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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

GOP plans to spend $60 million to court conservative black voters

I'd like to know where this money is going to, but more importantly, what accountability metrics does the Party use to measure the success of these funds? Is this money going to political consultants or actual grassroots activist?

Voters cast their ballots at Legend Elementary School during the U.S. presidential election in Newark, Ohio November 6, 2012. Photo by REUTERS/Matt Sullivan


In 2012, blacks for the first time voted at a higher rate, 66.2 percent, than did whites, with a rate of 64.1 percent, or Asians or Hispanics, with rates of about 48 percent each.

Few of those votes went to Republican candidates; most African-American voters do not identify themselves as Republican. Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the networks showed that only about 6 percent identified themselves as GOP voters in 2004, and 4 percent did so in 2008 and 2012.

Once the party of choice for blacks after slavery ended more than a century ago, the GOP says it now wants those votes back. It is spending $60 million to court black voters, and a new initiative aims to recruit 300 women and 200 minorities to run for state and local office.

Read complete article here.