… For two generations, it has been an assumption in both parties that the black vote is among the least fungible variables in American politics. The best any Republican presidential candidate since 1980 has done with black voters is a paltry 12 percent (Bob Dole in 1996); only 6 percent of African-Americans who voted in 2012 voted for Mitt Romney. There is no serious reason to think this polarity will shift anytime soon.
But elections are very rarely won by major realignments; most of the time, they’re won around the margins — and the margins of the black vote are more malleable than they might initially appear. CONT.
Robert Draper, New York Times Magazine
I think they would be more malleable IF major Republican candidates showed they cared about the treatment of black people in America. I’ve yet to see that. A statement tossed out once or twice in front of the “right” audience isn’t enough. Consistency is needed; proof that it’s a real concern to that candidate, not just an election ploy.