Usually Ambra is better at featuring people than I am, so I'll just let you read the column about some of the things Hayes has done for Los Angeles. However, I will say if inroads are to be made within the black community as well as the electorate that tends to vote leftward, conservatives should look for people who actually look like everyday people.
That's not to shrug off the Ivy League scholars and the silver spooners, but the main reason why so many blacks cast their votes for the Left - whether it's Green or Democrat - is due to the fact that they know other blacks who vote the same way. Say what you want about Cynthia McKinney or Barbara Lee (and there's plenty to say), but they do come across as more in-tuned to the voices of black people.
I really don't think conservatives realize that they are often considered out of touch and elitist. It's ironic because I'm reading South Park Conservatives by City Journal editor Brian Anderson, and he mentions how Fox News journalists and anchors don't come off as elitist. That may be true to a considerable amount of the population, but sometimes they don't realize that they look like a clique themselves.
I'm reminded of this quote:
It's a regular thing for high-profile conservatives to deride the "mainstream" media, although oftentimes they have more readers and viewers than the people they criticize. They might not see this as being "mainstream", but others do. I guarantee you people see Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and others not only as "mainstream", but elitist.Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.” - Eric Hoffer
Ted Hayes and others give credit to conservatives being people of all fabrics and all colors. Those are the people we truly need if conservative principles are to survive this century.