Tomorrow , Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to speak to the National Urban League during the civil rights organization's annual conference in Baltimore. Such appearances were once considered automatic in presidential elections. In both 2004 and 2008, for example, both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees spoke to the influential organization.
But this year, neither Donald Trump nor his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, will be coming to Baltimore to offer their views on the election — or issues facing African-Americans or the challenges facing cities or anything else for that matter. The Trump campaign has offered no explanation, but the message is clear: They see nothing to gain politically from attending.
Sadly, the Trump-Pence ticket is not the first to bypass the National Urban League. Mitt Romney set the precedent in 2012 — and probably paid for it in the election booth. Studies of voting patterns four years ago suggest the former Massachusetts governor received just 6 percent of the African American vote in his loss to President Barack Obama. But at least the Romney campaign can make the excuse that they saw little political advantage in courting the black vote against a popular and barrier-breaking incumbent president. Last year, Republican presidential contenders Gov. Jeb Bush and Dr. Ben Carson spoke at the league's annual conference, and organizers held hope that Mr. Trump wouldn't snub them.
Instead, Mr. Trump's disrespect for the African American community was in full flower this week with his allegation that that this year's election may be "rigged." His evidence? The recent federal court decisions striking down voter ID laws that discriminate against minority voters as well as the lopsided Romney-Obama election results. In particular, Mr. Trump has pointed to the last GOP presidential nominee's poor showing in certain black urban precincts, some of which provided Mr. Romney not a single vote.
"I'm telling you, November 8th, we'd better be careful," the candidate said during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, "because that election is going to be rigged. And I hope the Republicans are watching closely, or it's going to be taken away from us."
Now, that's a pretty despicable and baseless allegation. If Republican candidates are going to ignore the interests of black voters, attempt to illegally block their access to the voting booth and not even engage them in a dialogue, how can they be shocked when inner city precincts vote overwhelmingly (and in some cases even unanimously) against them? The lack of support in 2012 was no statistical anomaly — it was well-earned.
Indeed, some polls have already suggested Mr. Trump may fare even worse with black voters than Mr. Romney did. Polls conducted by Marist, NBC and The Wall Street Journal last month in Pennsylvania and Ohio showed Mr. Trump getting 0 percent of the African American vote. That's right, none. Did someone rig those poll results, too?
What makes the failure of the Trump-Pence team to engage the National Urban League particularly disheartening is that this is not some reactionary, obscure or even especially controversial group. The New York-based league has been around for more than a century with much of its emphasis on economic empowerment, civic engagement and quality education for all. Those are values with broad support among all Americans.
That the non-profit, non-partisan organization is meeting in Baltimore speaks to its emphasis on public service and economic opportunity. In a recent meeting with The Sun's editorial board, League President Marc H. Morial said he hoped his organization could help Baltimore heal (and prosper) after the destruction wrought by the Freddie Gray unrest last year. Among the events the league is hosting this week are a jobs fair and outreach for small business owners.
Let the record show that the National Urban League reached out to the Republican candidates for president — as they've always done — and received only rejection. That is not the action of a ticket looking to unite the country, it is the behavior of politicians who have made a conscious decision to ignore and disrespect black voters and then call the inevitable result — overwhelming support for the Democratic candidates — a symptom of voter fraud. Such behavior would be laughable if it weren't so destructive.