Leading Conservative Black Pastor for Bush Predicts
President Will Win 20% of Black Vote

Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. Says He and Jesse Jackson May Share A Last Name,
But They Have Very Different Views on Most Issues

(AANewswire)WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Black pastors have greater political and community influence with their members than do white leaders," says Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., who holds and MBA from Harvard and is one of the leading conservative pastors voting for President Bush.

As the national election draws close, Bishop Harry Jackson believes the black vote could swing momentum toward rather than away from George W. Bush. Traditionally blacks have stood solidly with the Democratic Party, but Bishop Jackson sees signs the black vote may be changing as democratic ideals leave many faith-oriented blacks
disillusioned. "I believe President Bush will have about 20% of the Black vote in this election - about double the votes he received in the last Presidential election, said Bishop Jackson. "Many Blacks are saying the Democrats have taken our vote for granted and we're not going to take it anymore," said Bishop Jackson, the author of three books.

"Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do not reflect the views of the New Black Church," explains Bishop Harry Jackson who serves as the senior pastor of multi-cultural Hope Christian Church in College Park, Maryland with over 2500 members. Blacks of deep faith and conviction are far more conservative on moral issues like gay marriage, a topic that consumed a good proportion of last Tuesday night's debate between vice presidential candidates.

In his new book, High Impact African-American Churches (Regal), Bishop Jackson teamed up with leading pollster/best-selling writer George Barna to form a portrait of blacks across America that is looking increasingly more conservative. They say 74 percent of African-Americans are against same-sex marriage. Yet the African-American community has a puzzlingly high percentage of out of wedlock births and a disproportionate number of young males behind bars. These realities notwithstanding, Jackson sees hopeful signs of change that could spell trouble for Democrats who take the black vote for granted.

"The only thing black churches need are a structure to unite them," observes Harry Jackson. "A grassroots movement to reform America is emerging in the black community and it is more conservative and lead by faith in our Lord." Black Americans are more integrally linked to their faith according to the research than whites are to their churches. Black adults are more than twice as likely to read their Bible during a typical week as white adults. And they see their churches as an extension of their own family which gives black pastors far more influence over the
lives of their congregants.

Black pastors see themselves as power brokers of black influence in a white society. "Black pastors," says Bishop Jackson, "see politics as a means of introducing faith principles into every fiber of life." The new African-American church may be the catalyst for both spiritual and political renewal in America and is much more conservative than most people think, according to Bishop Jackson.

MEDIA NOTE:

To schedule an interview with Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., contact Mike Paul at 212-595-8500 or e-mail mpaul@mgppr.com.

To learn more about Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., visit www.thehopeconnection.org.

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