US President George W. Bush told African Americans today he wanted their vote and acknowledged his Republican Party had "a lot of work to do" to win the support of blacks, who rejected Bush in 2000 by a margin of more than 9 to 1.
Two weeks after he rebuffed an invitation to speak at a gathering of the nation's oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP, Mr Bush struck a chord with some blacks when he urged them not to allow the Democratic Party to take their support for granted in the November presidential election.
But he appeared to face a tougher sell when he asked members of National Urban League, a group focused on civil rights and economic issues affecting blacks, to consider whether his policies might better serve their interests than those of the Democratic Party.
"I'm here to ask for your vote," he told the attendees, who numbered about 1,200. "I know, I know, I know," he said, when the blunt appeal appeared to catch many off guard.
"The Republican Party's got a lot of work to do. I understand that," Mr Bush said.
But he said black voters should ask themselves, "Does the Democratic Party take African American voters for granted? I know plenty of politicians who assume they have your vote but did they earn it and do they deserve it?"
Ms Turia Hayden, a 32-year-old marketing specialist from West Palm Beach, Florida, said she thought it was a "valid point" and came away impressed by what she thought was an "honest and straight-forward" appeal for support.
But Mr Garlin Gilchrist, a 21-year-old student from Farmington, Michigan, had a mixed reaction.
"He was correct to say that the Democratic Party takes black voters for granted," Mr Gilchrist said, but he was skeptical about Mr Bush's policies and added that the president was "vague at best" about what he would do for African Americans.
Mr Bush did not unveil any major new proposals, but cited a litany of policies that he said were benefiting African Americans, such as his tax cuts, a sweeping education overhaul and so-called "faith-based" partnerships between the federal government and religious charities.