Bush tries to sway black vote

Shouts of "Amen!" are as prevalent as guffaws as he asks black voters to consider whether Democrats take them for granted.

DETROIT - A week after snubbing the nation's largest civil rights group, President Bush accused the Democratic Party on Friday of taking African-Americans for granted and suggested they would have more political leverage if they spread their votes around.

"I'm here to ask for your vote," he told the National Urban League.

That was greeted by applause but also by guffaws, which Bush did not miss. "No, I know, I know, I know. The Republican Party has got a lot of work to do. I understand that," he said before looking at the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was seated near the front of the audience.

"You didn't need to nod your head that hard, Jesse," Bush said, drawing laughs.

The president made his appeal during the group's annual conference, which provided a respectful yet cool forum for him to try to revive his credentials as a compassionate conservative after he infuriated the NAACP by refusing a speaking invitation for the fourth year in a row.

"Does the Democrat Party take African-American voters for granted?" Bush asked, to scattered applause from the mostly black audience. "It's a fair question. I know plenty of politicians assume they have your vote. But do they earn it and do they deserve it?"

Bush's conciliatory appearance in the swing state of Michigan marked his most concerted effort yet to prepare for the fall battle over the tiny slice of independent voters by adding more inclusive rhetoric to a campaign repertoire that has been dominated by red-meat conservatism.

"Is it a good thing for the African-American community to be represented mainly by one political party?" Bush said. "That's a legitimate question. How is it possible to gain political leverage if the party is never forced to compete?"

The president adopted the cadence of a Baptist preacher as he rapidly listed his goals for education, tax cuts, and crime and drugs, adding as a refrain at the end of each sentence, "Take a look at my agenda."

Bush has had a sporadic record of African-American outreach during his term, hosting numerous East Room events with largely black audiences but giving little attention to what his aides call his "compassion agenda" after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Bush's remarks were described by his aides as an aggressive bid to improve on the 10 percent of the black vote he won in 2000. But GOP strategists said they have little hope of significant gains in November, and said the nation's increased polarization might even mean that he could do worse. Still these strategists said they consider it essential to Bush's image among moderate, suburban voters that he not be viewed as writing off African-Americans.

Bush's opponent, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had gone before the Urban League the day before with plans to create jobs and curtail gang violence, asserting that for him it was "not just a check-the-box campaign stop" and promising that he wanted the members "at the table with me in a full partnership."

Bush spoke to an audience of about 1,500, while a throng of 4,000 convention attendees filled a much larger hall to see Kerry on Thursday. Ricky Clemons, the Urban League's vice president of public relations, attributed the difference to "security concerns" and said "hundreds" were turned away from the first-come, first-served Bush event.

Bush never named Kerry but simply said, "I'm here to say that there is an alternative this year." Kerry's campaign called the appearance a classic case of damage control after the torrent of criticism for refusing to appear at the NAACP convention. Bush's aides at first said he had a scheduling conflict. But he went bike riding on the opening day of the convention, and they later attributed the decision to inflammatory criticism by the group's leaders. Chairman Julian Bond has said the Republican Party's idea of equal rights "is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side."

The White House transcript showed Bush's 39-minute address was interrupted by applause 60 times, although much of it was scattered, and some members stayed seated as he was welcomed to the stage in a hail of applause. One of them, Luther Seabrook, 75, of Charleston, S.C., said Bush looked like "a spoiled brat" for his handling of the NAACP but said that at the Urban League, "he did pretty good, considering what he had to work with."

No one booed, which was one of the White House's main concerns for the day, and he received some approving shouts of "Amen!" and "Yo! Yo!"

The first four-fifths of Bush's remarks consisted of an adaptation of his standard stump speech, with the repeated addition of the phrase "progress for African-Americans and all Americans," and a detour to list eight of the prominent African-Americans in his administration, from Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, to General Services Administration director Steve Perry and Kay James, head of the Office of Personnel Management.

Jackson, head of the Rainbow Push Coalition, said afterward that he had asked Bush for a private meeting about protecting the votes of African-American votes in the Nov. 2 election. Jackson said he described abuses in Florida and elsewhere. "He said, "That's not right. I'll talk to Karl Rove (Bush's senior adviser) and get back to you,' " Jackson said.

Jackson said he has "a congenial personal relationship" with Bush, but said the president has had "a closed-door policy" for many of the interests of African-Americans. "Those he anticipates will disagree with him, he pushes them away."

He also criticized Bush initiatives that he said have resulted in fewer police officers on the street and the curtailment of after-school programs.

Bush lingered to pose for photos and dispense bear hugs. "I believe in my heart," he said, "that the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, is not complete without the perspective and support and contribution of African-Americans."

- Information from Cox News Service and Washington Post was used in this report.

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