I am not a professional pollster, but I am an ex-Leftist. As such, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that the Democrats have all of the Caucasian latte lovers, pajama boys, blue-haired shriekers, nose-ring complainers, grungy protestors, multi-gendered mutants, ill-informed high school students, and crusty, zombified ’60s holdovers it is going to get. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me otherwise.
But the donkeys are convinced that they can win back or win over unhappy white voters with a new initiative called The White Stripe Project. And yes, feel free to add your Hunter Biden jokes in the comments. I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. Actually, the project is focusing not on cocaine but on race and equity because every white person in America has not had enough of being called a colonialist, terrorist, an oppressor, or of course, privileged. So I am certain that this will have white people running back to the DNC to savor another verbal beatdown based on the color of their skin. But I am also sure it will be administered with love, so there’s that.
According to a piece in Politico, the project’s organizers maintain that the traditional method of attracting white voters, which has been a race-neutral, economics-focused message that also emphasizes past elections, just isn’t working, so it is time for a more direct approach. During a Monday organizational meeting, Erin Heaney, executive director of Showing Up for Racial Justice, said, “White voters have disproportionate political power. We need a strategy for engaging and organizing them alongside communities of color.” Steve Phillips, a Democrat analyst called for a “non-defensive, data-driven conversation.”
One of the problems that Phillips notes is the idea that Stacey Abrams has failed twice in her Georgia gubernatorial bids because of a focus on race and equity. He also points to Tim Ryan’s loss in Ohio, which he attributes to Ryan’s campaign downplaying race. But Heaney also admits that the issue of race can chase whites away from the DNC. Politico quoted her as saying, “We know that race is an incredibly powerful tool to keep people, white people, silent and separated from the multiracial coalitions we need to win.”
The article did not elaborate on the project’s talking points or strategy — probably because they have yet to be created. So without that information, it is admittedly hard to determine how well this particular tack will work. After years of being vilified, I can’t see too many white people voluntarily submitting themselves to more flagellation, even if it is with a kinder, gentler stick.
Chances are, the acolytes of this effort will be those who have already posted the black square on social media, BLM and “In This House, We Believe” signs in their yard, and a Progress/Pride flag on their porch. To win back white voters, the Democrats may want to take a break from race hustling for an election cycle or two. But it is entirely possible, and in fact probable, that the people behind The White Stripe Project really are so self-absorbed and tone-deaf that they think undecided voters, disaffected Democrats, or Never-Trump members of the GOP will get excited about yet another “conversation” that focuses, however tenderly, on what horrible people they are. For many these days, that is one of a number of things that drove them away from the Democrat Party.
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