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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Carrie Sheffield — Donald Trump and Hispanics: Barry Goldwater 2.0?



Forbes Magazine:

As GOP primary voters consider whether Donald Trump carries the party banner, it’s worth considering how the frontrunner could be Barry Goldwater 2.0 on the issue of race and Hispanics. This would be terrible for Republicans if they actually want to win. Goldwater destroyed GOP relations with African-American voters, and Trump is poised to destroy relations with Hispanic voters. Because the majority of babies born today are non-white, if the GOP selects Trump, he could relegate the party to demographic oblivion.

African-American support of the GOP was a solid 39 percent in 1956 and a decent 32 percent in 1960. But after opposing the Civil Rights Act, Republican nominee Goldwater garnered a pitiful 6 percent, and black support has floundered in single digits or low teens ever since. The Republican “southern strategy” embraced by Richard Nixon further exacerbated the social breakdown between black voters and the GOP. Subsequent leaders like Jack Kemp and Ken Mehlman strove to mend relations between Republicans and black voters, with little impact.

Read the full article HERE.

One slight caveat with this article: RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman was mostly talk and no action when it came to engaging the black community.