>Yes, because the "Republican base" is racist.
Matt Taibbi has some great stuff in the chapter in Spanking the Donkey on his career as a Rep volunteer in Florida. They had one poor guy they'd always wheel out when they needed evidence of black support. He kept telling the Florida Republicans that they could make some hay by selling the moral message to black churches, but they'd never listen. In other words, they're so racist they'd sacrifice black votes to maintain their racial purity.
Doug