Mitt Romney Speaks at the NAACP Convention

We all know the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den. That’s was probably somewhat how Mitt Romney felt today speaking to the NAACP convention (National Association of the Advancement of Colored People), the oldest American organization supporting civil rights.
It was not an occasion that the Republican presidential candidate would have taken on lightly. While the NAACP is, and was today, polite for the most part, there were scattered boo’s and some heckling while Romney was delivering his address.
His message was simple:
1. President Obama has not delivered on his promises to the Black community (14.4% Black unemployment vs 8.2% overall in the US).
2. Education overhaul is a paramount need in the Black community as in all of America, and in 4 years, Obama has not delivered better programs or improvements.
The Black audience was for the most part polite, applauding when Romney spoke about why he was there at all, saying that more than 90% of Black Americans vote Democrat (95% voted for Obama on 2008), and so some would consider it a waste of time for him to be there at all.
But, Mitt Romney displayed both his courage and his values today.
“I believe,” he said, “that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible to fully communicate what I believe is in the real, enduring best interest of African-American families, you would vote for me for president.”
Romney also received applause when he reiterated his defense of traditional marriage.
At another point, the former Massachusetts governor received a warm response by emphasizing the historic nature of the President Obama's election.
"If someone had told us in the 1950s or '60s that a black citizen would serve as the 44th president of the United States, we would have been proud and many would have been surprised," Romney said. "Picturing that day, we might have assumed that the American presidency would be the very last door of opportunity to be opened. Before that came to pass, every other barrier on the path to equal opportunity would surely have to come down.
"Of course, it hasn't happened quite that way. Many barriers remain. Old inequities persist. In some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before. And across America -- and even within your own ranks -- there are serious, honest debates about the way forward."
But, Romney then moved on to his theme, jobs. "If our goal is jobs, we have to stop spending over a trillion dollars more than we take in every year. And so, to do that, I'm going to eliminate every non-essential, expensive program I can find. That includes 'Obamacare.'" That prompted a chorus of loud boo's from the audience.
In another uncomfortable moment, Romney listed 5 steps to restore the economy, including expanding trade, nurturing skilled workers and restoring economic freedom.
"I know the President will say he's going to do those things. But he has not. He will not. He cannot. And his last four years, in the White House, prove it definitively. If I'm president, job one for me will be creating jobs," Romney said.
"I submit to you this: if you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him."
Both lines prompted a separate chorus of boo's.
Of course, Mitt Romney is not so naïve as to believe that he will carry the Black vote this Fall, but he could make some inroads, and in some swing states a small shift in Black voting could be important - North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Ohio. As an example, in 2008 in North Carolina, Obama carried the state by 14,000 votes -- helped, in part, by 95% of African-Americans there voting for him.
Hilary Shelton, the NAACP's Washington bureau director and senior vice president for policy and advocacy, said he feels that Romney could "surely" capture more black votes if the candidate offers economic proposals that appeal to the community.
"African-Americans, like every other demographic in our country ... vote their economic interests," she said. "We want to know that the plan that you have to address the issue of unemployment in our society will also reach us; that we'll see a tailored plan that will recognize that disparity and show us how you make sure we move the entire country forward, but also eliminate that disparity in the process."
He added, "Our history has shown us that when African-Americans came out of slavery, African-Americans overwhelmingly voted Republican ... because Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Abraham Lincoln moved the policy that freed them from the bondages of slavery."
It is heartwarming to hear a Black American leader say that it was the Republican Party under President Abraham Lincoln that fought a Civil War to free them. The GOP was, in fact, formed because of its adherents’ united stance against slavery, and its goal was to eliminate it in the South.
A job well done which the GOP has often neglected to emphasize.