Bush’s political strategists believe Republicans should recast themselves as the “party of civil rights,” and reach out to African-American churches as a way to improve GOP candidates’ chances, but before that can happen, the president may want to learn what the Voting Rights Act is.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) says he’s “shocked” and “utterly amazed” by President Bush’s response to his question during last week’s Congressional Black Caucus meeting at the White House.
According to Jackson, the Congressman asked the president if the CBC could rely on him to extend the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it comes up for renewal in 2007. Jackson said Bush had no clue what he was talking about. Jackson said the president basically said he “didn’t know enough about the law” to answer the question.
“To not know that the 1965 Voting Rights Act is the single largest moment of the civil rights movement …” Jackson said, sounding so disturbed that he could not complete his thought. He said he’s now expecting a “big fight” in 2007 over renewal of the Voting Rights Act without which he said most black politicians could not win election to Congress.
I can appreciate the fact that Bush doesn’t want to comment on laws with which he’s unfamiliar. Fine. But in preparing for his meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, didn’t he think this might come up?
And for that matter, why doesn’t Bush know enough about the law to answer Jackson’s question?