This year, the mainstream media has paid great attention to the importance of the so-called Nascar dad, a white male voter type that could, supposedly, swing the election to one party or the other.

But Jackson and other activists of color aligned with the Democrats say that without a huge turnout from African Americans, Latinos and other segments of the party’s base, the Democrats cannot hope to win.

“An empowered community is a community that votes, and without an empowered community of color there cannot be an effective progressive movement,” said Arlene Holt-Baker, president of the voter outreach group Voices for Working Families, during last week’s forum, which was organized by the Progressive Majority.

The Democratic Party has failed to conduct sustained voter outreach to communities of color over the years, say activists of color.

“Registration in communities of color has often been last minute,” said Holt-Baker. “We always had a dream that resources could come early to those communities, including a sustained program of voter education and one-on-one conversations. Because we know that is the only way they would come out. Registration alone is not enough.”

Joe Velasquez, principal of Hispanicaction.com, agreed.

“Over 7.2 million eligible Latino citizens didn’t vote in 2000,” he told the audience at the Cambridge forum. “The party hacks only start putting money into the Latino community soon before the election. Are you talking to us about education? Are you talking to us about health care? That’s what you need to do to get those seven million off their ass.”

Activists say the insufficient outreach to voters of color is compounded by a failure to follow through on election promises made to those communities, leading to lower voter turnout.

“So often, communities of color are told things will change if they just vote,” said Holt-Baker. “But so often they have seen that issues have not changed.”

Despite their criticism of Democratic Party decision-makers, Velasquez, Jackson and Holt-Baker emphasized the possibilities presented by the growing number of African Americans and Latinos in the United States.

“Together with the African American community, we can form a huge block that will move America in a totally new direction,” said Velasquez.

Holt-Baker and Jackson emphasized the strategic value of the black and Latino vote, particularly in the South.

“Fifty-four percent of African Americans reside in the South,” said Holt-Baker. “By 2010, that number will be 58 percent. In North Carolina, we are seeing large numbers of immigrants, particularly Latinos. We have the potential for powerful coalitions in those states.”
Jackson held out Georgia as an example of a state ripe for aggressive, grassroots Democratic voter outreach.

“There are 650,000 blacks in Georgia who are unregistered,” noted Jackson. “With 150,000 more blacks on the books in Georgia, you’d have another senate seat.”

Jackson said that black voters have always had to organize to push the Democratic Party to support their demands for civil rights and progress for their community.

“Kennedy at his convention didn’t have a big civil rights platform,” said Jackson. “We made Kennedy, Johnson, Carter and Clinton great by forcing them to make the right choices.”