RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman told an audience at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta that "his party intends to push for more black GOP candidates for statewide office," the Boston Globe reports. "He also argued that staples of the GOP agenda -- tax cuts, home ownership, education reform, and private retirement accounts -- mesh with the concerns of black voters and offer a clear alternative to the Democratic Party."
Mehlman has so far "brought his message to 17 African-American events, ranging from church meetings to a speech at Howard University, a historically black college in Washington."
Meanwhile, Republican leaders in Pittsburgh used its host city as an example of "where the GOP hopes to expand its membership with minorities and inner-city voters who traditionally align more with Democrats," according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.