[Maru]

I don't know who this source is, but it's a very interesting perspective I didn't really consider... I don't know that it's political genius or anything. It may just be that Donald Trump is not really well-liked at all... but he knows how to reach out to these folk already, so he is finding a new niche where he can find it. Maybe hopefully to raise his approval rating somewhat, or just to feel liked again since I don't think he does well with this... and I think it could work.

Star power pays off... because nobody knows the names of famous journalists or CNN/NYT/etc contributors. I don't know how Americans really feel at heart about the press... but more often than not, I hear that someone doesn't trust the media... only very partisan or well-read people seem to be particularly pleased with particular networks/outfits... but everyone knows Kim Kardashian, other famous celebrities, etc. Even if they hate them, they know them and apparently think they are relevant at least somehow. It's sort of like taking the backdoor to domestic policy instead of having to deal with those typically elite circles... it is a better way of handling politics actually, because I think most people can understand Kim Kardashian... but maybe not understand (or resonate with) the ins and outs of the other more severe analysis that is typical of policy discussion within the typical Washington press... so I don't know, I'm sort of seeing this working? I think the signals for it are there... anyway, 877 days to go to find out...

I will put up a poll... for fun.

Donald Trump is wooing black voters and killing the Democratic party

As the Democratic Party remains in the coma it entered in November 2016, President Donald Trump is performing his greatest magic trick.

And he’s doing it right under their noses.

Anyone who thinks that Trump’s decision to pardon boxer Jack Johnson and commute the sentence of the unfairly sentenced Alice Johnson wasn’t part of a greater plan is delusional.

Donald Trump is wooing black voters.

He doesn’t really have to do much: have the presidents of some of nation’s historically black colleges gather in the Oval for a photo op and watch them do it because their schools are struggling or dying.

He does it by freeing the Johnsons – freeing the history of Jack and commuting the sentence of Alice.

Anyone who thinks that Trump didn’t gain some black votes by those actions last week doesn’t understand the power of connecting with the disconnected.

In Detroit, and other urban areas – where we can’t get more than 14 to 20 percent of registered voters to turn out for a municipal election – and where many people still love Kanye West whether he thinks slavery was a choice or R. Kelly, who is escaping jail by inexplicable means – Trump may be resonating.

And now he’s considering pardoning Muhammad Ali, who doesn’t need his support, but that won’t stop Trump from claiming that he saved his reputation.

(Ali's draft evasion conviction was overturned. The Supreme Court did it twice in 1971. Six years later, then President Jimmy Carter pardoned every objector who declined the draft. After Trump floated the idea, an attorney for the estate said “We appreciate President Trump’s sentiment, but a pardon is unnecessary. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Muhammad Ali in a unanimous decision in 1971. There is no conviction from which a pardon is needed,” said Ron Tweel, lawyer for the boxer’s estate and his widow, Lonnie.

It is one more distraction, among a series of distractions from federal investigations that Trump has tried. He also has tried threatening to fire people. He has even raised the idea of pardoning himself.

But, fearing little, he’s now working on his re-election campaign.

Oh, you missed that? Most people did. When Trump announced, it was barely a blip on the national radar. He announced it while being federally investigated and waving off charges that his family is benefiting from his being in office. He had raised $10 million by April.

And the NAACP didn’t march.

And the Urban League didn’t put out a statement.

And in Detroit, no one said a word.

While the Democratic Party is sleeping, focused on winning November’s midterms rather than uniting behind a single 2020 candidate to challenge Trump, the president is wooing black voters with the help of Kim Kardashian who’s married to the Mad Rapper and has 60 million Twitter followers, many of whom are black.

Kardashian West met with President Donald Trump at the White House to plea for clemency for 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence on a non-violent drug offense

.

Donald Trump is succeeding at something few people thought possible. He is getting some black people to compare him to Barack Obama. Obama didn’t get Alice Johnson out of jail. Obama didn’t pardon Jack, even though Ken Burns asked him to and produced an entire documentary explaining why.

Donald Trump isn’t killing the Republican Party.

He is killing the Democratic Party.

He is singlehandedly making people forget the strength and resilience and heart of the party that once tried to define itself as the place for the little guy, for the left-outs, for the have-nots.

He is doing it by making people believe that he, whom Forbes describes as the first billionaire president in U.S. history, cares more about the little guy more than Democrats.

He is making people forget that the Democratic Party champions programs for the descendants of the enslaved while the GOP attempts to convince us that slavery wasn’t as big a deal as we have been taught.

A fellow columnist approached me at my book signing here to recount his wife’s experience at their child’s school. The subject was slavery, and the teacher said to the class. “If slaves were property, do you think that people would beat up their cars or take care of them?” His wife reported it to the principal, but what if that teacher is among thousands trying to teach that crap, damaging young black children in the process?

Trump is wooing black voters by accepting the friendship of people like the comedian Steve Harvey, who believes that wealthy is a choice, and Kanye, who believes that slavery was a choice.

