Bush makes a pitch for black votes

DETROIT — President Bush yesterday asked black Americans for their vote in an address to the National Urban League, saying blacks must reconsider their allegiance to the Democratic Party and look at the strides minorities have made under his administration.

“If you dream of starting a small business and building a nest egg and passing something of value to your children, take a look at my agenda. If you believe schools should meet high standards instead of making excuses, take a look at my agenda.

“If you believe the institutions of marriage and family are worth defending and need defending today, take a look at my agenda. … If you’re struggling to get into the middle class and you feel like you’re paying plenty of taxes, take a look at my agenda,” Mr. Bush said in the 40-minute speech, interrupted by applause more than 50 times.

Seeing some surprised expressions around the room, Mr. Bush said when first addressing the crowd: “I know, I know, I know. The Republican Party has got a lot of work to do. I understand that,” drawing laughter and applause.

Spotting the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the crowd, Mr. Bush said, “You didn’t need to nod your head that hard, Jesse,” prompting more laughter.

Mr. Bush said the Democratic Party, long preferred by blacks, no longer appears to be working hard to keep the black community satisfied, and he urged black leaders to ask themselves some hard questions before automatically backing the Democratic presidential candidate.

“Does the Democrat Party take African-American voters for granted? That’s a fair question. I know plenty of politicians assume they have your vote, but do they earn it and do they deserve it?” Mr. Bush asked, winning scattered applause.

He asked a series of rhetorical questions, each time winning applause from the audience of 1,200 black business leaders, sometimes hearty, sometimes tepid.

“How is it possible to gain political leverage if the party is never forced to compete? Has class warfare or higher taxes ever created decent jobs in the inner city? Are you satisfied with the same answers on crime, excuses for drugs and blindness to the problem of the family?” he asked.

During the address, Mr. Bush announced a partnership with the Urban League that will seek to expand business ownership among minorities by creating one-stop centers for business training, counseling, financing and contracting. The initiative calls for the Commerce Department, Small Business Administration and other government entities to pool resources to help the Urban League’s local offices help minority entrepreneurs.

“I believe in my heart that the policies and actions of this administration, policies that empower individuals and help communities, that lift up free enterprise and respect and honor the family, those policies are good for the nation as a whole,” Mr. Bush said to applause.

After the speech, Mr. Jackson said the president’s pledge to work to earn more black votes “rings hollow.”

“He’s had three years to meet with organized labor, leaders for civil rights, the National Organization of Women, the Congressional Black Caucus. He’s got a closed-door policy,” said the leader of the Rainbow Coalition and former Democratic Party presidential candidate.

Although Mr. Bush got just 10 percent of the black vote in 2000, the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign is making an effort to attract some traditional Democratic voters to win what most pollsters say is an even race. Making his ninth trip to Michigan — his second in 10 days — Mr. Bush hopes to seize the battleground state he lost by a slim margin in 2000.

It appears to be working so far. His trip to Detroit came as a new poll showed 79 percent of black voters back Democratic White House hopeful Sen. John Kerry, but suggested that their support for him is not as warm as it was for Vice President Al Gore four years ago.

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