It has been a while since I’ve weighed in here. But I have something I need to get off my chest. First, allow me to be one of the first to admit something nobody wants to admit: I was wrong. I didn’t think Trump could pull off what he did in this election. And so, congratulations to him, and also to those of you who never doubted it. You saw that which was not apparent to me or to several others.
But now I feel the strong need to say what has been on my mind for a while. Long before Trump’s audacious rhetoric, rallies packed with fervor, and tweets that lit up the internet, the GOP had a blueprint for reaching minority voters. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t invented in 2023, or 2024. Go back a few decades, and you’ll find that Reagan and Jack Kemp had already planted the seeds. Their strategy? Think less “Build a beautiful wall” and more “Build opportunity and wealth.”
Jack Kemp was more than just another politician; he was an ex-NFL quarterback turned congressman who believed that economic empowerment was the great equalizer. His vision was straightforward but revolutionary for the time: break the cycle of government dependency and create opportunities for people to own their future. And he didn’t just whisper these ideas in a phone booth. He took them to the streets, addressing minority communities directly with speeches that resonated beyond typical party rhetoric. In a 1979 talk to the International Longshoremen’s Association, Kemp laid down an argument that felt as relevant then as it does now—why minority communities and the GOP shared more than they realized.
Kemp’s advocacy wasn’t just political theater. It was practical, rooted in the realities of his time, when America was wrestling with economic stagnation and social upheaval. He argued that conservative principles—entrepreneurship, lower taxes, deregulation—weren’t just talking points; they were tools that could dismantle barriers holding minority communities back. Reagan picked up on Kemp’s ideas and infused them into his 1980 campaign and his presidency, broadening the Republican platform’s appeal.
Fast forward to Trump’s rise. His 2024 campaign strategy included a surprising plot twist: an uptick in support from Black and Hispanic voters. Some analysts were quick to brand this as an unprecedented shift, a result of Trump’s unique ability to connect through a mix of bravado, policy promises, and a mugshot. But if you know your political history, you know Trump’s outreach to minority groups wasn’t entirely novel, his mugshot notwithstanding. It was the resurgence of Kemp’s vision, tweaked for a different era and amplified by digital media.
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Trump’s messaging, while often polarizing, hit on key themes that Kemp had long-before championed: economic opportunity and self-sufficiency. During his first administration, Trump pointed to job growth stats, touted the benefits of deregulation, and pushed Opportunity Zones—policies that echo Kemp’s urban revitalization agenda. Kemp believed that America’s inner cities, neglected by decades of failed policies, needed incentives for investment that would spark real, sustainable growth. Sound familiar? Trump’s version has different packaging, but the song remains the same.
Let’s not forget Reagan’s role here, either. Reagan understood that the GOP needed to transcend policy wonkiness and connect on cultural and moral grounds. He and Kemp were keenly aware that many minority communities valued faith, family, and hard work. This cultural alignment wasn’t a sidebar; it was central to their outreach. They saw these shared values as the glue that could bond the GOP to minority voters in a way that felt authentic and long-lasting. Trump, for all his idiosyncrasies, also tapped into these sentiments with his pitches on economic freedom and criminal justice reform.
Now, back to Kemp’s original vision. He didn’t just want minority outreach to be an election-year gimmick. For him, it was about creating a long-term coalition grounded in respect and shared goals. Kemp’s view was that the GOP could be the party that lifted people up—not by expanding welfare but by expanding entrepreneurship. He believed that if people saw that the GOP’s version of economic growth and personal responsibility matched their own aspirations, they wouldn’t just be voters; they’d be champions of the party’s message.
So, here we are, decades later, looking at a political playbook that had been chronically underutilized, gathering dust in the corners of conservative history until Trump dusted it off, opened it up, and took seriously what was written on the pages. Kemp and Reagan showed that minority outreach, when rooted in real policy and cultural respect, wasn’t just good politics—it was sustainable politics.
Trump’s foray into this space was bold, often brash, but not entirely new. It was a modern echo of Kemp’s and Reagan’s legacies. The GOP’s challenge today? To stop treating minority outreach as a seasonal effort and start treating it as a core principle. The blueprint is there, ready and waiting. The question is, will today’s Republican leaders in Congress commit to building on it, or will they let it fade into political history as a missed opportunity?
Kemp’s legacy tells us one thing clearly: if you want to reach people, meet them where they are—not with slogans but with solutions. Trump’s campaign brought the approach back into the spotlight, but to truly resonate, the GOP needs to move beyond momentary flashes of outreach and build a bridge for the long haul. The path is there, mapped out by Kemp’s “big tent” vision. It’s up to the party to walk it.
