North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt has been nominated by President Obama to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency (am I the only one who is upset that something that far outside the scope of the Constitution exists…?) setting up a special election for his seat in a majority minority district.
Looks like Congressman Watt’s constituents won’t be missing out. He hasn’t been active on Twitter since last September.
Congratulations to Forsyth Technical Community College for receiving the U.S. Department of Labor's Trade… http://t.co/7n6u524I
— Congressman Mel Watt (@MelWattNC12) September 27, 2012
Don’t the people of the district deserve someone who at least pretends to take advantage of modern social media to stay in touch?
While Democrat candidates area lining up in this district with a Partisan Voting Index of D+26, a Republican Candidate has yet to be named.
This is certainly a seat that is among the longest of long shots for anyone with an R by their name, but it isn’t always about winning an individual district. Putting together statewide and National winning coalitions is about getting to 50%+1.
Reaching out, showing the flag, and starting a conversation with urban minorities in an off-year special election without all the noise from National races might go a long way towards eating into the 92-8 advantage Democrats currently enjoy among African American voters. Trends do not change overnight, but one seat and one election at a time.
The GOP should look for a candidate who will put forth the same message as State Sen. Guillory of Louisiana.
Then again, what do I know? Certainly a college drop-out like me cannot be as smart as all those proposing that amnesty is the way in which the Republicans can win back the Hispanic vote. It’s not like Senator Rubio, a chief proponent of the recent iteration of amnesty, is currently enjoying the same poll numbers among Hispanic voters as rich-white-guy Mitt Romney. Oh…wait.
Another reason it’s important to show up? Every once in a while, lightening strikes. The Democrats could always make the mistake of nominating another William Jefferson with bribe money stashed in his freezer.
In the immortal words of Woody Allen, “eighty percent of success is just showing up”.
