Slow News Day?

Who cares? I don't care if they are black or female, when it comes to a position of power that restricts my freedoms as an American I just don't want them in office. Next thing you know the Republicans really will try putting lipstick on a pig, to appeal to the overweight crowd.

This is such a non-story that Steve Gilliard hasn't bothered to comment yet and we all know how he feels about Steele.

The Year of the Black Republican?: "The three are running on similar platforms of lower taxes, smaller government, and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, but they come to their contests with different credentials. Blackwell has a long r�sum�in elective office and conservative causes. Steele is a former state party chairman but has never been elected on his own. Swann is a true political novice, albeit one with the star quality of a Hall of Fame wide receiver.

All three begin as underdogs. Independent polls have shown Steele starting the campaign as much as 15 points behind the Democratic front-runner. Blackwell trailed by 10 percentage points in a pre-primary Mason-Dixon poll for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Swann trails Rendell in the polls and has lost ground since entering the race earlier this year.

All three black candidates face significant obstacles. In heavily Democratic Maryland, Steele must win a big share of the black vote in a state where African Americans account for 28 percent of the population, almost three times the percentages in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Swann must overcome rookie mistakes that have plagued his campaign in the early months. Blackwell is running into head winds created by GOP scandals in Ohio and by lingering resentment in the African American community over voting problems in the 2004 election, which he oversaw as secretary of state.

Together, they embody a new chapter in the Republican Party's often-failed efforts to appeal to African Americans, a strategy shaped by RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who last year apologized for the GOP's Nixon-era 'Southern strategy' of exploiting white resentment over integration.

'We've gone from a model of outreach to a model of inclusion,' Mehlman said. 'Outreach is a top-down approach. Inclusion says, 'Let's find some really good people and encourage them to run for office.' '"

Miss Piggy for President! She will cut a path we can all follow.

Remember the city of New Orleans before you go tossing your vote away.

Tags: black voters, Steele, Swann, Blackwell, Mehlman