What?!! J.C.! Armstrong!

The AP has a story, Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign. I'm not overly surprised that, say, Colin Powell is thinking of voting for Obama. But J.C. Watts and Armstrong Williams? These guys are about as conservative as you can get. And I include socially conservative in that--they're against abortion, which Obama wants to remain legal.

I read in one conspiracy article that Obama uses witchcraft to seduce people. I doubt that's true, but it's amazing that prominent black conservatives are thinking of voting for him.

J.C. Watts says something sobering. The article states: "Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them. 'And Obama highlights that even more,' Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. 'Republicans often seem indifferent to those things'" (emphasis mine).

I don't know. Bush II appointed African-Americans to prominent posts, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which handles urban policy. I wonder what J.C. Watts means. And I actually take his opinion seriously, considering his conservative credentials.

I checked the documented wikipedia article (see J. C. Watts) and saw some interesting quotes. "In an interview with the Washington Post, Watts chastised some black Democrats and civil rights leaders as 'race-hustling poverty pimps', whose careers he said depend on keeping blacks dependent on the government." So why does Watts like Obama for wanting the government to take on poverty?

Here's another J.C. quote: "Republicans want to say we reach out. But what we do instead is 60 days before an election, we'll spend some money on black radio and TV or buy an ad in Ebony and Jet, and that's our outreach. People read through that."

I agree that the GOP should do more to reach out to African-Americans, not because they'll get their votes overnight, but because they'd do well to be the party of all people. The GOP has ideas such as freedom and less government. They should show how these things can work for the benefit of those who are not their voting base.

Bush II has done fairly well in helping the Republican Party to reach out to African-Americans. But more remains to be done.