Black lawmakers in Illinois are warning Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich that if he sticks with his pledge to not raise taxes he’s at risk of losing black votes.

Black lawmakers urged Gov. Rod Blagojevich to take back his no-tax-increase pledge because of its impact on schools, warning Monday that the position could cost him votes.

“The governor cannot take the African-American vote for granted in the general election,” said Sen. James Meeks, chairman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. “There is no guarantee that that vote is going to be there, especially since those individuals who are African-American, their priority is educational funding.”

Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis detailed his plan for ethics reform — a package similar to other GOP candidates’ proposals.

Blagojevich says he will not raise income or sales taxes if elected to a second term, a repeat of the pledge that helped the Democrat win office the first time.

Members of the black caucus held a news conference — joined by officials from the Chicago schools and a teachers union — to oppose Blagojevich’ no-increase pledge because it blocks any tax “swap” that would involve raising income taxes and lowering property taxes.

I find this to be silly for three main reasons. One, black voters in Illinois would be very unlikely to vote Republican under most circumstances, so their threat seems pretty empty to me. Two, blacks would have no reason to believe that the GOP candidate will raise taxes, or support tax swaps. And three, Blagojevich will lose a lot more votes if he breaks his promise to not raise taxes than he will lose if he doesn’t raise taxes. Blago has so little credibility now that breaking his promise would be the death knell of his campaign.

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