Posted on 10/19/2010 6:56:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
There are a lot of "themes" to this election. The year of the Republican woman. The Tea Party vs. the elitists. The conservative grassroots vs. the establishment Republicans. Small government conservatives vs. big government Democrats. The American people vs. liberalism. However, there's one mini-trend that has been largely overlooked: There were a surprising number of black Republican candidates running this year. Initially, there were 32 candidates in the hunt, which was the largest field of black Republicans running for the House since Reconstruction. However, many of those candidates lost their primaries and so now we're down to 14 candidates.
Still, this wasn't supposed to happen. After all, we have the first black President in the White House and he's a Democrat. Moreover, he has a 90% approval rating with black Americans and there doesn't seem to be a Democrat in this country who can string together more than 4-5 sentences at a time without claiming Republicans hate black Americans. Nevertheless, we're about to see the first black Republicans in the House since J.C. Watts retired back in 2003.
That's no small matter and if Republicans are smart, they'll keep building on that momentum. Colin Powell and Condi Rice rose to prominence under the Bush administration. Pundits like Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Star Parker, and Larry Elder have made a name for themselves in the conservative movement. Back in 2006, rather famously, we had Lynn Swann, Michael Steele, and Ken Blackwell running for office. Now, we've got Michael Steele as the RNC Chair and we have more black Republicans about to be elected to Congress.
That's one of the reasons the cries of "racism" no longer work and it's also helping to give the GOP its best chance to reach black Americans in a generation. If we could get to the point where even a third of black Americans were regularly voting Republican, which is much more plausible than you might think, we could start to shift the country's political landscape back to the Right. Of course, to make that happen, we're going to need more visible black leaders in the Republican Party. Sending Tim Scott, Allen West, and Ryan Frazier to Congress would be a good start on that effort.
Tim Scott: Scott, who is the first black Republican elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction, is conservative, charismatic, and a deft politician. He fits right in with other South Carolina conservative stars like Jim DeMint and Nikki Haley. Happily, after coming out on top in a nine candidate primary, Scott is on track to easily be elected in his conservative S.C. district. That guarantees that he will be the first black Republican for South Carolina to head to Congress since 1901.
Allen West: Allen West is a charismatic conservative who served with distinction in the military and now he's hoping to do the same in Congress. To get there, he must beat one of the most liberal members of the House, Ron Klein (He has a lifetime ACU rating of 1), in a +4 Democratic district. The polls have consistently shown this to be a tightly knotted race and it looks like it's going to remain that way all the way down to the wire.
Ryan Frazier: Frazier is a well funded, fiscally conservative, anti-amnesty candidate who says that repealing Obamacare must be the "top priority of the incoming Congress." He's up against ultra-left-winger Ed Perlmutter in a district that leans Democratic by just a couple of points. The race hasn't been publicly polled in a month and a half, but the last poll showed Frazier and Perlmutter knotted up well below the 50% mark. That means Frazier has an excellent chance to pull this race out and make a little history.
So, folks, if you're looking for some key races to watch down the home stretch, Tim Scott, Allen West and Ryan Frazier are names you need to know.
But I have to admit that after Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and Michael Steele, I would take a long hard look at these gentlemen. Hopefully they are the real deal.
I don’t know much about the other two, but I’m on board the Allen West train.
There is a wonderful “Black” Republican woman Charlotte Bergman, running for congress in the 9th district of Tenn. She is getting NO national support at all.
I think lumping Steele in with Rice (and especially) Powell is unfair.
Steele, while gaffe prone, has been a pretty strong voice for the message. Whereas Rice is a classic RINO and Powell is no longer on our side.
That’s one of the reasons the cries of “racism” no longer work
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We have a Black President in the White House. So........
HOW CAN YOU BLAME “THE MAN” WHEN NOW, YOU ARE “THE MAN”?
I was familiar with the other two, but first time I’ve heard of Ryan Frazier, running in Colorado’s suburban Denver district. He has an impressive bio, to say the least.
