FAST FACTS:

✔ States with large Hispanic populations, such as Arizona, Nevada,

New Mexico and Florida will likely

play an important role in the 2004

election: in 2000, contests in those

states were decided by 6 

percentage points or fewer.

--Arizona Daily Sun

Super Tuesday was so “super” for

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry March 2 that

the now-apparent Democratic presidential nominee received congratulatory telephone calls not

only from North Carolina Senator John

Edwards, his remaining major rival for the position, but also from President George W. Bush,

the presumed Republican re-nominee.

So-named because it was the biggest day on

the election calendar — with contests involving

one-fifth of the nation’s states and one-third of its

eligible voters — Super Tuesday resulted in Kerry gaining a near sweep and the

Edwards camp saying its candidate was scheduled to announce his departure from the

race at a news conference on March 3.

Kerry sailed to coast-to-coast victories by large margins in primaries in California,

Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island,

Election

FOCUS

March 3, 2004 U.S. Department of State ISSUE 1 • NO 6

In a recent interview, Dr. Ron Walters, director of the African American

Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland, spoke with Washington File

staff writer Darlisa Crawford about the role of African Americans in the 2004

election. Dr. Walters is a recognized expert on African American involvement in

electoral politics and a frequent political commentator on network television.

Also see this issue’s Campaign Highlight feature which includes a discussion of

outreach to minority voters by the Republican Party.

Q: What are the major issues for African Americans in the

2004 election?

Walters: The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, which is a black

think tank, has done surveys in the past several election cycles, and the same 

African Americans and the 2004 

U.S. Elections: An Interview with 

Dr. Ron Walters

(continued on page 3)

(continued on page 2)

To receive this newsletter 

via a listserv go to:

 www.usembassy.de/mail

Super Tuesday Wins Position Kerry 

for Democratic Presidential Nomination

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry

with daughter, Vanessa, left, stepson, Chris Heinz,

right, and wife Teresa Heinz-Kerry, far right, celebrates primary victories for the Democratic

presidential nomination on March 2, 2004, in

Washington D.C. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

Inside This Issue:

• The Results

The Super Tuesday

Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page1

• African Americans and the

2004 U.S. Elections:

An Interview with 

Dr. Ron Walters . . . . . . . page 1

• Campaign Highlight: 

Bush Begins Campaign . page 5
and in caucuses in Minnesota. The victories gave him a cumulative total of more

than 1,385 Democratic National

Convention delegates pledged to his

nomination. A total of 2,162 delegates to

the July 26-29 convention in Boston are

needed to officially win the nomination.

Voters in Vermont, the only other

state holding a March 2 primary, gave the

bulk of their convention delegate support

to “favorite son” former Governor

Howard Dean, even though he dropped

out of the contest on February 18.

The two long-shot candidates still in

the Democratic race, Ohio Congressman

Dennis Kucinich and the Reverend Al

Sharpton of New York, finished far back

in all 10 Super Tuesday events, receiving

less than 10 percent of the vote even in

their respective home states. Both said

they would continue to campaign.

A spokesman for Bush said that in a

call from the White House, the president

told Kerry he had had “an impressive

night” and “won the nomination against a

tough field.” Bush added that he looked

forward to “a spirited race.” A Kerry

spokesman described the call as “very

nice,” and said the senator’s reply was

that he “looked forward to having a

debate on the issues.”

Policy lines are clearly drawn

between the two men, with sharp disagreements already expressed on the

conduct of war in Iraq, the economy,

abortion, homosexual rights, the death

penalty and the Second Amendment right

to carry weapons.

Washington Post writer David

Broder says that “for a politically polarized nation,” the campaign almost

certainly will result in a close election.

Current opinion polls give Kerry a

lead over Bush that many analysts attribute to the media attention paid to the

Democratic nomination battles, while the

president had no primary opposition and

Republican voter turnout was much lower.

But Bush has raised more campaign

money than any candidate in history —

approximately $140 million to Kerry’s

$32 million to date — and his re-election

team planned later this week to begin a

series of television ads that will try to

convince voters the country will be better

off with the president remaining in the

White House another four years and also

attempt to show Kerry as a liberal who

changes his position on issues and is soft

on defense.

While Kerry’s momentum and 27

victories in the 30 primaries and caucuses held to date (including the District of

Columbia) have been impressive, they

have still involved only a relatively small

number of voters compared to the more

than 100 million ballots expected to be

cast in the November general election.

