Can New GOP 'Ideas' Lure Minorities Back in '14?
But Ryan insists that, unlike block grants, the money would have to be spent helping the poor, and the plan would be "budget neutral" by costing no more and benefiting low-income families no less than the current system.
For that, even Robert Reich, President Clinton's labor secretary, said on CNN that he was "frankly very impressed" by Ryan's plan.
But the details of Ryan's plan, like those of the Grand Old Party's other potential candidates, may mean less to the GOP's outreach to minorities, among other potential voters, than the very fact that he actually has gone out and gotten acquainted with the people and communities that he says he is trying to help.
That's the first step, said Robert Woodson, founder of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. The prominent black conservative served as a sort of urban Sherpa in the listening tour of grassroots community organizations on which Ryan has embarked over the past two years.
"After he had a chance to meet hundreds of people, what impressed me most is that he's willing to change his mind," said Woodson, who, like Ryan, worked with the late Rep. Jack Kemp, an unusually popular conservative in minority communities. "How often do you hear someone in Washington admit to changing their mind?"
Indeed. But whether Republicans can change black or Hispanic minds remains to be seen. Minority and low-income voters probably are looking for more than new promises. They want to know that the candidate really cares about their problems.
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E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.
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