Donald E. Scroggins, president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, says his party needs a reality check on electoral politics, has no vision for the future and needs a "JFK moment."
"Democrats are still resting on laurels they created almost 50 years ago when Richard Nixon, leading John F. Kennedy in the polls, was upset in his bid for president of the United States," said Mr. Scroggins, a lifelong Virginia Republican.
The catalyst for that was "Bobby Kennedy's clever political advice to his brother that he should call the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. offering to help gain his release from jail after an arrest during a recent civil rights march. That fatuous message spread through the black community like wildfire," Mr. Scroggins said.
"It wasn't that JFK and Bobby were such great civil rights advocates or very concerned with the lives of Negroes. What especially Bobby Kennedy saw in 1959 and few Republican Party leaders today seem to comprehend is the increased importance of the black vote."
"Such understanding is required now more than ever for the GOP given this country's rapidly changing demographics causing great electoral unknowns," he said.
Mr. Scroggins also said that, "If past voting patterns hold true today, the Republican Party faces a grim future. To survive with some degree of relevancy, the GOP must think outside the box -- aggressively promote itself to ethnic groups rapidly becoming the nation's majority."
His position comes on the heels of a very damning article in the other paper about the top tier Republican presidential candidates not participating in the All-American Presidential Forum.
Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain passed on the debate sposored by PBS and its star talk-show host Tavis Smiley.
Newt Gingrich called the candidates so-called scheduling conflicts "baloney," and Jack Kemp asked if the GOP's plan in the future was to "meet at a country club somewhere."
It appears that the "Give us a chance, and we'll give you a choice" minority outreach efforts of former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman were not appreciated, but the replacement efforts of Sen. Mel Martinez and Mike Duncan?
-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times
