I think it is a popular misconception that Democrats are somehow more focused on minorities. In fact, neither party is really overly focused on minroities. If you look at the general campaigning trends this becomes more clear. I think that the general idea, among politicians, is that certain demographics always vote inside a certain party - and all a candidate has to do is make a few comments here or there about their support of the minorites. For some reason, it seems they think this is sufficient campaigning. Its very disrespectful.
Its sad that the overall climate has changed so little in the last 30 years. Its like Civil Rights came and went, and now that its not at the forefront of the media (at least not as much as it was initially) people just kind of brush it off.