By pardoning the Johnsons, Trump ramped up his efforts to woo black voters. I can imagine he thought pardoning Ali would connect him with many more.

Instead, he should ask Kim Kardashian for the names of about 100,000 other people, mostly black, in prison for long terms that were inhumane. There are plenty of folks who could deserve what he gave Alice Johnson.

Donald Trump, who’s not the best businessman and, maybe not the best husband, is the best modern reality star of all time.

And now he’s performing his biggest trick: convincing people that he cares more about black people than the Democratic Party. This, after he convinced poor people that he's better for them than any party.

If they’re not careful, the Dems will look up and realize that the black base they’ve taken for granted for decades, might not be as enthusiastic as in the past. It’s not that they might vote for Trump. But they may not vote against him.

That gives Trump his second term, and should give us all pause.

And the Trump's second biggest magic trick, after being elected, will be complete.

[Alf]

They lost me when they refered to Kanye as "The Mad rapper"

So Trump is pardoning people to win the Black vote? That's a better way than how Hilary tried to win the Black vote, she thought that all Black people are so stupid, that all she had to do was give them a Jay Z and Beyoncé concert.

[AarynGriesfan]

Originally Posted by Alf

They lost me when they refered to Kanye as "The Mad rapper"

So Trump is pardoning people to win the Black vote? That's a better way than how Hilary tried to win the Black vote, she thought that all Black people are so stupid, that all she had to do was give them a Jay Z and Beyoncé concert.

Unfortunately for Trump he will not be running against Hilary next time so he won't be getting very many black voters in 2020.

[Brother Leon]

Originally Posted by AarynGriesfan

Unfortunately for Trump he will not be running against Hilary next time so he won't be getting very many black voters in 2020.

The black vote is the reason Hilary was even close though. It’s the White Men and Women that won him the election essentially. But yes, he won’t be going up against the worst Democratic candidate possible next time.

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Brother Leon

The black vote is the reason Hilary was even close though. It’s the White Men and Women that won him the election essentially. But yes, he won’t be going up against the worst Democratic candidate possible next time.

They have mentioned putting up Elizabeth Warren, which is a signal to me they haven't learned anything from the Trump vote... racism can only be blamed so much for the Trump result, but they can't bear the idea there could be anythjng else... anyway, she would be an unbearable candidate in my book. The worst option they could pick imo. The former Starbucks CEO at least cares about the economy and understands how to talk to people about what matters most it seems, but he may not play well with the party base. I think 2024, we may have some options on Repub side just based on some of the names thrown out there... and I think that voting blocks will shift some anyway, if only because disillusionment is high... the black vote was not as strong as expected for Hillary and voter apathy is already quite high in the US. Especially when it comes to candidate selection. I think the constant focus on race and disillusionment won't give them any lasting wins... they need something else to connect with voters... people have grown very tired of being preached to by the establishment, Congress, which has an amazingly low approval rating... I don't know a minority that isn't torn internally by the rhetoric that we are all witnessing here as a nation... white folk aren't in the mood to be race-baited, again, by a very corrupt authority... but I do think the average voter is quite torn actually... it's not a clear picture here what to do about the culture war... so I think many ppl will jump on board with any new options that appear that sound promising... but anything close to the prior bread & butter of either parties, without an updated core message, those voters will probably stay home and let others decide for them... as is typical for many ppl here. Anyone can attend protests and retweet opinion piecea. However, if they don't vote, none of that even matters...

[AarynGriesfan]

Originally Posted by Maru

They have mentioned putting up Elizabeth Warren, which is a signal to me they haven't learned anything from the Trump vote... racism can only be blamed so much for the Trump result, but they can't bear the idea there could be anythjng else... anyway, she would be an unbearable candidate in my book. The worst option they could pick imo. The former Starbucks CEO at least cares about the economy and understands how to talk to people about what matters most it seems, but he may not play well with the party base. I think 2024, we may have some options on Repub side just based on some of the names thrown out there... and I think that voting blocks will shift some anyway, if only because disillusionment is high... the black vote was not as strong as expected for Hillary and voter apathy is already quite high in the US. Especially when it comes to candidate selection. I think the constant focus on race and disillusionment won't give them any lasting wins... they need something else to connect with voters... people have grown very tired of being preached to by the establishment, Congress, which has an amazingly low approval rating... I don't know a minority that isn't torn internally by the rhetoric that we are all witnessing here as a nation... white folk aren't in the mood to be race-baited, again, by a very corrupt authority... but I do think the average voter is quite torn actually... it's not a clear picture here what to do about the culture war... so I think many ppl will jump on board with any new options that appear that sound promising... but anything close to the prior bread & butter of either parties, without an updated core message, those voters will probably stay home and let others decide for them... as is typical for many ppl here. Anyone can attend protests and retweet opinion piecea. However, if they don't vote, none of that even matters...

I really dont see Elizabeth Warren getting the nomination either.