I have repeatedly heard many of the talking heads in Washington, D.C. and the Republican establishment accuses Donald Trump and his presidential campaign of engaging in a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. I agree with them.
Having received my undergraduate degree from Oral Roberts University in tax accounting, let’s define what is a hostile takeover.
According to Investopedia, “a hostile takeover is the acquisition of one company (called the target company) by another (called the acquirer) that is accomplished not by coming to an agreement with the target company’s management, but by going directly to the company’s shareholders or fighting to replace management in order to get the acquisition approved.”
Investopedia continues, “the key characteristic of a hostile takeover is that the target company’s management does not want the deal to go through.”
Typically a company is targeted for a hostile takeover when their assets are considered to be undervalued. Trump sees the Black community as an undervalued asset within the Republican Party.
Unfortunately, many in the party see no value in the Black community because they don’t think they will ever vote Republican. These are the consultants that go from one losing campaign to another, doing the same thing, and wonder why they never win an election.
In 2016, you still have people in the party that believe if you seek the Black vote it will alienate White voters, therefore they should ignore the Black vote.
Trump sees the Republican Party and the Black vote as an undervalued asset and its management totally incompetent. He is right on both counts.
The Republican Party, as currently constituted, is the party of old White men. Trump sees a great opportunity to expand the party’s market share by cultivating substantial relations with the Black and Hispanic communities, not just with words, but also by his actions.
Trump’s national spokesman is a Black female; his state director in North Carolina is a Black male. No other presidential campaign or party institution has Black staffers in such a position. Trump has publically stated his goal of getting at least 25 percent of the Black vote. No other presidential campaign or party institution has made such a goal.
The Republican Party will continue to be an undervalued asset as long as they hire consultants who go from losing campaign to losing campaigns.
We have a national convention coming up in July, but where are the Black staffers who have decision making powers? Where are the Black delegates? Where are the Black vendors? Will there be any Black entertainment?
Yes, Trump does say some incendiary things and can be quite impolitic at times. But like anyone who is thrust from high school to the NBA, there will be some growing pains and many unforced errors (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant).
One way of trying to prevent a hostile takeover is by using a poison pill. The purpose of the poison pill is to prevent the takeover from ever happening.
Marco Rubio said, “Trump can’t win the general election.” Nebraska’s United States Senator Ben Sasse said, “I will never vote for Trump.” Defeated campaign staffers constantly go on TV and talk about how Trump can’t beat Hillary or he will never get the female vote, etc.
They don’t really believe that, but this is the poison pill that the establishment is putting up because they can’t fathom the idea of an outsider like Trump becoming president and they have little to no access to the inner circle.
Republicans have spoken out more on racial issues during the past two weeks than they have in my entire time as a Republican; not because they are so concerned about racism, but because they think it will hurt Trump’s candidacy.
The shareholders of the party (Republican voters) have no faith in the current management (congressional leaders, the consultant class, Republican TV pundits, etc.) so they have told the establishment that they strongly support a hostile takeover (by Trump).
They have made this perfectly clear with their vote. Those opposed to Trump’s takeover have spent north of $ 30 million in just two weeks to try to damage Trump before the Florida and Ohio elections last week; but Trump still won four out of five states.
The shareholders want new management and they want Trump to lead the team. The shareholders have repeatedly told the current management that they don’t want amnesty for illegals, they don’t want these trade deals, they don’t want continued increases in government spending; but the current management told the shareholders to sit down and shut up, thus the rise of Trump.
Hostile takeovers usually catch management by surprise because they have gotten complacent, lazy, and comfortable; thus making them out of touch with their shareholders.
Clearly, the Republican establishment caused this problem and now they are trying to stop the takeover from happening. Well, it’s too little too late and they will be forced to accept the inevitable.
Raynard Jackson is Founder and Chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party that focuses on the Black entrepreneur. Learn more information about BAFBF at www.bafbf.org.
