Looks like the GOP wants in on Black History Month.
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Republican leaders have long noted the party’s inability to attract African-American voters. Some 93 percent of African Americans voted for Obama in the 2012 election, compared with 6 percent for the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.
In a move to bring more black Americans into the fold, the Republican National Committee is rolling out Black History Month-themed advertisements to black media outlets for the first time ever, according to a statement released by the RNC.
“This Black History Month, we are excited about the unique opportunity to share the remarkable stories of black Republicans who have broken barriers and opened doors so that others may succeed. Recognizing these truly accomplished trailblazers through black media is an important opportunity to honor our past and build our future,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a press release.
The series will run on radio and in print. The 30-second radio advertisements recognize the successes of black Republicans Judge Sara J. Harper of Ohio, Dr. Louis Sullivan of Georgia and Michigan businessman William “Bill” Brooks.
The print-ad campaign highlights well-known black Republican leaders such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Sen. Hiram Revels, Mayor Mia Love of Saratoga Springs, Utah, and Frederick Douglass.
The radio advertisements are slated to run on media outlets owned by Radio One in Detroit, Washington, D.C., Cleveland and Atlanta. The print ads will be featured in the Washington Informer in the nation’s capital.
The Democratic National Committee is skeptical about the RNC’s new campaign.
“The RNC’s ad buys ring hollow since their party has continually opposed policies that give all communities a fair shake and allows everyone’s voice to be heard,” Kiara Pesante, the DNC’s director of African-American media, said in a statement, according to NPR.
The DNC will also be conducting outreach by running a monthlong Black History Month series.
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