Former Florida Rep. Allen West tells Newsmax that the voter turnout among the black community wasn't what the Democrats were hoping for because blacks aren't as interested in midterm elections, and because they rejected the heinous tactics of the Democratic Party.
"It's very hard to get the black community out for the midterm election cycle," West told Ed Berliner on "MidPoint" on
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
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"Of course, the last two presidential election cycles, when you had Barack Obama on the top of the ticket, you had an incredible historical turnout because of the 'first black president' and his re-election," he explained.
But midterm election cycles are different — "they're really more so aimed towards those that understand the legislative, inside baseball process of the issues, and that's not something that is really appealing to the black community as a whole," he said.
"But also, you're starting to see a black community that is rejecting these last-minute, desperate pleas and some of the incredible, heinous, nefarious, intimidation, coercion — like you saw some of these fliers invoking images of lynchings, and the Georgia Democrat Party sending out fliers using the images from Ferguson, Missouri," he added.
The Florida Republican said that also at play is the work of the Republican Party "under Reince Priebus, [who] really has made an effort to get into the black community, not just with outreach but constant contact, communication and a policy of inclusiveness."
By contrast, West contends that when "you look at the history of the Democrat Party . . . it's always been about fear-mongering, intimidating the voters, coercion."
"They're the party of segregation, they're the party of the Ku Klux Klan, they're the party of Jim Crowe," he explained. "They're the party of poll taxes and literacy tests and things of this nature."
"They continue to do it except with a different type of tactic in the 21st century," he said.
"The Republicans have always tried to run on issues and getting people to understand the policies, and really they have not been successful in connecting with the heart or the image or the emotional aspect of it, which is where the Democrats have been very successful," he added.
However, "in this midterm election cycle, the Democrats went absolutely too far in what they did."
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