According to some political analysts,

many Americans still do not know much

about Kerry, and the election could turn

on which political party does the best job

in defining him, the Democrats in a positive light or the Republicans more

negatively.

Veteran political observer Charlie

Cook says the battleground will be in 16

or 17 of the 50 states, where the voting

was very close during the 2000 presidential election. Perhaps the most important

one, Cook adds, is Ohio, with other

Midwestern states, the Pacific Northwest

and Florida being critical as well.

Between now and June 18, primaries

and caucuses will still be held in 21 states.

Contests in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are next, on March 9.

The San Francisco Chronicle, in an

editorial noting that the Democrats have

emerged from the primary season with

an unusual level of cohesion, added that

Kerry does not have the intra-party

wounds that often have burdened his

predecessors. Calling the primaries “positive and substantive,” the newspaper said

there appears to be “a formidable nominee to challenge Bush and his policies.”

As they were in the earlier

Democratic primaries, voters will be

driven in the upcoming events by a determination to oust Bush from office. Many

of them have an unfavorable opinion of

the president even though he remains

very popular among Republicans and

many Independents. 

An editorial in USA Today says an

angry voter base “is not enough to capture the presidency” because elections

are won by attracting political moderates

and Independents, comprising one-third

of the electorate, who can be “turned

off ” by partisan rage. Both Kerry and

Bush, the newspaper points out, face the

similar challenge of appealing to

Independents while still keeping their

loyal supporters energized. ■

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

2 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The U.S. Department of State is pleased to present its election coverage newsletter, Election Focus 2004. The 

newsletter will provide non-partisan coverage of the U.S. election process, featuring articles, interviews, public opinion

polls, and other information on the presidential primaries, debates, conventions and campaign activities of the major 

presidential candidates.

Election Focus 2004 is produced by the Democracy and Human Rights team in the Bureau of International Information

Programs.

— BUREAU OF —

INTERNATIONAL 

INFORMATION

PROGRAMS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

(continued from page 1)
(continued from page 1)

African Americans and the

2004 U.S. Elections

issues come up. The top one, right

now, is employment — jobs —

because black unemployment is double white unemployment. It’s about 11

percent, whites are about 5.1 or 5.2

percent. So that’s a critical issue in the

black community, because there’s so

much unemployment. Then, of course,

education is important. We’re now commemorating the Brown v. Board of

Education decision of 50 years ago,

when the Supreme Court decided to

integrate American schools. And yet,

we still live in a highly segregated environment with respect to education,

where 80 percent of young black kids

go to schools that are more than 50 percent black and 60 percent of whites go

to schools that are more than 50 percent

white.

So, education — especially higher

education — is a big issue because

that is the route to social mobility and

professional status. Things like grants

and government funding are a primary

concern.

And then, of course, health care is

very important, because of the gaps in

many health-related diseases and conditions between blacks and whites, and

also gaps in the treatment of those

conditions and insurance coverage.

Those are the top three.

The war in Iraq is in fourth place

according to some recent studies and

polling information, primarily because

blacks have become such a high proportion of the casualties. Twenty

percent of the casualties in Iraq are

African American, so that’s an obvious

concern, as well as the concern about

the use of the financial resources

going to the war.

Q: In 2002, the Joint Center

for Political and Economic

Studies asked black 

respondents in its 

national survey to identify

themselves as either

Democrats, Independents 

or Republicans. Although 

63 percent claimed to be

Democrats, the number 

was down from 74 percent 

in 2000. Is this trend 

continuing and is the

Republican Party making

special efforts to bring

African Americans back 

to the party of Abraham

Lincoln?

Walters: The Republican Party in

each election cycle has claimed that

they are making such efforts, but it’s

very difficult to see them. African

Americans will say, for example, that

they have changed their party identification. Right now, however, the growth

in party identification is for neither

major party, but with Independents.

Yet, when you look at how people

actually vote, African Americans voted

90 percent Democrat in the last election in each age group. So, although

some of the past Joint Center studies

show that younger blacks below the

age of 35 were more conservative on

some issues, still, when it came to

political behavior, they voted pretty

much like their elders.

Q: How have recent 

efforts to redraw legislative

districts in states such as

Texas impacted minority 

communities?

Walters: The question of redistricting in Texas is one that will eventually

be decided by the courts because of

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

WWW.USEMBASSY.DE/USA 3

“Generally speaking, 

the black youth vote will 

be important, since that 

population constitutes about

40 percent of the total black

population. There has been

an effort to increase youth

turnout because it runs in 

the mid-30 percent range,

compared to over 50 percent

for older African American

adults.”

