WASHINGTON�With the presidential election just a day away�in a race analysts describe as too close to call�both the Republican and Democratic parties have gone into a "full court press" after the Black vote. The bottom line: the Black voter turnout will determine the first president of the new millennium and which party will control the United States House and Senate.

A recently released survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (JCPES) shows that 74 percent of Blacks support Vice President Al Gore over his opponent, Texas Governor George W. Bush, who, according to the survey, garners only nine percent of Black support. Unless there are some unexpected developments that significantly move Black opinion before the close of this political season, it appears that the standard 85-90 percent share of the Black vote will remain wedded to the Democratic Party. However, an expected low voter turnout makes the race much closer than these numbers reflect.

During the past two presidential races, voter turnout declined, with the 1996 presidential race reflecting the lowest turnout recorded since 1924. In 1996, the Black community propelled Bill Clinton into the White House with 84 percent of its vote. JCPES suggests that voter turnout will reflect the same decline generally in the 2000 elections.

"I�d rather address how to make the Black vote more important instead of marginalizing it every four years when you vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate," said conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams of American Urban Radio Network. "No one needs to show up to campaign for your vote because they know where you are going. If you want your vote to be strengthened, if you want your vote to mean something in America, then you have to choose wisely."

Unclear as to whether Mr. Gore invokes the same enthusiasm for his ticket as did Pres. Clinton during his campaigns, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the NAACP and Clinton administration officials have launched a nationwide attack, in the hope of energizing Black voter turnout.

On Oct. 13, the DNC initiated a $1.5 million paid media advertising campaign of both print and radio ads to promote what they perceive as the benefits of Democratic victory in November. The campaign highlights the successes of the Clinton/Gore Administration in providing Blacks with more economic opportunity while drawing sharp contrasts with Republicans and their commitment to promoting diversity and preserving civil rights in America.

The print ads depict the image of the educational, economic and social success Blacks can enjoy with Mr. Gore as president. The radio ads running primarily on Black stations feature the daughter of Black Texas resident James Byrd Jr., who was dragged behind a truck to his death by racist white men. The ad stresses the importance of the passing of hate crimes legislation.

Members of the CBC have begun bus tours through battleground states to campaign for Mr. Gore in the hopes of energizing voters. "We are spending most off days speaking on behalf of Vice President Gore," said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.).

"Our effort is to get the unlikely voter to the polls," declared NAACP President Kweisi Mfume during an ABC-TV appearance on "This Week." "They, in fact, will be the ones that make the difference," he said. The NAACP inaugurated in early October the National Voter Fund�a $9 million campaign targeting Black voter turnout.

With a strong Black voter turnout, analysts contend the possibility of Supreme Court appointments favorable to Black concerns may occur, which will impact issues like a death penalty moratorium, education, affirmative action and right to life (abortion).

Black Democrats are a major fixture in the U.S. House of Representatives representing over 18 percent of the 106th Congress with Reps. Eva Clayton (N.C.), John Lewis (Ga.) and Donald Payne (N.J.) in the leadership structure. In addition, several CBC members are ranking Democrats at the House committee level as well.

With a Democratic sweep in the national elections, the Congressional Black Caucus leadership will be fully empowered for the first time in its 29-year history. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) stands to chair the House Ways and Means Committee; Rep. Julian Dixon (D-C.A.) will head the House Intelligence Committee; Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) would be over the Judiciary Committee; and Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) would assume the helm of the House Committee on Africa.

"Many of our people have been so busy fighting for survival, we have not really made the time to look at how voting connects to their lives," commented political analyst Cora Masters Barry, wife of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. "The relationship between electing officials who stand for issues and policies that effect our lives, they don�t know how to connect it. So many times you will here Blacks say it is not important to vote, that it doesn�t matter and that�s just not true," she said.

"My fear is that voters will choose to follow traditional party slates out of ignorance," said D.C. Council At-Large candidate Arturo Griffiths of the D.C. Statehood Green Party slate. Voter apathy, lack of voter education and lack of mainstream media coverage of local issues, the candidate said, has voters focusing primarily on the presidential race and that neither Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore are focusing on the "bread and butter" issues of the everyday resident who faces crises in housing, community development, education and prison warehousing of Black and Hispanic youth under horrendous sentencing laws.

Nation of Islam Chief of Staff Leonard F. Muhammad told The Final Call that the Million Family March mobilization effort nationwide will continue its thrust to establish a permanent force that will guarantee the promises made by politicians and government to the Black, Brown, Red, Yellow and poor whites of this nation.

"The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has called for Blacks to march to the polls in mass and this call will be met again with unprecedented numbers as reflected in the 1996 presidential elections," said Mr. Muhammad. Min. Farrakhan�s call at the 1995 Million Man March for Black men to register and vote resulted in 1.7 million new Black male voters. "The Minister wants our people to stay in the process and not opt out of the process, even though neither of the candidates have spoken adequately to the aspirations of our constituency and our base. We have to build a force strong enough that those promises they do make while in office, we make sure they keep these commitments," he said.

"This election is momentous," said senior editor Damian Chandler of PoliticallyBlack.com. "Prior times, the campaigns were geared toward the middle class and baby boomers. Now, the vote demographics have changed dramatically with the upsurge of generations X and Y and especially the Black youth vote. I believe that this voting bloc of youth will be the determinate in this election," he concluded.

Republicans apparently aware of the historical allegiance Blacks have held to the Democrats have also stepped up their campaigns in direct voter identification and contact, and retired Black General Colin Powell has joined Gov. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, on the campaign trail. Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.), the lone Black Republican in the House and fourth ranking member of the GOP, leads a team of GOP lawmakers and volunteers into Black communities in key electorate states in attempts to "build bridges and show we are in the hunt," Mr. Watts told reporters.

The GOP also notes that Mr. Bush has a track record of being able to sway Black and Hispanic votes. In 1998, he received 27 percent of the Black vote in Texas, along with 48 percent of the Hispanic vote.

After studying the platforms of each of the presidential candidates, Mr. Muhammad said that much of what is stated is in fact representative of some of the concerns raised in the MFM National Agenda. Mr. Muhammad said that there exists a greater need to hold Democrats accountable because most of the political currency of Blacks has been deposited in the Democratic bank and now it is time to make a subsequent withdrawal.

"There is power in politics, we just haven�t learned how to use it yet," said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan from Mosque Maryam on Oct. 29. "Even if your candidate doesn�t win this time, it really doesn�t make any difference.

"If you don�t have a force coming up from the people united, organized, sensitized and politicized to their self-interest," you will not get from Washington, or any municipality, he said, "what you are not organized to demand and punish if, you don�t get it."

Photos:
#1-Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore is welcomed to the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference at the Cincinnati Convention Center July 5, 2000, in Cincinnati.
#2-Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush speaks with members of the Arkansas High School football team, left and Texas High School football team right, at Texarkana airport Sept. 1, 2000 in Texarkana, Ark.