COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Newt Gingrich veered off the traditional GOP primary campaign trail Saturday for an African-American church ? and a colloquy on race relations and urban policy that only seemed to strengthen the audience?s resolve to vote for Barack Obama.
Far from where his rivals spent their time just a week before the make-or-break primary in the state ? and from where many likely Republican voters can be found ? the former House speaker chose to spend his afternoon in front of a hostile audience at the Jones Memorial AME Church.
Continue ReadingThe reason, Gingrich said, had more to do with the future of the GOP than his own candidacy.
?Whether it?s La Raza, or it is LULAC or it is the NAACP or it?s the Urban League,? Gingrich said at the church here, ?I think that conservatives and Republicans have to get in the habit of thinking about the whole country.?
African Americans made up just 2 percent of the Republican primary electorate here in 2008 and several members of the church said they thought their fellow congregants leaned heavily toward Obama.
Still, Gingrich offered about 50 minutes of back-and-forth, explaining why he thinks poor children should have part-time jobs and why his brand of bipartisanship is different than the one that Obama offered while campaigning in 2008.
Jobs might help children in poor neighborhoods develop strong work ethics, earn some money and potentially ?slow down the dropout rate and give young people an identity within the community and a desire to go back to school,? Gingrich said, defending a proposal he?s come under fire for on the trail.
?Good response,? the African-American man who asked the question said as Gingrich finished up his answer.
But not everyone in the crowd was so amenable. Minutes later, an African-American woman asked him if his views of minorities changed after he traveled the country with the Rev. Al Sharpton a few years ago to encourage cities to develop charter schools or if he is still ?a racist and a bigot.?
?What I?ve said is that we want everyone ? to be able to use English and be able to rise in the whole country,? Gingrich said as the woman interjected again, reading a quote about ?lazy ghetto black people? that has been misattributed to the candidate.
The woman persisted, asking Gingrich how he could refer to Obama as a ?food stamp president,? as he often does when campaigning, since Obama graduated at the top of his class at Harvard Law School.
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