--Dr. Ron Walters

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.
the irregularities in redistricting. The

issue here is whether or not this dilution of both the black and Hispanic

vote runs afoul of the Voting Rights

Act of 1965. Many experts believe

that redistricting is legal, but in the

minds of many lawyers, it is a clear

violation, because it has diluted these

votes. And so, that fight will go on,

and it probably will not affect African

Americans unless many of the states

adopt mid-term redistricting. That’s

one of the reasons why I think that

eventually the practice will be thrown

out by the Supreme Court.

Q: How will the voter 

reform efforts since the 2000

election impact the African

American constituency?

Walters: It should boost the vote,

insofar as the Help America Vote Act

has provided economic resources to

states and localities for purchasing

modern voting machines. Those

machines should help to increase the

African American turnout figures,

because their votes were disproportionately thrown out during the last

presidential election. Some of that has

been traced to the fact that the older

voting machines are placed in innercity areas. So, if the new machines are

put in these areas, then it should certainly help to record the African

American vote. Other important

aspects of electoral reform include better training for poll workers, better

management of voter lists, voters’ ability to check their voting status, voting

right restoration of those with prior

felony convictions and other things.

Q: Will African American

youth be an important 

factor in this election, and

are special voter registration

drives aimed at youth?

Walters: There are many special

voter registration drives aimed at

youth. MTV, of course — which is the

youth-oriented television network —

generally has a number of programs

aimed at young people. But, the big

non-partisan organization called Youth

Vote is funded by a number of

sources, and it is perhaps the main

organization that targets youth voting.

There is an organization called

Black Youth Vote, which is part of the

larger organization, the National

Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Black Youth Vote has been in existence

for quite awhile, and it targets young

people below the age of 35. Generally

speaking, the black youth vote will be

important, since that population constitutes about 40 percent of the total

black population. There has been an

effort to increase youth turnout

because it runs in the mid-30 percent

range, compared to over 50 percent for

older African American adults.

Q: Why is Al Sharpton’s

campaign significant and

how long will he remain 

in the race?

Walters: Al Sharpton’s campaign is

significant, first of all, because he represents African Americans who

generally are absent at the higher levels of national politics. We’ve never

had an African American president, we

don't have blacks in the *Senate of the

United States. There are 39 in the

House of Representatives, and only

one on the Supreme Court. So, when

you look at the higher levels of government, blacks are missing, and so to

have Sharpton represented in the race

is a plus for African Americans. 

[*Editor’s Note: Carol Moseley

Braun served in the U.S. Senate from

Illinois from 1993-1999, and most

recently also ran for president during

the Democratic Party primaries and

caucuses.] 

Secondly, to the extent that he is

able to collect delegates, he will be

able to represent African American

interests at the convention, and with

the potential nominee of the party.

The larger his delegate group, then the

more influence he will have. 

People compare Sharpton to

Reverend Jesse Jackson, who first ran

for the presidency in 1984, and who

took 384 delegates to the convention

that year. By 1988, when Jackson ran

again, he took 1,200 delegates to the

convention. So, he was obviously in a

very, very strong position to exercise

leverage. That is the hope of many

people: that Sharpton will be able to

replicate some aspect of Jesse

Jackson’s feat in presidential politics.

Q: Are there any other 

comments that you want 

to add?

Walters: In the 2000 election cycle,

African American registration had

pulled pretty much even with whites.

The difference between the two was

only two percent. African Americans

had also pulled even with whites in voting. The difference there was only 2.9

percent. That’s something that is very

important, because it’s been a long road

since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

And in most of that time, the black vote

and registration was significantly

behind the white vote. In 2000, African

Americans virtually caught up. In the

2004 election cycle, therefore, I 

wouldn’t be surprised if the black vote

actually surpassed the white vote. ■

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

4 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.
With 20 Democratic primaries and

caucuses over the last two months and

the Super Tuesday primaries yesterday,

media focus has been on the

Democratic candidates vying for their

party’s nomination. This may have

begun to change, however, on February

23, when President Bush began his

general election campaign. In a speech

to Republican governors, Bush defended his presidential record and sought 

to distinguish himself from the

Democratic candidates. “Our opponents have not offered much in the way

of strategies to win the war, or policies

to expand our economy,” he said.

“It’s a choice between keeping the

tax relief that is moving the economy

forward, or putting the burden of higher taxes back on the American

people,” he continued. “It’s a choice

between an America that leads the

world with strength and confidence, or

an America that is uncertain in the

face of danger.”

