WASHINGTON — It was in 2012 that Mitt Romney lost the election to President Barack Obama by both the electoral and popular vote. The margins in both were significant and stinging.
This led to leaders in the GOP producing a document they called "The Autopsy," a report stating that for their party to move forward, they needed to expand into communities of color, women and younger voters.
This may have been on Senator Romney’s mind that day he went into the streets to march in support of Black lives. I’m wondering now if it’s on the minds of the rest of his party. Embracing the other and expanding their reach. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be.
Just last week, following two months of largely peaceful protests, the governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, signed a law making illegally camping on state property a felony offense, rather than the misdemeanor it had been. Loosely referred to as the protest bill, a conviction will now be punishable by up to six years in prison, and a loss of voting rights.
On Martin Luther King Day in 2017, just a few days before his inauguration, then President Elect Donald Trump met with a group of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III. It’s reported that during this meeting he claimed that a low turnout among Black voters benefited him, helping to push him over the finish line.
It’s known that high voter turnout tends to benefit Democrats. Is this why we are now seeing the battles over absentee voting taking place? Lawsuits being filed in several states citing, without evidence, claims of massive voter fraud? Calls to restrict mail-in voting even as activists warn that doing so will directly impact the Black community, as well as the elderly and those at a high risk to COVID-19?
The Republican National Convention kicks off Monday night. Four nights of speakers making their party's case to the American public as to why they should vote to re-elect their nominee.
This is their opportunity to prove that they are a party that seeks to expand out, welcoming divergent voices in. Or they can continue to shrink aggressively, as they have done, serving a distinctive few.
It’s my opinion that America has become too large, too diverse, for any political party to try to grow by restricting.
This may be a winning strategy in the short term, but if you’re playing the long game, the numbers are against it, and you.