Bush, Democratic Hopefuls Court Black Voters

President Bush and most of the Democrats seeking to oust him shared the same stage Monday, albeit a few hours apart, and provided an early glimpse of the rhetorical battles over the economy, taxes and other domestic issues that will help determine the outcome of next year’s election.

Speaking at the annual convention of the National Urban League, Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate leader striving to help minorities achieve greater parity in society.

He stressed a number of themes that he hoped would resonate with his audience, among them his attempt to cut unemployment, increase homeownership among minorities and boost federal funding for social service organizations run by religious groups.

Speaking with ardor, Bush defended his across-the-board tax cuts, saying they would help revive the economy and create jobs -- an issue of particular interest to the black community, where the unemployment rate is now at 11.8%.

The largely African American audience of about 1,500 accorded him a respectful, if tepid, reception, and it was far from clear how much headway Bush had made.

A few hours later, seven of the nine Democrats vying to succeed Bush responded with a withering critique of his stewardship of the economy, and some also lambasted his handling of the war on terrorism.

Some of the long-shot candidates, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, got a bigger rise out of the audience than Bush. Their listeners rocked with laughter and applause when Sharpton mocked Bush as “a product of affirmative action,” a reference to his privileged upbringing and Ivy League education.

And they joined Kucinich in chanting “U.N. in, U.S. out” of Iraq, as he demanded an immediate withdrawal of American soldiers from that country.

The format did not allow for any exchanges among the candidates. Each was allowed five minutes for opening remarks and then was asked two questions by moderator George E. Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Assn. News Service. Every candidate had two minutes to answer each question and then departed before the next candidate walked onto the stage.

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri denounced Bush’s economic program, with Gephardt calling it “a disaster” and Lieberman blaming Bush for ushering in “a scandal of poverty in America.”

Former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont chided the president for using the word “quota” in criticizing the University of Michigan’s affirmative action program.

“The word ‘quota’ is a racially loaded word,” Dean said. “The president played the race card.”

To improve race relations, Dean said, “we need white politicians to go before white groups and talk about race. We’re all in this together.” Most in the audience responded with an ovation. Indeed, they responded with far more fervor to the Democrats -- who also included Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois -- than they had to Bush.

In his 36-minute, late-morning address, Bush delivered what amounted to a preemptive rebuttal to the partisan criticism that he surely knew would be unleashed from the same stage later in the day.

Bush characterized the war with Iraq and the efforts to rebuild that country as “essential to the broader war on terror; it’s essential to the security of the American people,” he said.

The president did not mention the ongoing controversy over whether he had made an unwarranted pre-war claim that Saddam Hussein had attempted to acquire “significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

On the economy, he conceded that America “has got work to do,” and cited his initiatives to provide job training to laid-off workers, boost homeownership and reform public education. Bush also called on Congress to extend to the working poor the $400-per-child rebate checks from the increased child tax credit.

During a lengthy defense of his faith-based initiative, Bush said that church-based social groups “should not be forced to change the character of their service or compromise their principles” in exchange for taxpayer funds.

The Urban League is a community-based advocacy organization that does not engage directly in partisan politics. But politics were not far below the surface during Bush’s visit -- or afterward.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), head of the Congressional Black Caucus, was given a rare private meeting with the president after his speech. Afterward, Cummings said he remained critical of Bush’s agenda and wondered to reporters whether the session was meant simply to provide Bush with a useful campaign photograph.

Cummings said the Bush tax cuts were helping the wealthy at the expense of the poor and that the revenue would have been better spent on increasing spending for education and providing health-care coverage to young people and prescription-drug coverage to seniors.

Like Cummings, the Rev. Jesse Jackson also met with Bush, and he confronted Bush about not having met with black leaders.

“We’ve earned the right to be heard,” Jackson later said he told the president.

Bush’s brief visit to Pittsburgh -- lasting less than two hours -- was his 21st trip to Pennsylvania, which is expected to be a key battleground state in the 2004 election.

For Bush, a key ingredient to winning a second term may be improving his support among African Americans; only 9% of black voters backed him in 2000.

In many states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida -- where the election hung in the balance in 2000 -- the African American vote could determine the outcome of the 2004 election, especially if blacks turn out in large numbers.

As Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) put it Monday: “I don’t think 9% is sufficient.”

Bush last spoke to the Urban League in August 2001.

For their part, African American leaders warned that Democrats should not take black voters for granted.

When three of the Democratic contenders -- Gephardt, Lieberman and Kucinich -- skipped the recent NAACP convention, they faced such heat that they quickly showed up to make amends.

At the Urban League on Monday, Sens. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Bob Graham of Florida were no-shows.