Many believed Trump made a fatal mistake with black voters when he asked what did they have to lose, try Trump. The reality is that I know many black people who understood that Trump is a racist, sexist, misogynist xenophobe but tried him. After all, as they saw it, the Democratic Party gave them just enough crumbs to keep their votes but not enough policies to make substantive changes to the systemic condition in a particular sector in their demographic.
Many of us understood that Trump’s words would appeal to some for that reason. But we also knew that it was fool-hearted to trust Trump. But Trump played the game well enough to win the electoral college. He did what Rand Paul began doing early in the campaign before he reverted to form. In fact, I wrote a piece then titled “Don’t laugh but Rand Paul could be our next president.” Instead, it is Trump who executed just what I wrote.
Anyone who reads DailyKOS and other liberal and progressive blogs cannot be fooled by Rand Paul. Rand Paul is a true Republican Libertarian with a touch of ‘Dixiecratocracy’. The problem is that most voting Americans are not the well informed. Most of the traditional media are lazy or programmed to misinform by the plutocracy.
Rand Paul does not need to blow up the Obama coalition to win. He simply needs to skim the fat. His little excursions into the liberal base can do just that. His base is much more committed to winning and voting than our base. The Florida-13 election was probative.
It would be irresponsible if liberals do not start taking serious steps now to be inoculated on the populous flank. This will help not only in the presidential race but in every district.
The biggest fear is that if there is a coronation of a select few, many potential candidates remain undeveloped. Worse is the inability to recover from an unknown. The fact that Ronald Reagan and George Bush were elected presidents of the United States means it is not farfetched that Rand Paul could be our next president.
And what were the tools that Trump used to skim some of the Obama voters? — populism with a healthy dose of ‘Dixiecratocracy’ manifested by using xenophobia and racism where necessary.
Well, for people of color, specifically blacks who voted for Trump, your freedom is what you had to lose. An All-In with Chris Hayes segment laid it out perfectly.
All-In with Chris Hayes challenge Sessions drug policy
“During the campaign, Donald Trump would often ask African Americans what they had to lose by voting for him,” Chris Hayes said. “Well, it turns out one thing they had to lose was Obama Administration reform to drug sentencing where racial disparities are particularly pronounced. Because today Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered the toughest possible prosecution for drug offenses telling federal prosecutors to ‘charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense.’ Adding, ‘The most serious offenses are those that carry most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentence.’ This step towards bringing back the heyday of the so-called war on drugs rolls back policies put forth by former Attorney General Eric Holder. Mr. Holder responded with a statement that reads in part, ‘The policy announced today is not tough on crime. It is dumb on crime. This absurd reversal is driven by voices who have not only been discredited but until now have been relegated to the fringes of this debate.'”
A disproportionate number of people of color, specifically black people will be the raw material to the private prison industrial complex. It turns out your vote elected a man willing to enslave you if you are caught with drugs they deem illegal.