A few prominent, outspoken Conservatives the media ignore and the Dems don’t want you to know:
Akindele Akinemi, Donald Allen, William B. Allen, Terry Anderson, Mary Baker, LaShawn Barber, Ronnie Bell, Charlotte Bergmann, Michelle D. Bernard, Ken Blackwell, Deneen Borelli, Edward William Brooke III, Jerry Brooks, Janice Rogers Brown, Rev. C. L. Bryant, Herman Cain, Ward Connerly, Cedra Crenshaw, Lurita Alexis Doan, Rev. Lainie Dowell, Damon Dunn, Kenneth Durden, Leette Eaton-White, Helena Edwards, Larry Elder, Charles Evers, Rev. Michel J. Faulkner, Ryan Frazier, Lisa Fritsch, Day Gardner, Dr. Elaina George, James Golden - aka Bo Sneardley, R. Dozier Gray, Andre Harper, Isaac Hayes, Ismael Hernandez, Joe Hicks, Jimmie L. Hollis, Amy Holmes, Rich Holt, Deborah Honeycutt, Jerome Hudson, L. E. Ikenga, Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., Harry R. Jackson, Jr., Kevin Jackson, D.K. Jamaal, Joyce Johnson, Sonnie Johnson, Timothy F. Johnson, Ph.D., Apostle Claver Kamau-Imani, Frantz Kebreau, Ambassador Alan Keyes, Dr. Alveda King, Don King, Peter Kirsanow, Yaphet Kotto, Charles Lollar, Vanessa Jean Louis, Karl Malone, Lloyd Marcus, Darryn Dutch Martin, Kevin Martin, Robin Martin, Mychal Massie, Emery McClendon, Angela McGlowan, Greg Merle, Christopher Metzler, Ron Miller, Janks Morton, Anita MonCrief, Deroy Murdock, Nadia Naffe, Sophia Nelson, Selena Owens, William Owens Jr., Rod Paige, Star Parker, Vernon Parker, Bob Parks, Charles Payne, Rev. Wayne Perryman, Jesse Lee Peterson, Joseph C. Phillips, Alonzo Rachel, Condaleeza Rice, Frances Rice, Reihan Salam, Jericho Saliz, Akbar A. Shabazz, Sonja Schmidt, Donald E. Scroggins, Tim Scott, Tony Sewell, Thomas Sowell, Alex St. James, Michael Steele, Shelby Steele, Marie Stroughter, Carol Swain, Lynn Swann, Ashley L. Taylor Jr., Clarence Thomas, Robert Traynham, Sheryl Underwood, Michael Vass, Kim Wade, Tara Wall, Ellis Washington, David Webb, Lt. Colonel Allen West, LTC Randolph C. White Jr., Ruth Bryant White, Walter Williams, Dr. Anne Wortham
I was familiar with the other two, but first time I’ve heard of Ryan Frazier, running in Colorado’s suburban Denver district. He has an impressive bio, to say the least.
I was holding signs for Charlotte at early voting yesterday. I’ll be knocking on doors this evening.
Sure they do. They work on their intended audience today just as well as they did forty years ago.
Colin Powell, OTOH, is a Quisling Republican, who sought out the maximum opportunity to harm McCain's campaign, even though McCain was from the very wing of the party which Powell claims to support.
Condi, I would place between these two groups and call her a Vichy Republican-- someone who does not actively seek out opportunities to collaborate with the enemy, but doesn't mind taking them if they come along.
Good list.
From the article: “[Tim Scott] will be the first black Republican for South Carolina to head to Congress since 1901.”
Actually, Scott will be the first black Republican from SC to be elected to Congress since the 1894 election, in which Congressman George W. Murray (who had been elected in 1892) was declared the loser but was able to contest the election successfully, was seated on June 4, 1896 and served until March 3, 1897.
Perhaps the author was thinking of the fact that Scott will become the first black Republican to serve in Congress from a former Confederate state (hopefully joined by Allen West of FL) since Congressman George Henry White of NC (who had been elected in 1896 and 1898) left office on March 3, 1901.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.