Issues are not the preserve of one party or the other. Candidates, to be effective, need to cross over and show their ability to solve the other side's problems. The ideological stalwarts march to the beat of their own drummers and value consistency above compromise, purity above pragmatism. The special interest paper tigers like to growl and try to enforce discipline on the legislators they support. Most lack enough understanding of policy, budgets, programs or politics to govern wisely.
Cowards hide behind lies, and they make the scandal worse by doing so.
To get political power, blacks must put themselves back in play by voting and running as Republicans. Only if they are up for grabs as an electorate will anybody pay attention to their needs. Republican clients usually ask me to poll among whites only. They're not being racist, they just know that the black vote will go against them, so they don't want to pay for the extra interviews. Symbolic nonsense such as flag-burning or recitation of the pledge of allegiance in schools won't do the trick anymore.