South of the James

A new South Of The James contributor – Republican activist Donald Scoggins – offers his kudos to Jerry Kilgore and his ticket mates for reaching out to African-American voters in the 2005 campaign. Scoggins is a founder and chairman of the Frederick Douglass Republican Forum, an independent political organization dedicated to promoting the principles of the Republican Party to black voters in Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth at-large. Don has over 30 years of activist experience in the Republican Party at national and local levels. He served in the Bush Administration at HUD, and He has been a Magisterial District Chairman, precinct captain and local Republican Party committee member in Washington, DC; Fairfax and Prince William Counties.

Today, all of the work that the parties and candidates have done comes to fruition as voters are heading to the polls. Black voters are poised to play a significant role in who will serve in Virginia’s three highest elected positions, Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. This year, statewide Republican campaigns engaged in an energetic courtship of black voters, which has established a very high standard for future campaigns to follow. The activities started at the top of the ticket with Jerry Kilgore’s campaign for governor. Kilgore’s campaign manager, Ken Hutcheson, recognized upfront the importance of hiring a talented African-American operative to work at the higher levels of the campaign office. They brought onboard one of the brighter young stars in Republican circles, Tiffany Watkins. She is a second-generation Republican activist whose father worked for the first President Bush as a White House liaison with black community leaders. Tiffany worked on national minority outreach efforts for the Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign, and her hiring was a first for a statewide GOP campaign in Virginia.

The campaign took the time to understand the history of African Americans within the Republican Party of Virginia, and they engaged with a number of community leaders. The results of this have been seen throughout this race. Jerry attended fundraisers held in the homes of black supporters, and he appeared at a number of events within our communities. As Secretary of Public Safety in the Allen administration and as Attorney General, his domestic violence initiatives and crime-fighting efforts helped the black community in many ways. Another example of his commitment was his successful intervention in the awarding of a state government contract that was unfairly denied to a minority-owned firm. Working with leaders across Virginia, the Kilgore campaign’s “Get Out The Vote” efforts in black communities are unprecedented. If effective, these trial initiatives will become permanent across the country.

Kilgore’s ticket-mates also did a great job of reaching out to voters. Having laid the groundwork for his Lt. Governor run over two years ago, Bill Bolling never watered down his very conservative stances and crafted a core message that he stuck with. Though a rock-ribbed conservative, Bolling does not have any degree of racism in his body, and it was easy to support him early on. Critics note that his campaign did not reach out to Northern Virginia as much as it could have, but he was smart to concentrate his efforts outside of that region. This way, he avoided being portrayed unfairly as a right-wing extremist by the Washington Post. Attorney General candidate Bob McDonnell is not a new face to any black Republicans or African-Americans in Hampton Roads as he has worked with the black community for most of his career from his military service to his service in the House of Delegates. Bob is one of those unique people who has a likable personality that anyone can accept even if they do not like his conservative philosophy.

Much has been made of former Governor Wilder’s endorsement of Tim Kaine for Governor. It was expected that he would eventually come out for Kaine, as it would not benefit him to support a Republican gubernatorial candidate as mayor of a heavily-Democratic city such as Richmond. Still, it was telling that he did waited such a long time and did not endorse a Democrat for the other two spots. This is due to the positive relationships that both Bolling and McDonnell had developed with Wilder over the years.

Although I am critical about the slow pace of change within the Republican Party in terms of having more black participation, I am realistic enough to realize it does not occur overnight. For it to be meaningful, it must be gradual. Republicans must make the effort to educate African Americans about how the party’s principles and policies will improve their lives. The GOP philosophy is the best choice for many black Americans because, unlike the Democrats, more government is not the answer to our problems. Throwing more money at problems and over-committing is irresponsible. Republicans feel that the proper role of government is to foster an atmosphere where private enterprise can thrive, and that message continues to be spoken loud and clear to black voters. On Tuesday evening, we will see if they heard us. My hunch is that they have.