Given the strength of the #MeToo movement and identity politics in general, would it make sense for the Republican Party to run only black women for Congress and Senate positions? In a country with more than 40 million African Americans it surely can’t be tough to find a few hundred black women with conservative political points of view (e.g., see Carol Swain in this video). At that point, Democrats could no longer take easy shots regarding white male dinosaurs making decisions that will affect members of other identity groups.
Why not just put in a bright line rule: If you don’t identify as a black woman, you can’t be supported by the Republican Party?
Readers: What do you think? Would the Republicans get more votes if they had an all-African American, all-female slate? Democrats like to say that Republicans are racist (when they’re not busy being sexist and stupid), but how many Republicans would vote for a white male Democrat who promises higher taxes and more government regulation?
[Disclosure: I’m a small-L libertarian and don’t have a dog in this fight.]
Related:
- “Voters favor women who will fight harassment, poll finds” (Boston Globe): Female candidates who pledge to fight sexual harassment can win increased support from their base, while candidates who question the relevance of the #MeToo movement raise doubts in voters’ minds about their own qualifications … In hypothetical matchups where neither candidate mentioned sexual harassment, the Democratic woman beat a Republican man, and the Republican woman lost to a Democratic man. In each case, there was a 10-point gap. … The Republican woman who pledged to fight sexual harassment beat a Democratic male opponent 42 percent to 41 percent.
I’d guess that was a “push poll”. Probably part of the well-funded campaign to increase the criminalization and incarceration of men beyond the already extraordinary level in the U.S. Two million men incarcerated? Let’s go for five million for the sake of women!
Thanks, Bill, but would a black female Republican candidate do better or worse than the usual white male fresh-off-the-golf-course guys that they are stereotyped as running?
Bruce Jenner, aka Caitlyn, is reportedly a Republican. I think he identifies as white, but his ex-wife is married to a black man, so maybe he can identify as a black woman and run for political office.
Democrats like to say that Republicans are racist (when they’re not busy being sexist and stupid)
The most famous example of this was Hillary Clinton’s claim that half of Trump voters were deplorable (racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, etc.). Polling after the election indicated that she was mistaken. The actual portion was 60%. If the GOP took up your proposal, many Trump voters would see their choice in November as being between a socialist and a ni–er, and they would just stay home and not vote.
Mia Love has done ok for herself in Utah, a state not exactly synonymous with progressiveism, though to be fair it’s also not nearly as white as Vermont.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Love
Colin: It would be awesome to see Burlington, Vermont Democrats spewing hatred against a black female Republican candidate! I would fly up for that and I would even pay to see it.
PhilG: I believe Eric Raymond proposed Republicans run Condi in 2008 for this same purpose. It would’ve euthanized the Democratic party.
I doubt it would accomplish much because they would just be tarred like Clarence Thomas — you would have all the race hucksters calling them Aunt Jeremiahs or whatever the term is and the NYT would publish some sonorous article with both sides of the debate of whether a an authentically black woman could run as a Republican.
Jack: Excellent point, but Clarence Thomas identified as a “man” at the time that he was being attacked by Democrats. I hope you will agree with me that folks who identify as “men” are generally terrible people and that this terribleness cannot always be ameliorated with a non-white skin color (see the convicted Bill Cosby, for example).
> Why not just put in a bright line rule: If you don’t identify as a black
> woman, you can’t be supported by the Republican Party?
That rule is sexist and racist. You seem to be suggesting that the way to avoid false charges of sexism and racism is to become sexist and racist. That is crazy, but it may also be correct 🙂
Corindel: Exactly! Look at Vince, above. He has determined that the precise percentage of racist and sexist Republicans is 60 percent. But what if all Republican votes, except for the hated Dictator (and former Democrat) Trump, were for black women? Wouldn’t he have to reduce this percentage to 0? Or will Democrats say that these voters remain sexist and racist, but have a token black female friend in Congress?
America is so puzzling! From this item I gather that a colour bar would be legal. Is that really so?
> Or will Democrats say that these voters remain sexist and racist, but
> have a token black female friend in Congress?
They will re-define “black women” to not include people who disagree with them.
I know a few people who claimed to have voted for Hillary because “it is time for a woman to be president”. I asked them if they would have voted for Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, or Carly Fiorina. 100% of my small sample said they would not (two of them did not know who Carly Fiorina was, but said “no” when I revealed that she was a Republican). Three of them called me names for asking the question. All but one spoke to me as if I was an idiot for not seeing why those people were not women.
In this context, the word “woman” means “female, and agrees with me on a list of issues.”
Bernie: I think a “colour bar” as you and your UK neighbors would say, is legal as a practical matter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METCO is an educational program run by our state, for example. Students identified as “white” are excluded. The Republican Party is not the government so even if discriminating against white males were illegal for the federal or a state government I am not sure that it would be illegal for this private political party.
@Roger
As far as I can tell, none of Bruce’s 3 ex-wives are married to anyone. His ex-stepdaughter is married to a black guy, though.
I didn’t invent the 60% figure. It was a polling result.
Vince: 60 percent of Republicans surveyed said “I am racist, sexist, stupid, and generally deplorable?” At least let’s give them credit for honesty!
I’m sure the poll can be trusted Vince. Just like they were when predicting a Hillary win.
Can we get a link to this fascinating poll?
Yes!!! Vince was the only one here who recognized that the original idea could not possibly work; in fact, the attack vector has been known to Bolsheviks for over a hundred years. It goes like this.
Black women for GOP? hah! Those candidates simply cannot be unbiased: they were either subverted by the Republican (read: reactionary) propaganda or just sold out flat to the Republican majority (aka, the bourgeoisie). Either way, they should be cast as traitors and prosecuted, as they betrayed the trust of their progressive peers. We may be certain of that since those GOP candidates oppose progressive measures contrary to their own best interests.
The only way forward would be to confiscate their means of (re-)production and to redistribute them to the benefit of the working class. Everyone who disagrees is a Nazi!