Tag Archive for: black vote

This is Why the GOP Can’t Win Black Votes without Trump

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The party establishment can’t fathom the thought of Trump being our nominee, despite him playing by the very rules that the establishment, who are trying to sabotage his campaign, created. Go figure.

I am stunned that many in the establishment ran over each other to denounce Trump over the David Duke and KKK issue, which I found kind of bizarre.

Most people are criticized for what they say, not for what they didn’t say. Many of these people that denounced Trump over what some have said was him stoking racial fears among voters all of a sudden became filled with righteous indignation over what they deemed to be a racist act by Trump.

But where were these same people when… South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson shouted to Obama “you lie” during a joint session of Congress.

Colorado congressman, Doug Lamborn said, “now I don’t want to be associated with him [Obama], it’s like touching a tar baby.”

Sarah Palin once wrote on her Facebook, “President Obama’s shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies must end.”

This feigned righteous indignation over Trump is nothing more than a political stunt, because the Republican establishment is scared crapless of the possibility of a Trump nomination.

The other thing that I noticed was the lack of any Black Republicans representing any of the Republican institutions in the media. This shows once again, how tone deaf the party is when it comes to the Black community and optics.

You rarely, if ever, see the party avail a Black staffer to deal with an issue of race that involves the Black community. Part of the reason is that the few Blacks that work for the party have absolutely no standing or credibility within the Black community when it comes to issues of race.

The other reason is that most Black Republicans constantly tell their superiors that they “don’t” want to speak on issues that pertain to the Black community; they want to be an employee, not a Black employee of the party.

The party is totally oblivious to the optics of only trotting out Whites to speak out on issues perceived to be racists towards the Black community.

Where are Black Republican civil rights icons like Bob Brown or Bob Woodson? Where are people like Shannon Reeves, lifetime member of the NAACP and former board member?

Because Republicans have no Blacks with any type of authority or knowledge of PR and communications, they continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole.

Let me say for the record, there is not one shred of evidence in Trumps body of work that he has any racist tendencies whatsoever. If I have to judge a man by his words or his actions; his actions will win out every time.

But isn’t it amazing that the only person running for president that has shown an ability to build a coalition of Blacks, whites, Hispanics, blue collar, and white collar workers is the very person the party’s establishment is trying to discredit?

Trump is the only campaign that has Blacks on TV and in newspapers officially representing the campaign. Last Tuesday at his post SEC primary press conference, Trump looked directly into the camera and said that he will get 25 percent of the Black vote.

Regardless of your thoughts of Trump, he laid down his marker with the Black vote. Twenty five percent of the Black vote for Trump is not unreasonable.

I challenge my readers and members of the Republican Party to name me the last time you saw a Black person actually officially representing the party on TV, newspaper, or radio.

When was the last time a Black was empowered to negotiate on behalf of the party an appearance before a Black group like the NAACP or the National Urban League?

Trump has done more to engage with the Black community in nine months than the party has done in nine years.

Trump is the only presidential candidate that seems to think the Black vote is worth pursuing. He has verbally asked Blacks to vote for him; he has hired Blacks in extremely high-level positions; and he has showcased Blacks on stage with him on multiple occasions.

When was the last time you saw a Black with credibility in the Black community on stage with any Republican leader?

Republicans showcase more Black Democrats than they do Black Republicans.

So, before the party establishment throws Trump to the side, maybe, just maybe, that should look at what he is doing right.

If Donald Trump is a racist, then maybe the Republican Party needs to become more racist.

RELATED VIDEO: Black Pastor’s reflections on Donald Trump at Cleveland Rally:

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in BlackPressUSA.com. The featured image was taken during a political rally in Laconia, New Hamsphire in July 2015. (Micahel Vadon/Wikimedia Commons)

The Republican Party in Black and White

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As one who makes a living in the world of public relations (PR) and strategic planning, I am paid to see things others are blind to.  Anyone can do PR.  Anyone can do strategic planning.  But very few can do both simultaneously, thus I created the term “straticist.”

