By Raynard Jackson
NNPA Newswire Columnist
Raynard Jackson says that the Republican Party needs totally new leadership from top to bottom on every level.
What the hell is going on with Blacks in this Republican Party? My phone has been ringing off the hook since last week with people from across the country asking me to explain the unexplainable.
Memo to my readers: I DON’T WORK FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. But, it seems everyone wants to call me to get an understanding or insight into the inner workings of some of the strategies coming out of this party from the party’s “so-called” Black operatives.
First, in order to be an operative, by definition, you must know how to operate. These Blacks have little to no significant campaign experience and have absolutely no understanding of messaging and communications.
Last week, I was with a Black nationally syndicated radio talk show host who is extremely liberal. He asked why the party has not brought on people like me to help with their efforts with the Black community, as opposed to suing people like me? I told him to call the party and ask them that same question.
But then he said something very interesting.
“They don’t want people like you [referring to me] who know what they are doing,” he said. “They want people who they can control.”
I thought that was extremely insightful.
Part of a true operative’s background is a thing called experience. Only through experience can one know what to do, as well as what not to do. By this party constantly bringing on people with no relevant experience, they are setting their Black surrogates up for failure.
I guess this explains why I have been receiving phone calls from all over the country, especially from North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida. It seems like these Black staffers have received orders from the party to go into the Black community and ask Blacks to vote Republican, but not for Trump.
Yep, you heard me correctly!
Memo to Black Republicans: the Black community doesn’t make a distinction between Trump and the Republican Party; they are one in the same. You can’t have steak without meat, you can’t have basketball without the ball, you can’t watch TV without a TV.
How in the world do you go into the Black community and tell them that you are not supporting Trump’s campaign for the presidency on the Republican ticket and then turn around and ask them to vote Republican down ballot?
What these Black Republicans are doing is akin to asking a person to buy a Big Mac hamburger from McDonald’s without the beef. I know, I know, that doesn’t make sense and it’s impossible; well then, you get my point, thus I rest my case.
I unapologetically support Trump, because of the balance of the Supreme Court, my belief that amnesty for illegals will further exacerbate the Black unemployment rate, and our party’s establishment needs to be totally shaken up! We need totally new leadership from top to bottom on every level of the party.
To me, all the other issues swirling around Trump is mere background noise.
Here’s another memo to Black Republicans: If you are not supporting Trump, then why are you taking money from an organization, the Republican National Committee, whose sole purpose is to get Donald Trump elected as president?
Are you that desperate for money that you are willing to sell your political soul for thirty pieces of silver?
If you are not supporting Trump, then have some principle and resign immediately.
One of the fundamental tenets of marketing as it applies to getting consumers to switch brands, i.e., from Democrat to Republican, is “messenger credibility.”
How can you go into the Black community with credibility and ask for them to vote for Republicans down ballot, but don’t support the person at the top of the ticket? Would you support your local NAACP branch and try to distance yourself from the group’s national officers? I don’t think so.
These staffers should be embarrassed to ask Black folks to buy a product that they themselves don’t even believe in. Do they really think that Blacks are that stupid?
If I have to choose between making money and keeping my integrity, I will always choose keeping my integrity. I can always make more money, but I can’t get more integrity.
To be honest with you, the party should fire all those involved in this diabolical scheme. This should not be allowed to stand. How can the party justify paying someone who is in opposition to its very raison d’etre?
Not one of these Black staffers has publicly endorsed Donald Trump; nor can you find in any public statements or in their media appearances indicating their support for Trump. When they have been challenged about this by the media, they quickly deflect to the point that they work for the party, not the Trump campaign. Again, you can’t have one without the other. The party and Trump are joined at the hip at this point.
This is why these Blacks have absolutely no credibility when they go into the Black community. If they don’t even believe in the product they are selling, so how can they convince others to believe in it?
Raynard Jackson is founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party. BAFBF focuses on the Black entrepreneur. For more information about BAFBF, visit www.bafbf.org. You can follow Raynard on Twitter @Raynard1223.