HERM-
Ken Blackwell from my former home state of Ohio... Micheal Steele of Maryland... Colin Powell... Lynn Swann of PA... Alan Keyes of IL... and there are more.
By the way, for some comic relief did you know Don King and Jimmie "Dyno-mite" Walker are conservatives?
When you say they throw their own people under the bus what do you mean? - especially by "their own people." If calling attention to the poor choices blacks make is tossing them under the bus, then you can include Obama, Bill Cosby and plenty of pols of all stripes in that group. They speak the truth - the politically incorrect truth, but truth nevertheless. And poor choices aren't limited to blacks. But for this debate we'll stick with blacks' choices.
Would you feel more "comfortable" if black candidates told other blacks they ought to remain with an entitlement mentality and continue the decimation of the black family? I hope not.
Democrats and their well-intended policies have helped create a huge entitlement mindset where the government has replaced the father figure as provider in too many families. Yet, blacks continue to vote in virtual lock step for Dems.
I'd think that after a good 40+ years blacks might look at their overall situation and second guess whether siding with Dems has been the winning horse.
People like those I'd named (though maybe not Powell) don't subscribe to such a mindset. Success, accountability, etc... is available to all and government's role is to be limited.
Set asides, quotas, affirmative action, etc... to use your words - those things, if one is honest with oneself, tarnish black achievement by conveying a message that they weren't good enough to succeed without help from the government. So a mature black comes around and advocates removing those artificial factors to let all people compete on their own merits. Is that wrong? Is that throwing people under the bus? Sounds like advocating equality of opportunity to me - success is never guaranteed.
It'd be like you and me in a hoops game of 21. But since you're supposedly better, you spot me 10 points. I get to 21 first so I beat you, but did I really beat you?