A straticist not only see things others cannot see, but they also have the innate ability to connect seemingly unconnected dots into a meaningful mosaic.

This is why I don’t believe in polls when it comes to politics.  I don’t need a poll to tell me what the electorate is thinking, but 99.9% of political operatives live and die by polls.  This explains why Republicans are having such a difficult time trying to explain away the Trump phenomenon.

The party is surrounded by the same old white consultants and advisors from top to bottom, thus you keep getting the same results—losses.

Sometimes in life you can win and yet lose at the same time.  For example, because of the Congressional Black Caucus’ complicity in the redistricting after the 1990 census; they gained more majority minority districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, thus increasing the number of Blacks elected to the House.  But, as a direct result of this, Republicans took control of the House for the first time in over 40 years back in 1995; thus leading to the political polarization you see today.  Personal politics won, America lost.

In June I wrote a column titled, “Republican Presidential Candidates Lack Diversity.”  It created quite a stir based on all the phone calls and emails I received.  I even received a couple of calls from a few of the presidential campaigns explaining to me that they want to hire Blacks, but they have been having difficulty finding people to hire.  Of course everyone knows this is total B.S.

Where do they find white staffers and consultants to hire?  So, obviously, these campaigns have no relationships with any Blacks.  If this is the case, they don’t deserve to be president of the U.S.

So, this led me to do an experiment.  There are 17 Republican candidates for president.  I went to all of their websites and to my non surprise; very few even have a photo of a Black person on their sites.  Now this might not mean much in the big scheme of things; but these little nuances can make or break a campaign or the image of a brand.

If these campaigns were aware of their lack of diversity in their campaigns and websites and just didn’t give a damn, then I could accept that because at that point they made a conscious decision.  But I can’t and will not accept the fact that most of these campaigns are not even cognizant of their lack of diversity.

Persuasion may change the mind of the person who doesn’t care; but persuasion can’t change the mind of the person who is not aware.

The Republican Party continues to look like a Norman Rockwell painting.  How is that possible in a country where we are nearly a majority minority country?

I have repeatedly told all those in the party who will listen that Blacks are looking for a reason to vote Republican; but they can’t vote for that which they can’t see.

One of the basic tenets of advertising is that the consumer “must” be able to realistically see themselves using the product or service.

If we are not part of the campaign team, not on the website, or not in their advertisement, then the message gets overridden by the visual.

How can Blacks vote for a party that they are not represented in?  In PR, optics is just as important as message.  All of the most successful media campaigns in business or politics have had both great optics and great messaging simultaneously.

So is it any wonder that JEB Bush was found totally unprepared last week when he was accosted by Black Lives Matter members at one of his campaign events in Nevada?  I have been warning for months that race was going to be a top issue during this presidential election cycle.

How in the hell can these campaigns navigate issues of race with an all-white staff and advisors?  I am mortified that Republicans have white staffers writing speeches that candidates have to give before a Black audience.  I can’t remember the last time I have heard a Republican give a speech to a Black audience that made any sense.  I am not aware of one Black speechwriter in the Republican Party.

Republicans can’t afford to wait until our nominee is chosen to begin to deal with the issues of race.  Race is going to force some of these Republicans to drop out during the primary.  It’s just a matter of time before one of these Republican candidates say something stupid or inappropriate relative to race and will be forced to exit the race.

I can guarantee you that none of these candidates have been briefed by any Black Republicans who can help them navigate these tricky waters of race.

Republicans have ceded various media platforms to Black liberal Democrats.  You have absolutely no Black Republican surrogates in the media pushing back on the foolishness perpetuated by the other side.

When it comes to Blacks in the Republican Party, Republicans are truly colorblind or just blind to people of color.

P.S.  Click here for another interesting article about the Black vote. Now that a white person is saying the same thing as me, MAYBE the party will FINALLY listen to me.