Many years past it occurred to me that the GOP had cornered the White, Christian, male voter market, and not much else.
I started speaking, writing, and acting on this concept called outreach. Here’s a summary of my journey.
In 2002 this writer became a volunteer adviser to the first Charter School in Palm Beach County. The families, almost all single moms, were enthusiastic supporters of the concept of school choice.
These families were also constant supporters of all candidates: Democrats.
How does that happen? How does it even make sense?
It happens when, while Republicans legislatively support minorities, Democrats meet them at the supermarket, or PTA meetings, or the city council meeting.
In other words, Republicans legislate upward mobility for minorities.
Democrats show up.
So, I showed up. I built relationships for me and our local Republican Party of Palm Beach County. Finally, in 2014 there was tangible progress.
This writer had gotten very involved with a very serious group of evangelical Haitian pastors. I didn’t just show up. I kept coming back.
Eventually, in 2014, following great difficulty, I had then-Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., committed to visiting a "small church" in West Palm Beach.
Gov. Scott and his reelection campaign manager showed up!
We all went into the conference room, 24 Haitian pastors, the governor, a staffer, me and a close friend of mine.
Scott asked, "Pastor Matthieu, how can I help?"
Pastor Matthieu replied, "We want a seat at the table. We want to be included in decision-making that affects our community."
Rick Scott then gave one of the best answers I ever heard from a sitting state chief executive: "Write down my cell number."
A great hour in the conference room was followed by meeting the local Haitian women on a food distribution morning.
A very positive morning indeed ended with a commitment for the Mr. Scott to come back to Palm Beach County for the Haitian Summer Crusade; a seven-day religious celebration in the county’s largest high school auditorium.
The follow-up to this crusade included reelection ads in Creole on Haitian radio.
There was one oddity, however.
Where was the media? Why didn’t they follow the governor?
This writer's guess: When it comes to urban minorities, Republicans think that all minorities are Al Sharpton, not acting in conservatvies' interests.
And that their political attitude is, "Why bother?"
But it works for me and Palm Beach County. My Caribbean friends call me "Mister Sid," a form of respect in their countries.
Which brings me to an most important question.
Why am I revisiting the outreach issue here and now?
Because 2024 is the most important American presidential election since 1860.
It runs right through all minority communities and communities of legal immigrants.
And former President Trump stands on the edge of a great and historical landslide victory. Why and how? Read the polls. The Blacks, the Hispanics, the urban young; these are all constituencies moving our way --- in the polls.
But what will it take for them to move our way on Election Day, during Early Voting, in vote-by-mail, and, even post-election, when the “counting” continues? Can Trump close the deal?
A few months past Wayne Allen Root spoke at our Club 47.
He’s a prominent conservative media voice and in constant contact with Donald J. Trump.
He gave an answer I have been trying to give for years. He spoke about Mr. Trump’s fabulous campaign successes; the huge crowds, the waiting lines, the media.
And then Mr. Root said that he had one more suggestion: Bring the rallies downtown. Don’t just be everybody’s president.
Be everybody’s campaigner.
Pastor Matthieu said he wanted a seat at the table and Rick Scott said, "Take my cell phone number." Urban minorities are saying they want a place in the campaign, and Trump needs to meet them where they live; in the Bronx, (as has been rumored), at Madison Square Garden, at the iconic Apollo theater in Harlem, at Cobo arena in Detroit, at the Hollywood Bowl.
You get the idea. If you want their support: show up, starting right now.
Sid Dinerstein is a former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. Read More — Here.