Delegates more racially, ethnically diverse

NEW YORK -- Republicans want voters to know this about their delegates: They don't believe in quotas, and all delegates made the trip to New York on their own merits. But that isn't stopping the GOP from boasting about having the most ethnically diverse and female-represented convention in its history.

The conventioneers are still overwhelmingly white and predominantly male. But the event this year includes what are record Republican levels of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and women, according to statistics compiled by the national committee.

While Democrats still lead nationally among Latinos and African-Americans -- the largest minority groups in the national population -- Republicans are hoping that they can chip away at the historically Democratic constituencies.

''What's appealing to me is I have complete freedom. I'm not taken for granted," said Oregon delegate Jacqueline Stovall, a retired librarian who said she had been discouraged by Democrats from running for office when she was younger because it ''wasn't my turn." The Democratic Party ''is not [African-Americans'] sole salvation, and they do not owe Democrats the way Democrats think they do," said Stovall, who is African-American.

African-Americans make up 9.5 percent of delegates here, while Latinos account for 9.8 percent and Asian-Americans, 3.8 percent. Some 83 percent of delegates identified themselves as white, including some Hispanics who were double-counted as white and Latino. Some 44 percent of the delegates are women.

While the numbers pale in comparison with the Democrats' statistics -- a record 40 percent of delegates in Boston were members of ethnic minority groups -- Republicans say they have made dramatic advances in minority representation since the 2000 convention, raising black representation by 65 percent and Latino representation by 15 percent since the last convention.

''It's like we finally got invited to the big dance," said Joseph Wong, an Asian-American delegate from Massachusetts attending his first national convention.

''This feels like a much different convention than it was four years ago," said Minnesota delegate Sarah Janacek. ''It feels more like America than previous conventions."

Republicans insist that the Democrats upped their minority representation through quotas, a contention Democrats dispute. But least one Republican delegate, US Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, gave up his delegate credentials so he could be replaced by Earl Cunningham, an African-American alternate delegate who then became the only black delegate from the state.

State party chairman Marty Connors said the breakdown reflects the percentage of the black population, about 8 percent, which votes Republican.

Tony Wyche, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said the Democratic delegates were elected and were not subject to any quotas. As for the Republicans' advances, ''They've got a lot of room for improvement. It wasn't exactly difficult for them to improve over last time," Wyche said. ''That's shocking that you would have so much room."

Wyche said Republicans had ''lost ground" among African-Americans, who historically have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, and among Latinos, a politically malleable constituency that pollsters believe are up for grabs by both parties. While Latinos still vote more often for Democrats, many are social conservatives who might be attracted to an antiabortion candidate, for example, Republican strategists say.

Republicans opened their convention yesterday with what delegates described as the antithesis of the Democratic gathering: enthusiastic, but not raucous; determined but not angry.

''There's no anger here. When you watched the convention in Boston, the anger was all out there," said Suzanne Butterfield, a delegate from Stockbridge, Vt.

While delegates at the Democratic convention in Boston oozed their dislike of President Bush, delegates here kept their message on the president and not on his opponent, US Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

A few discreetly displayed stickers saying ''Dump Daschle," a reference to Democratic Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle, but for the most part, delegates avoided signs and buttons attacking Democratic candidates.

Even the veterans and military reservists -- which, the RNC noted, make up a record 18 percent of delegates in New York -- were careful to couch their criticism of fellow war veteran Kerry.

Kerry served in active duty in Vietnam, while Bush was in the Air National Guard. Vietnam veterans, including some who say they served alongside Kerry, have suggested that he exaggerated the wounds that earned him several medals. The group, called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, has not been able to substantiate those charges.