AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Here's a radical idea I never thought I'd see one Democrat suggest to another: Why not treat black voters like swing voters who vote you actually have to earn? Surveying the wreckage that decades of Democrat policies have caused, if I were a Democrat running for office, my message to black voters would be, "I am so sorry," but today's warning from Blueprint isn't quite that radical.
"Black and swing voters share similar economic priorities," the Democrat consulting firm concluded, and found that "three of the five policies that are most popular with both Black and swing voters are about reducing costs for everyday people."
Blueprint published its messaging memo to Democrats on Monday, based on the firm's own polling and with this warning for the White House: "The age-old maxim that Democrats must 'mobilize the base' could be resolved simply by acknowledging that our base of Black voters is decidedly moderate on many key issues that appeal to middle-of-the-road swing voters."
Message: the radical stuff isn't resonating with your most dependable voters.
But the real issue is that black voters are drifting to Donald Trump, as the New York Times reported earlier this month after "polling painted a worrisome picture of the president’s standing with a crucial constituency."
Put them both together and you get two things: a red flag for Democrats and a green light for Republicans. The red flag is that Joe "You Ain't Black If You Don't Vote for Me" Biden even has to woo black voters. The green light is for Republicans to start wooing black voters themselves, at long last — and if they dare.
Why is the issue of wooing black voters even an issue, anyway? The old message — Dems good, Republicans will put y'all back in chains — has worked so well for so long. Well, thanks to two men, that message isn't working as well as it once did.
The first man is Presidentish Joe Biden. His policies both at home and abroad are such trainwrecks that they have Democrats arguing over how best to spin, not how loudest to crow. The other is former president Donald Trump, who in 2016 was the first GOP candidate in ages to actively court black voters — and win them in numbers big enough to frighten the Left.
Before you get too excited about seeming common sense coming from a Democrat-affiliated consulting firm, Blueprint's blueprint for winning black voters is more of the "Bidenomics is working" messaging that voters of all races have already tuned out and that even Democrats say the White House needs to change.
Claiming, as Blueprint does, that "voters haven’t heard much about [Biden's] accomplishments" is pure nonsense. The Left dominates social media, big business, education, and entertainment. Unless you're a regular reader of alternative sources like PJ Media, the Democrat message is almost all you get.
Voters — again, of all races — aren't buying the "Bidenomics Is Working" message because we have to buy groceries at inflated prices, take out home loans at unaffordable rates, or have been priced out of buying a new car for the first time.
I should note that Blueprint is funded by angel investor and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and The American Prospect calls it a "centrist" organization. But this is TAP we're talking about, so "centrist" could mean anything to the left of Barack Obama and the right of Leon Trotsky. Although now that I've written that sentence, I'm not entirely convinced there's enough room between Obama and Trotsky to let any daylight through — but I digress.
I'll finish by reminding you — and Blueprint and the White House — that sometimes the dogs just don't like the dog food and that no amount of spin or revamped messaging can turn thin rations of kibble into beef stew.
