Update: Unlikey Heirs
This is my second post on the black conservatives seeking election to major offices this year (See first post here). I'll continue to follow the progress of these candidates and keep you abreast here.
As I pointed out in my previous post, the candidate with the best chance of winning is Ken Blackwell of Ohio, who running for the governor's seat:
Blackwell stands apart from the group, thanks to his deep electoral experience and his very good chance of getting elected. He has already run more political races—from school-board seat to city councilman to secretary of state—than all the rest of them combined. He’s served in Washington as a HUD undersecretary and traveled the world as a U.S. ambassador. He’s chaired a major presidential campaign, been mayor of one of Ohio’s largest cities, and plotted supply-side fiscal policy with Jack Kemp.(Source)
George Will, writing for Townhall.com, in a recent column on Mr. Blackwell says:
He appeals to small-government conservatives by proposing a constitutional cap on state spending, and even leasing the Ohio Turnpike to private investors. His cultural conservatism has won him such intense support from many church leaders, some liberals are contemplating recourse to an American sacrament -- a lawsuit. It would threaten the tax-exempt status of churches deemed too supportive of Blackwell.
He appeals to blacks by being black, and because many blacks are cultural conservatives: George W. Bush won 16 percent of Ohio's black vote in 2004. In Blackwell's three statewide races, he has received between 30 percent and 40 percent of the black vote. If in November he duplicates that, he will win, and Democrats in many blue states will blanch because if their share of the black vote falls to 75 percent, their states could turn red. (Source)
Now this, in my opinion, is a true conservative! Someone who is both a fiscal and cultural conservative I believe Ken Blackwell offers a ray of hope for the conservative moment not seen since Ronald Reagan. He's currently ahead in the pre-Republican primary polls and has both local and national support of the Republican Party. A Blackwell victory will prove that a black Republican can gather support across a wide spectrum of the electorate. And, hopefully, make it "fashionable" for blacks to vote for them.
Stay tuned...
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