"... let's also consider what is it about Republicans that black voters don't like." Well, how about the way that Republicans treat black voters?

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What's the Republican Party's problem with black voters?
By Robert Mann, November 21, 2014

Sen. Mary Landrieu has taken a beating for her poor showing among white voters in the Nov. 4 Louisiana U.S. Senate primary. Only 18 percent of white voters chose Landrieu over her Republican opponents, Rep. Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness. Among white males, Landrieu's support was only 15 percent.

White support for Landrieu was down sharply from 2008, when 33 percent of that demographic group supported her.

What is Landrieu's problem with white voters? It's a complicated matter, but midterm electorates are always older and whiter, which was bad for Democrats everywhere. Cassidy also effectively tied Landrieu to a black president who is unpopular with white voters in Louisiana (Obama got about 16 percent of Louisiana's white vote in 2012.)

While the question of Landrieu's growing disfavor among white voters is worthy of debate and investigation, let's not forget the other side of this voting equation. That is Cassidy's abysmally poor showing among black voters. On Nov. 4, the person who will likely be Louisiana's new U.S. senator received just 3 percent of black votes. Landrieu, meanwhile, captured 94 percent of those voters, a notch under her 96 percent mark in 2008.

Those Cassidy numbers haven't received much attention because they are not surprising. Black voters rarely support Republicans in congressional and statewide races in Louisiana.

To some Republicans, that is a scandal. Among them is state Sen. Elbert Guillory, a black Republican from Opelousas, who has become a celebrity among Republicans for his efforts to persuade black voters to switch parties. In addition to appearing in a spot attacking Landrieu, he showed up on television in North Carolina to assail incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who lost on Nov. 4.

"You see, black people are just being used by limousine liberals who have become our new overseers," Guillory said in the North Carolina spot, paid for by the group Our America. "We've only traded one plantation for the other." In his video attacking Landrieu, Guillory said to black voters, "You're just a means to an end, so that she remains in power."

Guillory clearly wants you to know how fervently Republicans like him and Cassidy desire the votes of black people.

There's a problem with this pitch. Cassidy has made no concerted effort to woo black voters. He campaigned briefly with Dr. Ben Carson, a popular black conservative who seems to be plotting a presidential campaign. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., one of two black members of the U.S. Senate, is scheduled to join him at an early voting rally in Monroe on Saturday.

Truth be told, if Republicans like Cassidy were passionate about persuading black voters, they would be doing much more than flying in Carson and Scott and throwing scraps of TV time to Guillory.

Ignoring black votes makes political sense for Cassidy. He doesn't need them to win. Cassidy surely knows he'll get about 75 percent of the white vote, which is more than enough to defeat Landrieu if black voters turn out at the same rate as whites.

Still, why does Guillory -- outraged over Landrieu's perceived disregard for his black constituents -- see no problem with Cassidy's reluctance to woo those same voters?

If asked, I'm sure Cassidy would say that he is eager to win black votes. If, indeed, he is, he has an odd way of showing it. Consider, for example, how he behaved when he had a significant black minority in his congressional district.

When Cassidy was first elected to Congress in 2009, 31 percent of the registered voters in his 6th Congressional District were black. After the 2010 census, however, Louisiana was forced to eliminate one congressional district because of its declining population.

Cassidy saw that as an opportunity to jettison black voters -- and he did. With his approval, the Legislature and Gov. Bobby Jindal handed over a large chunk of his district's black voters to the 2nd Congressional District, a seat held by Cedric Richmond, an African-American congressman from New Orleans.

Cassidy's district is now just 22 percent black. In all, there are today 35,799 fewer black voters in the 6th district than in 2010. Conversely, Cassidy now represents 68,000 more white voters than he did in 2010.

Truth is, Cassidy and state Republicans wanted fewer black voters and many more white voters because that meant a safer Republican district. The district is now 73.7 percent white, one reason former Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards faces near-impossible odds against Republican Garret Graves in the race to replace Cassidy.

In December, if Cassidy and Graves win their races, pundits will marvel at Landrieu's and the Democrats' collapse among white voters and urge Democrats to address a serious problem that threatens their existence in Louisiana. But let's also consider what is it about Republicans that black voters don't like.

The list of grievances is extensive, and it's one that Republicans like Cassidy, Guillory and their fellow Republican leaders will not soon seriously consider --especially when their party can count on the dependable, overwhelming support of white voters.
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