"Rand Paul's Mythology Of Republican Minority Votes" National Democratic Strategist Bob Weiner And Analyst Joseph Abay Say, Until Stop Cutting Programs And Suppressing Vote

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Senator Rand Paul's claim that Republicans can win significant numbers of African American votes in 2016 is "mythology," national Democratic strategist Robert Weiner and analyst Joseph Abay say, until the Republicans stop cutting programs and suppressing the vote.  Paul said Democratic policies "haven't worked" and believes the GOP could "transform an election in one cycle" if they made an earnest effort to appeal to a "new constituency."

In an article called "Rand Paul's Mythology of Republican Minority Votes," published in the Michigan Chronicle Wednesday, national Democratic strategist-former White House and congressional senior staff, Robert Weiner, and policy analyst Joseph Abay contend, "Republicans have no claim on minority voters until they stop cutting programs for lower income and working Americans, which disproportionately include African-Americans and Latinos." The Michigan Chronicle has been named the #1 African-American newspaper in the U.S. six times in the last twelve years by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Weiner and Abay assert, "A verbal rebranding by Republican presidential candidates doesn't excuse the Republican Party of decades of indifference to Black America and a current policy to remove life-improving benefits and voting rights."   

Paul asked Howard University students, "How did the Party of the Great Emancipator (Lincoln) lose that vote?" Weiner and Abay directly answer his question and state, "Here's what Democrats have done, which the Republicans are trying to eviscerate: Roosevelt's New Deal, Truman's Fair Deal, Kennedy's New Frontier, Johnson's Great Society, Clinton's 23 million jobs, and Obama's Recovery from the Great Recession, Auto Rescue, Affordable Health Care, 5 years of job growth, and getting bin Laden while Bush didn't, for starters." They point out that black poverty has declined 2.41 per cent annually under Democratic Presidents, and under President Roosevelt's New Deal, black poverty dropped from 87 to 47 percent.

Weiner and Abay stress that "In contrast, Republican leaders in Congress, state houses, and the 5-4 Republican appointed Supreme Court, have tried and continue now to dismantle education, housing, food, health care, jobs, affirmative action, voting rights, and social programs created by Democrats that have helped minorities including African Americans and Hispanics. They are cutting back the very programs that allowed leaders like President Obama, U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Jim Clyburn, Barbara Jordan, and Shirley Chisholm, and BET founder Robert Johnson, as well as the sons and daughters of millions of Americans, to become what they did.  They are blocking the current Administration's infrastructure jobs program that would add one million jobs, reduce unemployment by a full percent, and counter Black unemployment. While suddenly claiming to be against 'income inequality,' they are blocking the first real minimum wage increase in 30 years."

The authors emphasize that "The Republican plan is the myth of trickle down, when the rich actually just keep most of their ever-increasing wealth.  Tax break bills for the wealthy are not 'jobs bills'--  listen carefully to the real content."

Weiner and Abay reference that Paul has admitted to opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1965 in the past even though he now denies it. The authors recall back to 2011 when Paul was a guest on the Rachel Maddow Show, a tape which the host has replayed. When asked about his opposition, "he was unsure whether he would have voted for passage of the law." They say that Paul again wiggled on the issue and said to Maddow, "Those are difficult situations."

Weiner and Abay mention that Paul's push for criminal justice and drug policy reforms has received support, and note that 60 percent of the prison population is Black though only making up 14 percent of the population. However, the authors contend he has never acknowledged that "Bill Clinton and Clinton Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey called for these policy changes years ago, and Democrats now including Eric Holder have pushed for reforms.  It's good he got the idea from them."

They interviewed Dean of the House and Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, now Dean of the House, Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit), who told them, "I don't understand why any African American would be Republican. We're going to have to be up on how we protect hard fought gains now up for re-evaluation. Democrats won't roll over for a corporate takeover of government.  We have to give more help to working people and their families, not less."

They also report that at a recent National Press Club Newsmaker, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Assistant Minority Leader, asked, "Where would I be today were it not for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act? Where would I be living today were it not for the 1968 Fair Housing law?" Weiner and Abay said the Supreme Court's Republican appointees are threatening all of these.

The authors point out that Republican Budget Chair and 2012 Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan has called for an end to Medicare's provisions and partial privatization. They go on to say, "He also supports privatizing Social Security.  Medicare and Social Security were created by Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. The Social Security Administration reported that Blacks aged 65 or older would have poverty rates as high as 60 percent without Social Security.  Republicans' calls for Social Security 'reforms' simply mean cuts."

Weiner and Abay cite that President Obama's health care law, which they said has been "excoriated by Republicans," has reduced uninsured rates by 25 percent. "The law is critical to reverse numbers showing that African Americans are 55 percent less insured than whites."

The authors conclude, "Democrats will continue to keep winning minority votes because they have earned them, despite Rand Paul's mythology."

National Democratic strategist Robert Weiner is a former spokesman for the Clinton White House, and was senior staff for Reps. John Conyers Jr., Charles B. Rangel, Claude Pepper, Ed Koch and Sen. Edward Kennedy. Joseph Abay is a policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates. Autumn Kelly assisted in the article.

Link to article: http://michronicleonline.com/2015/02/03/rand-pauls-mythology-of-republican-minority-votes/

Contact: Bob Weiner or Autumn Kelly 301-283-0821 cell 202-306-1200 [email protected]

SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates