(Gerald Herbert/AP)Deep inside the pages of Harvard University professor Leah Wright Rigueur's 2015 book, "The Loneliness of the Black Republican," the author marks a seemingly momentous shift in modern-day Republican thinking about black voters. Bush had all hired entire teams of consultants with expertise in courting and winning black votes, sought advice about framing conservative policy ideas as solutions to black voters' primary concerns and assembled teams of surrogates, advisers and allies who could help them reach and win black voters. Donald Trump felled candidates with more traditional presidential résumés cognizant of black voters and their political habits. If black voters did tune in to Trump's speech Tuesday, the main takeaway might have been what was missing and what that implied. The speech seemed built on an assumption that black voters are either easily fooled or easily led in new directions.

Source: Washington Post August 17, 2016 20:38 UTC