It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The GOP’s grand plan had Steele winning the Senate race in Maryland, making good on the party’s promise to increase its appeal among black voters. Mehlman has headed that effort, reaching out to black evangelicals in 2004 and apologizing to the NAACP in 2005 for past Republican race-baiting. But despite the endorsement of several local black politicians, who broke ranks to vote for him, Steele lost by 10 points. The GOP’s two other high-profile black candidates, Ken Blackwell in Ohio and former Pittsburgh Steeler great Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, also lost by 20+ points. Overall, the GOP won only about 10 percent of the black vote, no more than they did in 2004. So much for that. If the Martinez pick is the start of a renewed GOP push to woo Latinos, he will have his work cut out for him. In this month’s elections, exit polls showed 69% of Latinos voted Democratic–up from about 58% in ‘04.
