There are always contrarians-- people who go against the grain just to... go against the grain. In the early 1930s, a Jew voting for Hitler as Germany's fragile democracy was collapsing-- and there were some-- would likely have been a severe contrarian. Those votes didn't prevent them from being rounded up and exterminated in gas chambers. According to Pew Research, 6% of 2016 Black voters cast their ballots for Trump. Contrarianism is one explanation. Can you think of a more clownish contrarian than deranged rap star Kanye West? We covered his presidential "campaign" late Monday night.The idea behind it was simple: Trump isn't going to get many Black voters-- maybe even less than the 6% he got in 2016. But preventing some from voting for Biden-Kamala in a few swing states-- like Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa-- could swing the electoral college to Trump again. Black voters, it turns out, are way too smart for that, as is apparent in the Morning Consult poll for Politico yesterday. Just 2% of voters say he's their choice and just 2% of African-American voters say he's their choice. Most people see it as either a Trumpist ploy or a typical Kanye publicity stunt. People don't tale his bid seriously, despite a gaggle of experienced Republican Party operatives, like Gregg Keller, former executive director of the American Conservative Union, working to legitimize him and get him on the ballot in key states. This is his 10-point Bible-driven "platform" (for lack of a better word):
• Restore faith and revive our Constitutional commitment to freedom of religion and the free exercise of one’s faith, demonstrated by restoring prayer in the classroom including spiritual foundations.We will not hide the truth from our children, but will declare to the next generation His praises and wonder. Psalm 78:4• Restore the sound national economy. Reduce household debt and student loan debt.God has plans to give us hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11• Provide leadership to restructure our country’s education system to serve the most at-risk and vulnerable populations allowing the widest possible range of educational and vocational paths to job opportunities and career success.Direct your children on the right path. Proverbs 22:6• Maintain a strong national defense, fully prepared, but not so quick to tie up our country’s young men and women in foreign quagmires that do not advance our national interest, and which last for decades.Through God we shall do valiantly. Psalm 60:12• Reform the legal system to provide true justice, equitable for all citizens, regardless of race or ability to defend oneself in court. Recognize the disparity in verdicts and prison sentences, caused by the lack of financial resources or legal assistance.There will not be differing weights and differing measures. Proverbs 20:10• Reform the approach to policing in a manner that treats all Americans the same, regardless of race, color, or ethnicity. Refocus police forces on real crime. Eliminate federal sentencing guidelines that tie the hands of judges, resulting in ridiculous sentences for the most minor offenses.We will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 31:8• Take care of the environment, diligently pursuing clean air and water as a national security priority and making renewables top priority.The past is forgotten and everything can be new 2 Corinthians 5:17• Ensure that we always place Americans’ best interest first and foremost in dealing with foreign affairs. We must project strength, not aggression. We want trust, but we must also verify. We want fair trade, not one-sided deals that hurt American workers.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9• Support faith-based groups to provide vital local services, giving communities a shared purpose in government.We will provide ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works Hebrews 10:24• Creativity and the Arts can be an important source of innovation and development of other national strengths and resources.He has given them skill in all kinds of work done. Exodus 35:35
The only semi-significant support the poll found for him was among the youngest-- and least reliable-- cohort of voters, Gen Z, where he could get 6% of the vote. Oh... and then there's Jared Kushner, who, the NY Times reported yesterday, "met privately last weekend with Kanye" in Telluride, Kanye leaving a family camping trip to fly in and meet with Trumpanzee's campaign overseer.
After an inquiry, Mr. West tweeted Tuesday evening: “I’m willing to do a live interview with the New York Time about my meeting with Jared,” adding that they had discussed a book about Black empowerment called Powernomics.” He did not elaborate on his meeting with Mr. Kushner in a brief follow-up interview. He instead expressed anger about abortion rates among Black women and said he didn’t reflexively support Democrats.
Forbes went further in their reporting: a Kushner-Kanye yack session daily. A friend of Kanye's told Randall Lane explained that Kanye is "mentally ill. When you have people around him who have the best intentions and don’t need anything from him, you can steer him when he’s in that space into a positive place. When you have people around him who see him as an opportunity, they create a very, very bad scenario." Some in Kanye's circle "feel that Kushner now falls into that latter camp in ways that flirt with exploitation-- concerning, after Kardashian West asked publicly for 'compassion and empathy.' One described their understanding of Kushner’s conversations with West as 'reverse psychology.' Others prescribe less malicious intent, though that narrative would require a level of naiveté that would rank up there with sitting in a meeting at Trump Tower with Russians who promise to have dirt on Hillary Clinton."I'm not sure how big Kanye is in Montana but the Billings Gazette reported yesterday that Republican operatives are trying to get him on the ballot there, specifically to draw voters away from Biden/Kamala. They've been gathering signatures and telling people explicitly it was to siphon off Biden votes in November.
"You want to help Trump?" one of the organizers called out Tuesday afternoon in front of the Yellowstone County Courthouse. "We're trying to take votes away from creepy Uncle Joe."...A similar group of organizers were at MetraPark on Tuesday using the same pitch, calling out to fair-goers as they approached the gate, sometimes not even mentioning West's name.The organizer on the sidewalk in front of the county courthouse called to people as they approached or left the building Tuesday afternoon. His pitch was always the same, help Trump, sign the petition, get West on the ballot and draw votes away from Biden.The man declined to give his name, saying he had been "told expressly to stay away from the media." He also declined to name the group that recruited him to gather signatures, describing them as clients of the West campaign.
About 6,400 of Montana's 1.1 million people are Black. Kanye probably has a lot more fans than that in the state. The Republican organizers of his ballot effort have until August 19, a week from yesterday, to gather 5,000 verifiable signatures. Many-- in some cases, most-- of these signatures the GOP operatives have been turning in in other states are forgeries. And that's hardly the only dirty trick the GOP is trying to pull off in Montana to protect Trump and Daines and their other candidates. They're also trying-- so far unsuccessfully-- to use the Montana Green Party as a way to divert progressive votes away from Biden.A couple of free thinkers. How would you like a tape of their presidential strategy meeting?
