It has been a dictum of presidential politics for decades: African-Americans and urban voters tend to go Democratic every time.

So in the South Bronx, John Kerry was overwhelmingly backed by black voters interviewed in the days prior to Tuesday's election.

Yet as seen across races and across the country, these Kerry-backers admitted their support was defined first and foremost by party loyalty and anti-Bush sentiment.

"I have to go with Kerry because he's a Democrat," said Tommy Trawick, 64, a retired postal worker. "I'm going to vote for him - but I haven't come all the way in the house on him yet. I'm at the front door. I'm in the yard."

Nationally, African-Americans were 50 percent more likely than the general population to think favorably of Kerry, according to a survey concluded Oct. 10 for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. They were half as likely to rank President Bush's job approval positively, or to say that the country, under him, was headed in the right direction.

But Democrats cannot take such support for granted. The Joint Center poll also found that 11 percent fewer African-Americans identify today themselves as "Democrats," down to 63 from 74 percent in 2000.

Under the mantle of "compassionate conservatism," Republicans have attracted a significant slice of older, wealthier black voters - using conservative social issues, like gay marriage and support for faith-based initiatives, to wedge them away from the Democratic base.

In the Joint Center poll, President Bush enjoyed twice the African-American support he garnered four years ago - up from nine to 18 percent, in large part due to double-digit growth among those over age 50.

Still, Republican plays for black votes have been met with skepticism in the South Bronx.

"Bush is for the top 10 percent of the country, and he's not doing anything for the inner city," said Latisha Morgan, 22. "You're fishing for our votes, but you won't even take care about our children."

And according to Diana Heins, 56, a home health-care manager, President Bush has not only neglected inner city minorities, but exacerbated new racial tensions in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

"He is constantly alluding to 'these people,'" she said. "People from the so-called 'Third World' countries - we're made to look at them as demons."

The South Bronx belongs to one of the most overwhelming Democratic congressional districts in the country, NY-16, where Al Gore won 92 percent of the vote in 2000.

The district is 30 percent African-American and 63 percent Latino - both groups that Gore carried nationally, with 90 and 62 percent of their respective support.

This year, NY-16 - and New York state - was again so sure to go for Kerry that neither candidate spent much time stumping here, opting to fight for swing voters in battleground states instead.

The campaigns' scant presence bothers those who want large, urban states like New York to have greater sway in presidential politics. The district's congressman, Jose Serrano, has co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College, which could cause presidential candidates to court the popular vote in big cities en masse. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee in September.

"Nobody comes to this area of the South Bronx and promises anything now," said Trawick, the retired postal worker. "We still need the politicians to come, to let people know that we're here, and that they appreciate our vote."

Voters like Trawick trace their Democratic loyalties to Kennedy, Carter and Clinton, saying that since the civil rights movement and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society - even since FDR's New Deal - Democrats have championed working people and minorities.

Democrats "don't judge the people," said Sandra Lester, 40, an emergency room technician at a city V.A. hospital. "They try to go with what the people need, with jobs, with housing."

Morgan, a freshman at the College of New Rochelle, said she thought that Kerry would be better for inner city youth - more likely to "help us as minority college students to find a better way, instead of just standing on the corner."

Democrats have made huge gains among Morgan's contemporaries, in part offsetting the new Republican sympathies some older African-Americans have shown. Traditionally young blacks have been the least likely to express party affiliation. However, the number of blacks 18-25 years old who identify themselves as "Democrats" surged 20 percent between 2000 and 2004, topping 70 percent, the Joint Center survey said.

Attributing their interest to high school government class, the film "Farenheit 9/11," and a "Vote-or-Die" registration drive backed by hip-hop icons Russell Simmons and Sean Combs, South Bronx students exhibited a degree of political awareness and excitement unrivaled by other age groups.

Janeé Humphreys, 17, and her friends ticked off the names of campaigners who recently appeared with Kerry (Clinton) and of newspapers that Democrats might consider biased ("The New York Post"). They had watched the presidential debates and memorized whole sections of "Fahrenheit 9/11" - down to the exact date of the infamous Aug. 6 Presidential Daily Briefing, which warned of an Al Qaeda hijacking.

Morgan, waiting on the sidewalk for her Wednesday evening class to begin, explained that the Vote-or-Die campaign "teaches the youth of America, especially in urban communities, that if you don't vote, you can't complain."

"People don't get that voting is important," she said. "We rose to liberation from oppression, and you need to take any right that we've got as people and use it."