It's The Swing Voters, Stupid

Friendliness toward historically oppressed groups that are unlikely to vote for you--blacks, Hispanics--is a good way to appeal to historically oppressed groups that just might--white women, Jews, Catholics, gays. Which helps explain why, even though W.'s approval rating among African Americans is only marginally higher than John Rocker's, the Texas governor showed up last week to speak to the naacp's annual convention in Baltimore--and executed a particularly fine ricochet pander. The trick is to make the minority audience think you're a nice guy--which whites like to see--without actually engaging its agenda, which whites probably oppose. It's a delicate balance, and it requires adherence to several key principles.