Anyone who reads this writer on a regular basis knows I hold no brief for the 45th president. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize his political effectiveness in certain situations.
If used correctly, in the fall he could become a valuable weapon. He could make up for costing the Republicans the Senate in the Georgia runoffs. If we stipulate that his devotees will turn out in big numbers if he asks them repeatedly, then that leaves Trump free to hunt for Democrats to turn towards the GOP. Put him in black and latin neighborhoods to do it. Why?
First, merit. No president since Lincoln did as much for minorities as Donald Trump. His job numbers in those communities were spectacular. His sentencing reforms were popular. He was making serious inroads there until COVID. Even after the virus started, his share of the minority vote in November 2020 was much better than the usual Republican debacle. Second, style. His machismo plays there. They like the swagger and the trash talk. He’s like a swaggering masked Mexican wrestler. Call him “El Blowhardo.”
It is often overlooked that minorities are natural Republican voters on social issues. No? Try going into a black Baptist church or a Pentecostal iglesia and giving the Democrat line on gay marriage, abortion, or trans swimmers.
Even further forgotten is that blacks would still be Republican voters if Republicans had paid attention to them in the 1950s. After all, Ike, not a Democrat, sent the Army to Little Rock. And the main opposition to civil rights legislation? All Democrats. Wallace, Faubus, Maddox? All Democrats. Nixon had a real chance in 1960 to ice the black vote. But the Kennedy brothers beat him to the punch. If only…
But we could take some of that back with Trump barnstorming through minority communities in battleground states, creating mayhem and press coverage wherever he went.
It would drive kapo black and latin Democrats mad with rage. Imagine how AOC and Omar would react if he paid their districts a visit. There would be chaos, a melee, and Trump would love it. He’d be in his element. Say what you will, but he has the sheer guts to pull that off. Not to mention the bat guano craziness to wallow in the circus such a campaign would engender.
If he is planning a 2024 run, not a prospect that fills me with unalloyed joy, he could justifiably claim that no candidate could bring over as many minority votes as he can. In fact, he could claim that already. Thus all it takes is someone at the RNC with imagination to pitch it to him and his okay on the effort. If it were to happen it would be a win for everybody. Well, for everybody except Democrats.