tops GOP agenda

...as the 2004 presidential election unfolds, Republicans want to convert [a] focus on black appointees into black votes. Their goal, they say, is to win 25 percent of the black vote, which they haven’t come close to doing in nearly 30 years.

“If we get African-American votes, (the Democrats) are in deep trouble,” [Newt] Gingrich said recently....

Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said increasing his party’s share of the black vote is “a top, top priority.” ...

Gillespie declined to specify how much the party will spend, saying he did not want the Democratic leadership to know. “But we’re budgeting for it,” he said.

At the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign headquarters in suburban Washington, spokeswoman Sharon Castillo said, “We are taking no vote for granted.” ...