There’s only one way to ensure that Republicans can make inroads into the Black community, and that is to make it politically possible for Black Democrats to switch to the Republican Party.
And one of the best ways to do that isn’t pushing policies that appeal to Black voters–we have been doing that for a long time with issues congenial to our ideology, such as school choice–but rather to embrace every Black Democrat who switches parties and demonstrate loyalty to them when they stick their neck out.
My name is Rep. Meisha Mainor and today I made the decision to leave the Democrat Party.
I represent a blue district in the city of Atlanta so this wasn’t a political decision for me. It was a a MORAL one.
I will NEVER apologize for being a black woman with a mind of my own. pic.twitter.com/q3snDGejCN
— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 11, 2023
Black Republicans have done well in White districts. Byron Donalds of Florida–who is an amazing Congressman in what is not a traditionally “Black” district, is a former Democrat who is a rising star in the Republican Party.
Perhaps that story can be repeated with Meisha Mainor, a Black Democrat who switched parties over the Democrats’ nastiness on the school choice issue.
Two thoughts. Democrat minorities are largely moderates. Keep alienating them if you want to, Dems. You won’t like the result.
Second, if the @GOP makes it a TOP PRIORITY that @MeshaMainor gets re-elected, more defections will happen in the futurehttps://t.co/7EHxxUz6LJ— Darvio Morrow (@DTheKingpin) July 11, 2023
Democrats have been able to take the Black vote for granted, and many of their policies are hostile to the well-being of Blacks. Blacks tend to be more socially conservative than the overeducated and overprivileged White Democrat base and are definitely not as big a fan of teachers’ unions as the Democrat Party.
What Blacks don’t feel they have, though, is a friendly reception in the Republican Party.
This is overall a misperception, but a powerful and persistent one that Democrats work assiduously to stoke. And talking a good game on policy isn’t going to change that fact for most Black voters. They have a strong sense that Republicans are not welcoming to them.
How do we change that perception?
If the party wants to build on this, they have to prioritize Mesha getting re-elected. It’ll show the voters that the party actually gives a damn and it’ll show other Black Democrats on the bubble that Republicans know how to win an election in their district.
— Darvio Morrow (@DTheKingpin) July 11, 2023
Show, don’t tell. And that means putting your money where your mouth is.
Mesha Mainor – a Democrat who has represented District 56 in the Georgia House since January 2021 – announced the decision shortly before noon Tuesday that she will switch her party registration to Republican.
“When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me,” Mainor explained of her decision in a statement to Fox News Digital. “They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me.”
“For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community,” she added. “For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% of the black community. And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one.”
Sometimes that means putting money into tough challenges, and putting money behind a long-shot candidate in a Blue district isn’t the best short-term investment, and if there is one thing that you can be sure of is that most political investments are made in the shortest of short terms. If you think America’s corporations can be too driven by quarterly numbers, you haven’t worked in politics.
Decisions are made regarding where to put campaign dollars daily or weekly.
Making inroads into the Black vote is most definitely a long-term project, but it has the potential to pay off bigly. Blacks are often the winning margin in close races, and the Democrats have been giving lip service to Blacks but delivering awful results because they are of the wrong class. The current progressive leadership of the party is the anti-working-class Elite, not the old blue-collar coalition that used to dominate the Party.
Republicans have made serious inroads into the working class and now the Hispanic community. Taking 20-30% of the Black vote would give our coalition incredible durability.
Asked whether she believes she will face pushback from Democrats over her decision, Mainor said, “The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own. So, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
As for her priorities after switching parties, Mainor said she will continue to focus on education and expanding the Republican majority in the House.
“Education and the importance of school choice has been – and will continue to be – a key focus of mine,” she said. “But outside of education, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to tackle the most pressing issues facing our state and to help grow the Republican Party, helping us focus not just on preaching to the choir but growing the congregation.”
The barriers are big, but not actually policy driven. The potential Republican voters in the Black community are not the ones who are desperate for big government and more crime. They simply want a better life with real opportunities. We can deliver that with our policies.
Heck, Trump made serious progress in his short 4 years.
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