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A busy news week mean we have to book the best experts to parse what’s important and what’s not. This week, we call on Ricochet podcaster (on hiatus) and Perry campaign advisor Avik Roy to help talk us through what the fallout will be from the SCOTUS ACA decision that came down last week. Also, he gives some insight on Perry’s speech on race and why the Texas economy is the best in the country. Speaking of economies, we then switch gears and call another on hiatus podcaster — James Pethokoukis. If you want to understand what’s going on in Greece (and China), listen to his segment. Finally, Ricochet member Canadian Cincinnatus posits Why Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump are doing well: they fight. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.
Music from this week’s episode:
Grease by Frankie Valli
The opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.
Yep, EJHill is off this week. :-(
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Maybe “states’ rights” is a buzz phrase some blacks have heard from their grandparents in regard to the Goldwater campaign. But Perry’s staff are kidding themselves if they think a large portion of black voters object to states’ rights on a philosophical level. With very few exceptions, poor people don’t learn to take political judgments to principles like that. There is no significant number of blacks waiting for an updated explanation of states’ rights.
I’m trying to remember one time in my entire life that I’ve heard “states’ rights” mentioned by a poor black as quoted in an article or on TV news.
Comparing how modern blacks fare in Republican districts versus Democratic districts is a better pitch. But I hope they plan on offering more than statistics. Poor people aren’t interested in Power Point lectures. And they have been trained by Democrats to doubt every factual claim offered by Republicans.
If Republicans are going to make inroads in that demographic, they will need emotional appeals and they will need saturation marketing. Do some charity work in black neighborhoods without cameras and reporters to get the locals talking. Whatever you do, don’t approach poor voters as if they were a bunch of yuppie college students sitting in on an academic lecture.
James , I heard the Charles Laughton ‘Sanctuary! ‘ even if no one else mentioned it.
The guest’s analysis of the Goldwater vote on the Civil Rights Act was, I’m sure, correct for an earlier generation of blacks but since history is pretty much unknown these days I’m afraid too many of today’s black voters are voting Democrat on the simple basis of ‘Gimme’
Hmm it seems Aaron and I were typing at the same time.
Also, I doubt Republicans can make much progress with poor blacks until they break the blacks away from predatory Democrats and racist groups like the NAACP.
It’s like the parable of seeds dying on top of rocky ground. You have to break the soil before anything will take root there. Democrats have spent generations teaching blacks to hate Republicans. You have to go on offense and give blacks reasons to doubt Democrats before asking them to change loyalties.
Highlight the abuse of blacks by Democrats first. Then proceed to explain how blacks fare better with Republicans.
Bless you.
I’m certainly no political genius, but that states rights explanation of blacks rejecting Repubs seemed to come out of left field by way of the parking lot.
We have black friends, most from Philadelphia, and they are all church-goers. Republican outreach has to get religion, literally, if they want more of the black vote. They should recruit a couple of great gospel singers to tour from church to church and then let drop at coffee hour how Dem candidates just aren’t feeling the faith anymore.
If Perry is listening to Roy’s advice here, he’s done.
Where to start… well, first off, it’s not like the GOP hasn’t been doing black outreach for, oh, decades. So the notion that Republicans haven’t been seeking black votes until now is silly. As a black man said in an interview years ago about Republican outreach, “We appreciate the effort, but it’s your ideas that are the problem”.
Which leads us to the second point: “states rights”, or the opposition thereof, has little to do with failure to get black votes. The fact that black voters as a whole like big government is the stumbling block. They think government should spend more, should run more of the economy, and ban all manner of things they don’t like. Everything else is a sideshow, Barry Goldwater included. I’d bet more black voters than not under 40 couldn’t tell you who Barry Goldwater was.
Kind of hard to sell small government, personal responsibility, and consequences for your actions to a block of voters that think Obamacare didn’t go far enough.
The GOP only has two cards to play to get black votes:
1. Better Schools
2. Better Jobs
By the way, you get a lot of white votes with that message too…
It would help if you actually had a convincing message that would indicate you knew how to do that in four years.
I guess where they stand on the confederate flag is more important.
Slightly off topic. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. My nephew traveled throughout Europe and said the Greeks were the most anti-American group he ran into.
EJ Hill is missed. I almost skipped this podcast on by, not recognizing it without the distictive artwork.
Is he on vacation, or is he no longer with Ricochet?
He’s working and was not available this week.
Good podcast, but I’m still waiting for closure on that anecdote about Troy having been hit on by Telly Savalas’s daughter. Was it at a Player’s Club event?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6FQNPmJFLs
I think judicial reform at the federal level and abuse by local politician and government works at the local level are also selling points. Also blacks are overwhelming are anti-gay marriage and pro-life although I think those are lower on their priority list compared to WASP.
I am very impressed that Gov. Perry has chosen Mr. Roy as an adviser and port parol. (Apparently, the Governor is also close with writer Brad Thor, as per Jay Nordlinger’s recent interview, which is impressive); whether this negates his affiliations with Hayley Barbour and those that staged skulduggery in a primary fight last year, not sure, but still, a good sign.
I also like the idea of a Perry/Fiorina ticket.
The hotel where Telly lived for about the last 20 years of his life was the Sheraton Universal, the one at the bottom of the hill not the glass-clad Hilton (which started life under a different brand) at the top of the hill. He parlayed having the biggest worldwide TV hit in the early 70’s, Kojak, into a home for himself and family along with some serious-for-the-time dough.
I first met him in about 1983/84 when staying (repeatedly) at the Sheraton for meetings. In the mornings you would run into the Savalas family at breakfast– you haven’t lived until you’ve sat next to his wheelchair bound mother being fed her oatmeal by the live-in nurse while Telly read the paper. (I always assumed it was his mother. He never introduced her and, in fact, never seemed to speak to her.)
Most days, after 4PM, Telly would be sitting in the middle of the Sheraton lobby holding court with his adoring fans. He loved being noticed and talking to people. He was friendly to the tourists there to visit Universal studios and theme park. I don’t think it was part of the deal that he act as a goodwill ambassador for Universal, he just seemed to like people.
So, Troy, are we talking Ariana?