George Bush: Back to The Party of Lincoln?

(2 of 2)

Bush aides wanted nothing to stand in the way of Sullivan's nomination. Just 12% of the nation's black voters pulled the lever for George Bush last November. Wooing blacks "has been very tough and, frankly, near impossible," admits Lee Atwater, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. But Atwater thinks the G.O.P. has an opportunity to make inroads, especially among younger or more affluent blacks. If the Republicans skim just 10% to 20% of that vote from Democrats, it could be enough to make the difference in close contests, particularly in the South, where black voters gave Democrats the edge in four Senate races in 1986.

One element of the Bush strategy has been to offer Administration titles to black staffers on Capitol Hill, who complain that they are being ignored by Democrats now making up job lists. One example: Maine's George Mitchell, the new Senate majority leader, has no blacks in policymaking positions on his staff and has not appointed any to the Democratic Policy Committee. Meanwhile, Connie Newman, co-director of the Bush effort to bring minorities into the Administration, each day sifts through 75 to 100 resumes from black candidates. "It's time for blacks to question their blind commitment to the Democratic Party," she says.

But filling jobs with black candidates is one thing. Formulating policies to meet the black agenda -- on civil rights enforcement, low-income housing and combating drugs -- is something else. "The gestures of kindness are a plus," said Jesse Jackson last week. "But they are not a substitute for the remedies that must take place to offset the neglect of the Reagan era." The face of Willie Horton may be fading from public memory, but it remains to be seen whether the next Administration can show a new face to American blacks.