Lawmakers attending the National Policy Alliance Summit, an organization representing more than 3 million black government workers and elected officials, said they are more interested in effective government than partisan political battles.
Black voters, particularly those ages 18 to 35, are increasingly more independent and less likely to identify with a political party, said Webster Guillory, assessor for Orange County, Calif., and chairman of the National Organization of Black County Officials.
“I think what the country is missing is that they’re not looking at the independent movement as carefully as they should, and the Republicans and Democrats are so steeped in party politics that they don’t know what to do about it,” Mr. Guillory said.
He said while independents have made up a small percentage of voters to this point in most states, in California they represent 26 percent of the electorate.
In the 2008 primary season, young Americans’ participation has skyrocketed in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan — and they are the voters most likely to not carry a party label.
Mr. Guillory said that’s one reason Sen. Barack Obama has done so well and why many older black elected officials are hesitant to support him, despite their zeal for his campaign.
Tuskegee, Ala., Mayor Johnny L. Ford, a co-founder of the alliance, said the current state of politics, the shortened primary season and rapid demographic changes are what has led to a more issues-based campaigning and less of an ideological one.
“In September, the No. 1 issue in America was the war, and right now that has completely shifted so that it’s clear that the top issue is the economy,” Mr. Ford said.
He said one of the reasons the alliance was re-formed after a three-year hiatus was to ensure that blacks in government had a voice to shape the policy discussion for the incoming president.
“What we need to do is speak as one voice, 10,000 black elected officials and the more than 3 million members of Blacks in Government and adopt an agenda of priorities for the black community that we all can agree on,” Mr. Ford said.
The organization was able to adopt resolutions calling for the HIV/AIDS epidemic to be declared a national emergency, ending the proliferation of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, fully funding No Child Left Behind and other issues.
Rep. Bobby Scott, Virginia Democrat, said his main concern for years has been the effect mandatory minimums have had on black communities.
“The quickest way to deal with mandatory minimums is to stop passing new ones, and 2007 was the first year in the 15 years I have been in Congress that we didn’t pass any new ones,” Mr. Scott said, adding that it was in large part to him being chairman of the House subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security.
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