The Gantt Report
By Lucius Gantt
It appears as though America’s African American voters are jumping with joy about the candidacy of the Democratic nominee for President, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Don’t worry right now, Kamala will probably win the popular vote count by millions of votes.
Don’t fret about the political polls. Gantt Report readers were told weeks ago that Kamala Harris should be leading in all polls after the Democratic Convention.
However, winning the election won’t be easy!
Let me explain.
The votes of the “electoral college”, a group formed for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president, are the votes that the winning candidates will have to get.
Kamala Harris, and her “high-paid” consultants, must get an extraordinary turnout of voters who support her.
If you know your political history, there is clear evidence those consultants have not been able to generate voter turnout and votes for every candidate that pays them to deliver votes. For example, Hillary Clinton got more votes cast by registered voters than her opponent, but Donald Trump beat her by getting more electoral college votes.
Some other Democrats, especially MAGA Democrats, are jubilant because Democrats have always tried to convince at least one Black candidate to run for State Senator or Governor in various statewide elections, not to win, but to increase Black voter turnout for white Democratic candidates.
Well, Barack Obama increased Black voter turnout nationwide and white Democratic candidates rode into Congressional seats on Obama’s coattails.
What’s different in 2024 is how Trump’s MAGA movement has suppressed votes by passing restrictive voting laws in “swing states” and other states. Early voting days have been shortened, mail-in votes have been compromised by the systematic demise of postal services by a Trump-appointed Postmaster who removed mailboxes in Black voting precincts, and by decreasing postal equipment needed for faster mail deliveries.
One day, Democratic “experts” went to sleep and when they woke up, MAGA supporters were placed on election boards in every swing state.
In Georgia, MAGA election officials have already said they want to review the 2020 Georgia election results, and they have suggested that if Trump doesn’t win in Georgia in 2024, they will not certify the election!
So, winning the popular vote won’t do. Kamala Harris must trounce Donald Trump and win as many states as she can by a wide margin. She must try and win every swing state by 50,000 to 100,000 votes.
If she wins states by 1000 votes, for instance, MAGA election officials will say the Harris Campaign cheated.
Vice President Harris has been told it is a good thing to have field offices and volunteers, and it is good. But it’s better to have Harris Campaign’s helpful supporters who know what they’re doing.
If a stranger knocks on your door and says my name “Shantisha”, will you vote for Kamala Harris?
Well, that’s not enough.
Why can’t the voters tell the doorknockers what the voters want to do to help Kamala? They can make contributions, host meet-and-greets, give neighbors rides to polls, act as neighborhood or precinct captains, make phone calls to family and friends, and so much more.
The best campaigns pay everybody who does campaign work. The idea that Blacks who have political training and experience are inferior and have no value must be discredited and abandoned!
White consultants were not the reason Barack Obama won two Presidential elections. Barack had Michelle, who everybody still loves.
I truly wish Kamala Harris well but, in my mind, she has permeated her campaign team with “political pimps”.
Political pimps are just like Iceberg Slim and Magic Don Juan. All they want is as much money as they can get and that will surely happen.
When it comes to putting a winning team together, “any Negro” volunteer doorknocker won’t do. Campaigns are very scientific and technological in these days and times.
I guess you could say “winning ain’t easy” because it’s hard out here for America’s political pimps!
