Why Black MAGA's lose elections among the MAGA crowd

Get the Point!

I can't say that I'm surprised that Daniel Cameron, Kentucky's Black Attorney General and Republican nominee for Governor, lost to Democratic incumbent Governor Andy Beshears on Tuesday night despite having the enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump, the former president who remains popular in the Bluegrass State. 

Daniel Cameron

My lack of surprise stems from the fact that despite all of the social media angst about the pending demise of the Democratic Party in general, and the alleged lack of enthusiasm for a second term for our 81-year old President Joe Biden, the opinion polls and social media chatter have not matched the fact that from Virginia, across to Ohio, and down to Kentucky, Democratic candidates, and progressive policies (abortion rights), have been doing quite well since the 2022 midterm elections!

Now, my lack of surprise does not mean that I was not happy, no, make that downright ecstatic, to see that Daniel Cameron, 37, took an "L" the other night in a race that he felt that he would win "Bigly" due to Mr. Trump's fervent support. 

Why am I ecstatic? It is because three years ago, Daniel Cameron did everything within his power to prevent justice from from flowing like a mighty stream in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old Black woman who was gunned down in her apartment by reckless police officers in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Breonna Taylor

For those who have forgotten, back in March of 2020, law enforcement officers forcibly entered Taylor's apartment under the guise of looking for drugs or weapons allegedly belonging to her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. The problem for the police was that Taylor had not had ANY contact with Glover for well over a month before they executed an infamous "no-knock" warrant. When the officers barged in unannounced, Taylor’s then boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, grabbed his weapon out of fear that Taylor's ex was breaking into the residence to cause trouble; in those angst filled seconds, shots were exchanged and when the smoke cleared Taylor, an emergency room tech who dreamed of becoming a registered nurse, had been shot by the officers and later died from her injuries.

After a round of national calls for justice for Breonna Taylor's family was led by civil rights Attorney Benjamin Crump (below),

Cameron, clearly recognizing that right wing voters in Kentucky and across America tend to defend the police even when they are clearly liable for killing an unarmed person, did his level best to prevent the Louisville officers from being indicted by a grand jury for murder or even manslaughter. These are not Ol' Hobbs's opinions, mind you, but actual facts culled from three grand jurors who spoke out after no indictments were issued. Check out the following from an Associated Press article in August of 2021:

"Three jurors on the 12-member grand jury later came forward to say (Daniel) Cameron’s team limited their scope and misled them about what charges they could consider against the officers. Cameron on Thursday didn’t criticize the three grand jurors — saying they can “speak for themselves” — as he attempted to deflect their stinging review of how the case was presented."

😡…

As I have written and stated many times before, Daniel Cameron is merely the latest Black Republican who is afraid to champion racial justice because his personal ambition of being "liked" and "electable" is threatened if he is deemed "too Black" in the public specter. 

This does not apply to all Black Republicans, because men like the late General Colin Powell, and former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele, showed (or) show a willingness to call out systemic racism and white supremacy in the public square! 

But there are others, countless others, who with backs bent, haircuts in desperate need of edging, and "yessa massa" smiles permanently affixed on their faces, who stay silent at best—or actually AGREE with the white supremacist position on racial justice cases at worst! Men who, in their desire to pretend as if the playing fields are equal and colorblind across the board, carve out a niche for themselves in public office or private financial handouts from GOP benefactors. 

Daniel Cameron has shown time and again that he is the latter kind of Black Republican, one who pals around with known racists like media figure Eric Deters—all the while stumping for GOP votes. 

Trump's support was not enough to help Cameron in Kentucky…

But alas, Cameron probably is too young (or obtuse) to remember (or understand) the "Bradley Effect" in politics. This effect was first coined in the early 1980's back when popular Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Tom Bradley ran to become the first governor of California and despite opinion and exit polls showing Bradley in the lead over Republican George Deukmejian, Bradley lost the race in 1982—and the rematch in 1986. 

LA Mayor Tom Bradley circa 1980

While it is too early to tell how much Cameron's skin color played in his defeat this past Tuesday, I submit that it is entirely possible that the "Cameron Effect," one in which a number of Donald Trump loving Republicans in Kentucky voted for the white Democratic incumbent instead of the Black MAGA challenger, could very well be in play. Consider these words from an Associated Press article published earlier this year:

Republican voter Mark Cook stuck with his party in Kentucky’s last election for governor. Next month, he’s leaning toward crossing over to support the Democrat he voted against in 2019, Gov. Andy Beshear. Cook is a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and has only disdain for Democratic President Joe Biden. But Cook views one of the nation’s most closely watched off-year elections through a prism firmly grounded in the Bluegrass State. He thinks Beshear, known to many Kentuckians as much by his first name as his last, has been a good steward of the state’s economy."

Yeah, Hobbs knows, it's "the economy." But is it really, when the economy is humming under President Biden, but the above mentioned MAGA voter has "only disdain" for Democrat Biden, and chose white Democrat Beshears over Black MAGA Cameron?

Well, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's sho nuff a duck, and my logical skills tell me that Black MAGA Cameron lost because there are quite a many white MAGA's who will smile and laugh at his support of systemic white supremacy in public, but won't vote for the Negro to LEAD their system in the privacy of their voting booth.

Lest we forget...