Although the speech marks what

many say is the formal start of the

Bush campaign, fundraising and other

campaign efforts in support of the

president’s re-election bid have been

going on for some months. According

to news sources, in terms of fundraising, the Bush campaign has raised

over $143 million overall and $12 million in January alone. This formidable

bankroll will fund, for example, the

television commercials that the Bush

campaign is expected to begin running

on March 4.

Any incumbent official, by virtue

of the public nature of his or her position, has greater visibility and more of

an opportunity to meet voters and discuss vital policy positions. In addition

to the president’s campaign, Vice

President Dick Cheney, First Lady

Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney, and other

high-ranking administration officials

have also been actively campaigning

on his behalf. According to the New

York Times, in recent months they

have attended more than 100 fundraisers around the country. In addition, a

network of over 400 people who raise

funds in 45 states have raised at least

$100,000 each.

Also speaking on February 23,

Vice President Cheney in a speech in

Wichita, Kansas, discussed the administration’s record on the war on terror

and on rebuilding Iraq and

Afghanistan. “I think we’ve got a

record of accomplishment to show for

our efforts, he said. “I think the

American people can be confident of a

better future, stronger economy, and a

greater security... because of the leadership of George W. Bush.”

In addition to the more traditional

“stump speeches” that often signify

the start of a campaign, the Bush team

is expected to begin its media campaign on March 4, having reserved

time on several television stations.

Thus far, according to the Associated

Press, at least $4.5 million worth of

airtime has been bought on stations

such as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox

News Network and ESPN, a sports

network. According to the Associated

Press, “Political analysts say advertising through cable TV allows the campaign to target its advertising to

specific constituencies and be on the

air everywhere, including in states that

may not be in play in the election.”

The Bush team will also begin

running campaign ads on Spanish-language networks such as Univision and

Telemundo in New Mexico, Florida,

Nevada and Arizona, advisers to the

campaign said. The Bush-Cheney

website can also be viewed in Spanish.

The emphasis on Spanish-language campaign ads reflect a greater

effort on the part of the Bush campaign to reach out to minority voters

this election. In the 2000 election, former Vice President Al Gore won 62

percent of the Hispanic vote, compared to Bush’s 35 percent. According

to Bush campaign officials, the president believes it is important to reach

out to those voters who may not speak

English as their first language.

In states with large Hispanic populations such as Arizona, New

Mexico, Florida, Nevada and Arizona,

the 2000 presidential election was

decided by six percentage points or

less, according to the Associated

Press. And with nine million Hispanic

voters expected to register by

November, presidential candidates

have recognized the necessity of 

courting these voters.

The Bush-Cheney campaign has

also made an effort to reach out to

African American voters as well.

According to Sharon Castillo, a

spokesperson for the Bush-Cheney

campaign, the campaign has made an

aggressive effort to ensure that small,

local African American newspapers

Campaign★★Highlight

Bush Team Begins Campaign

WWW.USEMBASSY.DE/USA 5

ELECTION FOCUS 2004
will have access to officials and information that matches the level of larger

papers, such as the New York Times. 

But according to Castillo, the

Republican outreach to minorities is

most evident in the administration’s

policies. Citing programs to improve

education and to increase minority

first- time home ownership, Castillo

said that President Bush will “campaign on the issues.” 

In addition to traditional media

campaigning, the Bush team has also

used the Internet, a campaign tool

popularized by the campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

And although the Bush-Cheney campaign has not used the Internet as a

primary fundraising tool — it raised

only about $3.5 million online — the

campaign has used e-mail and the

Internet as a way to disseminate information about the campaign and in

recent days has actively used its campaign website to respond to criticisms

by Democratic rivals.

The Bush-Cheney website currently carries a video clip attacking the

Democratic front runner,

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, for

his ties to several special interest

groups such as drug and telecommunications companies. A link to this ad

was sent to six million Bush supporters around the country. 

According to news reports, it

appeared that the Bush team would

wait until the spring or summer of

2004 before beginning a more active

campaign using TV ads. However,

according to the New York Times,

polls that showed Bush falling behind

his Democratic rivals in a nationwide

contest, and attacks by Democratic

candidates, prompted the Bush team to

begin their active campaign earlier

than planned. ■

READ MORE ABOUT IT:

The official Bush-Cheney campaign

website: www.georgewbush.com

The Republican National Committee

website: www.rnc.org

ELECTION FOCUS 2004

6 ELECTION FOCUS 2004

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.