At upbeat Republican Convention, speakers make strong pitch for Black votes
Presidential Elections,2020 Election,Elections
We won’t know for some time how well the message is received.
Black power has arrived. For the first time in modern memory, both of America’s major political parties are making an all-out push for the votes of African Americans.
Good for them, and good for our country.
The hunt for Black votes is a given with Democrats, but the first night of the Republican Convention showed that two teams are chasing the same prize this year. Count me as surprised at the GOP’s bold effort to woo members of a group that has long represented the Dems’ most loyal constituency.
The effort showcased an impressive list of Black speakers in prominent roles vouching for President Trump and slamming Joe Biden and the Dems.
Kim Klacik, a dynamic young Republican woman running for the late Elijah Cummings’ congressional seat in Baltimore, set the tone by declaring: “The Democrats have controlled my city, Charm City, for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place into the ground. Abandoned buildings, liquor stores on every corner, drug addicts and guns on the street — that is now the norm in many neighborhoods.”
Herschel Walker, the football great, added his personal experience after what he called a 37-year-friendship with Trump. “I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist,” Walker said. “Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump.”
Two later speakers were especially effective. Vernon Jones, a lifelong Democrat in the Georgia General Assembly, showed a wicked sense of humor, saying that when Trump “sought to earn the Black vote, the Democratic Party leaders went crazy! Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer literally started wearing Kente cloth scarves around the Capitol!”
