Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black voters swung their support almost exclusively to democrat candidates in political campaigns. That support persisted for a half century despite the ongoing destruction of the black family structure by the democrat backed and constructed welfare state.
Since then, from time to time Republicans made their political case to black voters to at least consider voting for their candidates. They were usually rejected, sometimes the rejection was harsher than others. After a half century, that artificial political construct appears to be unraveling, at least for the democrats.
President Trump made a case to black voters in 2016 to vote for him. Essentially he pointed out that they had been voting for democrats at nearly a lockstep level for over half a century and their life has never improved. By many measures, their lives have gotten progressively worse.
Trump asked those communities to vote for him. More importantly, he asked them what they had to lose if they did vote for him.
As a result, the black vote for Trump was the largest percentage for any Republican in two decades. And as his first term proceeds, it looks like that percentage may be increasing. Trump only has to take away 5% or so of the lockstep black vote for democrats to utterly destroy the democrat party in elections for years to come.
This is why democrats are doing their level best to import as many new dependent people into the nation as humanly possible (illegals) that they can install on the freebie gravy train and register to vote for them.
We have a similar problem here in Alaska, with the Bush voting lockstep democrat for decades. Yet the individual lives in the Bush are on a similar downward spiral as the black inner cities, and not for entirely unrelated reasons. Perhaps it is time for a Republican gubernatorial candidate to ask Bush Alaska for their vote with the follow on question: What do you have to lose?
When you have societal breakdown that leads to high suicide rates for young men, skyrocketing drug use, awful sexual assault rates, and rampant charges of racism, it is easy to blame everyone but yourself. And it is all about perspective for when you see yourself as a hammer, the entire world you deal with ends up being a nail.
Democrats have long played the race-baiting blame game. They are good at it. It is in their genes. It is in their blood and part of their DNA. They have been doing it since the early 19th Century. Examples here in Alaska?
- Blame societal breakdown in the Bush on the lack of reservations and Indian Country
- Blame low standards of living on problems with the availability of subsistence
- Blame societal breakdown on the destruction or disrespect of traditional lifestyles
- Blame societal breakdown on white racism
- Blame the awful educational results in the Bush on budget cuts due to Republican legislative racism
There are others, but you get the idea.
This is how you end up with people like current LtGov Byron Mallott and democrat LtGov candidate Debra Call running around the state, channeling their inner David Duke, race baiting for all they are worth, and blaming everybody else but themselves and the communities they deign to represent for what they have led and participated in over the last half century.
Message to my neighbors in Bush Alaska: You guys have been doing and voting for the same thing for a long, long time. Why not try something else? I am tired of it. I expect you guys are too. Vote for Begich, Call, Walker and / or Mallott and you end up with same old, same old. Perhaps it is time to consider something else. After all, what do you have to lose?
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He is a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
