Eye on Black voters, Kerry opposes gay marriages

Kerry opposes same-sex marriage but has criticised Bush for proposing a constitutional amendment to ban the practice. Kerry’s church appearance with Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton was part of a broader push by the Democratic presidential nominee to spur a strong turnout of black voters in the Nov. 2 election. The effort is targeted mainly at swing-state cities, including Miami, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

‘‘With a huge African-American turnout, we will win Ohio; the same with Florida,’’ said Bill Lynch, deputy manager of Kerry’s campaign. ‘‘That’s the difference between winning and losing — the turnout of those votes.’’

In 2000, Blacks favored Al Gore over Bush by roughly 9-1, a ratio that polls suggest Kerry could replicate.

At the Miami church, the congregants leapt to their feet and burst into applause on Sunday when Kerry, Jackson and Sharpton entered from behind the pulpit. By turns, Sharpton, Jackson and Kerry each recalled the obstacles that prevented many blacks in Florida from voting when they went to the polls in 2000. ‘‘Get ready, Mr Bush,’’ Sharpton shouted. ‘‘Those that you felt you disenfranchised and ignored, early this Nov. 2nd, we’re going to get up, and we’re going to the polls for the big payback.’’

Kerry said his legal team would ensure that ‘‘never again will 1 million African-Americans be denied their right to exercise their vote.’’

Jackson said Blacks were ‘‘targeted’’ for disenfranchisement in 2000, with 1 million of them deprived of their right to vote. ‘‘Today it’s getting worse,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not just Florida. It’s Minnesota. It’s Colorado… It’s an ideology. It’s a plan.’’

As Jackson posed a series of questions, parishioners raised their hands. Did anyone have a family member with cancer? A relative in jail or on probation? Troubles with racial discrimination? But when he asked who had a family member ‘‘marry somebody of the same sex,’’ no one raised a hand. ‘‘Well then how did that get into the middle of the agenda?’’ he asked amid ripples of laughter. ‘‘If your issues are cancer and medicare and education and jobs and social security and decent housing, then how did someone else put their agenda in the front of the line?’’

Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said the president ‘‘cares greatly about civil-rights issues.’’ He said Kerry’s agenda would reverse economic growth and lead to higher taxes and a bloated health-care bureaucracy. ‘‘This is more divisive rhetoric from John Kerry, who uses it because he doesn’t have any kind of forward-looking plan he can sell to the American people,’’ Schmidt said. —LAT-WP