Tamron Hall making Al Sharpton’s point quoting Rand Paul
Narratives matter. Most importantly they metastasize over time. In watching Rand Paul over the last several months it is evident that he is running for president of the United States. Many rightly see him as a deeply flawed candidate. That notwithstanding, Rand Paul is building a narrative for himself that will appeal to many. Too many professional political watchers are discounting this man as they fail to really take the temperature of America.
Establishment Democrats and establishment Republicans have been tried. The middle class is still in pain. Black men are still gunned down and killed like animals. How much has changed? Many in the political business know the grinding that is necessary for change. The population at large are not as patient.
Many know that President Obama has already made various structural changes that will be evident only after many years. Many know many more changes in that direction must be made. That legacy and continuity however must be maintained for the results to come to past.
Unfortunately, the narrative that needs to be built by Progressives who must win is lacking. That vacuum is slowly being filled by the likes of Rand Paul.
The news in the above snippet illustrates two important points.
- Having diversity in the media provides the necessary context to news.
- Any politician speaking to the realities of any oppressed or aggrieved class will be presented as such irrespective of Party or past.
The middle class is now an aggrieved class. Blacks, Browns, and others are parts of an aggrieved class. Not many politicians are speaking to the real issues that afflict them. If one follows Rand Paul objectively and without an elitist disdain, one can see the building of a narrative that could differentiate him from the rest of the political and electoral noise.
In the one example above, Tamron Hall acknowledges that reaction by police to the questioning of police may be race dependent. She then uses Rand Paul, who has made checkered civil rights statements but has taken up several causes important to Black communities and others, as corroboration to her statements.
Rand Paul was one of the first politicians out with a bold statement in a Times op-ed. Who would ever think that Rand Paul would be leading the narrative on a social justice issue concerning Black men and referenced in a piece with a Black anchor and a civil rights leader? Progressives better wake up. I repeat, Rand Paul could be your next President.