By Al Waisman, aka, the Conservative Jew:
Although she was once considered an up and coming superstar for the GOP, Mia Love has now taken to publicly attacking the Republican Party, and even President Trump for her own miscalculations and mistakes which led to her loss in her bid for congressional re-election during these 2018 midterm elections.
The Washington Examiner is reporting:
“Having lost her re-election bid, Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, is unloading on the Republican Party and its leader, chiding President Trump for alienating women and minorities and warning that an ingrained tone deafness is dragging down the GOP.
Love said in an interview this week with the Washington Examiner she is proud of supporting legislation that boosted economic growth. But the only black Republican woman in Congress, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said voters want more than a job; they want to feel valued. Republican pleading that policy outweighs rhetoric is not only off-base, Love said, it’s interpreted as patronizing by women and minorities.
“So why do they stay with Democrats? I think it’s because they feel like they have a home — or Democrats make them feel like they have a home,” Love said. “I’ve said this to my colleagues, we need to do a better job than just talking about how great our policies are, we need to actually let people know that we care. They need to like Republicans.”
The Democrats gained 40 House seats in November, capturing the majority on the strength of a suburban revolt fueled by a desire — especially among women — to put a check on Trump. Love, who holds a suburban Salt Lake City seat, was swept away by this high blue tide. Trump publicly lashed out at her the day after the election, apparently feeling scorned. “Mia Love gave me no love and she lost,” he said.
Now free of political constraints, Love, 42, is opening up about the challenges facing Republicans at a time when the party is dominated by Trump and members of Congress who are mostly white and mostly men.
Many Republicans in Congress, and many GOP voters, argue that results, not rhetoric, are what matter. The economy is booming, unemployment is at historic lows, including for African-Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic minorities, and wages are on the rise. That is more important, say these Republicans, than Trump’s periodic outbursts on social media, or his tongue lashing of political opponents or those inside the GOP he has deemed disloyal.
Love disagrees, and she points to the midterm elections as evidence. Republicans gained two Senate seats, but the party lost more than three-dozen House seats primarily in suburban and exurban districts where the economy is in great shape and growing. That has everything to do with Trump’s behavior — and that her colleagues continue to dismiss the anxiety and disgust it engenders in so many of those voters, she believes.
“I can get through the language,” Love said of the president’s bluntness. But she added that many can’t, and she said the party has to respond to their concerns. “I just want to make sure that we show people that we care instead of using language that, I think, makes people feel like they can’t trust us.”
Until 2018, Republicans had always performed well with suburban women, especially those who were married. To rebuild its relationship with this cohort, and to begin to forge bonds with minorities, Love said that Republicans should move beyond “transactional” interactions that are based on convincing them to support GOP policies and develop relationships that revolve around emotional connections.
“The messenger actually counts,” she said. “The policies aren’t enough.”
Love recalled her childhood in an attempt to explain why this is so important in dealing with minority communities. The congresswoman said the anecdote was “fundamental” to understanding why Republicans have such a hard time appealing to nonwhites, even though conservative policies are so beneficial to their communities.
“I remember growing up and going over to friends’ homes that didn’t necessarily look like me. And it was always in the back of your mind, if that face that they were putting in front of you is the same face that they had when they were talking to their children when you were out the door — whether it was people that I have dated in high school or friends,” Love said. “You need to feel that somebody really trusts you, that you are really taking them home.”
Love said the Republican Party’s lack of diversity is a problem.
The congresswoman said the GOP would benefit from deploying its small but talented pool of nonwhite members to lead on issues — especially issues important to minority communities. But neither the White House nor the congressional leadership has done so, instead hoarding power among the usual players.
For example, Love wondered why Trump and the administration did not use her, particularly for outreach to African-Americans or as a part of immigration negotiations that started and stalled multiple times over the past two years.
“I don’t know. I would have really liked to have helped them do that and I get the sense that the president didn’t utilize me to help,” Love said when asked if the White House was doing enough to court African-American voters.
Love said that she met with the president after it was reported that he used the term “shithole countries” to describe poor countries with significant immigrant communities in the U.S., imploring him to have her at the table for high-level immigration talks.
“I said: ‘Look! I can help you! When you’re talking immigration, you should probably have me in the room instead of trying to negotiate with Dick Durbin and Bob Goodlatte.'”
Isn’t it odd that she expressed no issue whatsoever with the GOP while she was running the first time as a staunch conservative back in 2014? And isn’t it even odder that she never mentioned any of her issues with the Republican Party while she was a congresswoman who was being lauded by the party and even conservatives as an up and coming star with an extremely bright future ahead of her?
Come now Mia, sour grapes really don’t look good on you.
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