COLORED:...Republicans & The 2024 Candidate Field...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | It's a crowded field somewhat full of dark-skinned people. No, not the Democratic Party's presidential contenders in the 2024 election. Republicans! Sho'nuff!! Its contender field this cycle is not just about Donald J. Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Nimarata "Nikki" Haley is in there (shown in photo above).

So is Texan Will Hurd. And fellow African-American Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Vivek Ramaswamy. Sure.

Try Francis Suarez, the Cuban-American. Him, too.

But don't look for Republicans to crow about its diversity inclusion. They're not doing it, and they won't between now and next November. Trump and DeSantis are but two of the candidates. There are nine others. So far.

This tidbit from politico.com: [ The Republican Party is now up to a half dozen candidates of color seeking the GOP nomination, surpassing the previous record of four set during the 2016 cycle. But in the modern GOP - a party supercharged by anti-"woke" culture wars and whose presidential candidates lean heavily on white voters - it’s better left unsaid.

As Ramaswamy senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin put it, her candidate "feels the shade of melanin doesn’t matter as Americans if that’s all there is." ]

You think?

I call malarkey. Republicans - the real ones, not the wannabes - do care about skin-color and they will not nominate a non-white. Bank it, Maria. Republicans talk a good "all-American" ballgame, but their actions are another. A cursory review of the party's doings in even the last 20 years will tell you that. Look farther back, like the last two centuries, and get even more confirmation.

What this presidential candidate field tells me is that announcing a candidacy is one thing and reality is another. Still, it's at least humorous to see and hear some Republicans dare to throw out the old diversity angle. They'll do it if it's about scoring points against Democrats, who, so far, have only white people in their candidate field (President Joe Biden, the anti-vaxx weirdo Robert F. Kennedy Jr and a woman named Williamson with about as much of a chance as, well...).

For Democrats, that's about incumbency, so, then, quite expected.

One thing to expect (perhaps, no promises): Republican presidential debates with the full field of candidates on stage. Both former South Carolina governor Haley and entrepreneur Ramaswamy are of India descent. Ex-Congressman Hurd (shown in photo above, at left) and U.S. Senator from South Carolina Scott are black. Miami Mayor Suarez is Hispanic. Standing there next to German-American Trump and Italian-American DeSantis. 

Yeah, that star-spangled color of the great, fake American Dream...

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