In retrospect, Barack Obamas historic election as president in 2008 and his reelection in 2012 papered over swelling signs of a profound political rejiggeringin North Carolina and in Robeson County in particular. In 2010, for the first time in more than a century, Republicans took control of the state Legislature up in Raleigh. Down here by the South Carolina border, in the sandhills on the banks of the blackwater Lumber River, the margins in more races, too, suggested change was afoot.
Richard Burr had gotten 38 percent of the vote in Robeson when he was elected to the Senate in 2004. Six years later he got 46 percent. Pat McCrory, partly because of a Lumbee English teacher he had had in high school near Greensboro, he told me, prioritized the county in his 2008 run for governor. He got 28 percent of the vote in Robeson that year and lost. In 2012, when he ran again, he got 38 percent in Robesonand won. Most residual stigma of voting Republican receded, and a burgeoning base of politically engaged, young Lumbee GOP strivers did their part. We raised, I dont know, $75,000 at my home, Pembroke insurance agent Jarette Sampson told me, for a Republican governor candidate than went on to winat which point McCrory hired a regional field director who had just graduated with a degree in political science from UNCP: Jarrod Lowery.
Then came 2016. Thanks to his surging numbers from Lumbee precincts, Trump did something no Republican presidential candidate had done in Robeson County since Richard Nixon did it in 1972. With just shy of 51 percent of the vote, Trump won here.
The reason Robeson County voted Republican is the Native American population voted Republican, Lowery told Daniel Allott, who wrote a book called On the Road in Trumps Americain which Allott pegged Robeson as one of the nine counties that were crucial to understanding the 2016 election. Those on the other side of the divide obviously couldnt help but notice as well. John McNeill, the former head of the county Democratic Party, recalled when we talked last week being at the polls in 2016 and running into a Lumbee man who told him he had never voted. But he was voting now. Im here, McNeill remembered the man saying, because of Trump. The trend toward red, though, didnt end with Trump. Most notably, Danny Britt, a Lumberton attorney and a JAG Corps vet, became the first Republican since Reconstruction to win the areas state Senate seat.
In 2018, in the fraud-marred race for North Carolinas 9th Congressional District, which stretches from the edge of Charlotte east and includes all of Robeson, Dan McCready overperformed as a Democratwinning the county with 56.4 percent of the vote. In the special election not quite a year later, he still won the countythis time, though, with barely more than 50 percent.
The first thing to understand about Robeson County and eastern North Carolina more broadly is I dont think theres any place in the country where politicians have left people behind as much as they have there.
Dan McCready
The biggest thing is to actually show up, McCready told me this week. The first thing to understand about Robeson County and eastern North Carolina more broadly is, I dont think theres any place in the country where politicians have left people behind as much as they have there. Folks are struggling with not just health care costs, schools, jobs, many of which were lost because of NAFTA and bad trade dealstheyre not getting the disaster relief that they were promised by politicians in both Washington and Raleigh. And then, of course, the Lumbee tribe has faced one of the greatest injustices in our entire country, which is a lack of full federal recognition.
Even so, McCready lost in 2019 to Dan Bishop, and one reason was a sag in support from the Lumbee. The Lumbee are culturally conservative, church-going and entrepreneurial. And more and more of us are distressed by the leftward lurch of the Democratic Party, Lowery wrote in an op-ed in the wake of the results. He cited his own precinct, the 35th, where McCreadys share of the vote dropped from 53 percent to 39a peek at a hardening of support in the community for Trump and evidence that social-issues-centered messaging painting all Democrats as radicals was working.
It was not lost on the Trump 2020 operation.
All the way back in early 2017, Paul Shumaker, one of the states top Republican consultants, told me, Trumps aides were consumedShumakers wordwith the chance they saw to expand their vote in Robeson County. The Trump White House was more engaged on North Carolina, their political operations, than any point in time, of any president Id worked with, any Republican president I had worked with, in the past, said Shumaker, who has been working in politics in the state since Ronald Reagan was president. They had a political strategy on the reelect to improve their vote performance in those outlying areas. The campaign dispatched some of its most prominent surrogatesDonald Trump Jr., North Carolina-born and bred Lara Trumpnot just to close-but-not-quite cities like Wilmington and Fayetteville but to Robeson proper.
They werent the only ones who sniffed opportunity. The Lumbees, by most accounts politically savvy and canny, responded in kind.
There was many, many conversations about getting the president to come to Robeson County, Lowery told me.
Wed been working on it a year, probably a year, really trying to get him, Sampson said. We were trying to get him here in 2019, but it just never lined up right. And then when we got in that tight electionpolls in the state heading toward Election Day almost always showed Trump and Biden tangled in a toss-upthen it became about the numbers, and it made it a little easier. But by that time, wed make relationships with a lot of people around his organization.
I personally had a hand in getting the president to come down here, Lowery said, describing a conversation he had with Billy Kirkland, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. I was, like, Look, you have an opportunity here. I said, Lumbee people are voting more Republican anyway, but you need those numbers. I told him, I said, Look, you could win by 1,700, or you could win by 8,000. Its your choice.
Knowing their clout and leveraging it, Lowery, Sampson and other Lumbees lobbied for more than merely a rally. Trump wasnt the first politician to come out for federal recognition for the tribefar from it. Republican senators from the state have been supportive for years. So have House members from both parties who represent Robeson and areas around it. The House sponsor of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act is a DemocratG.K. Butterfield from the states 1st Congressional District. Trump wasnt even the first 2020 presidential candidate to come out for itBiden had done it two weeks earlier. But Trump did it the most publicly.
He already had the Native American vote. But what he may have done with coming here and announcing his support for the federal recognition is bring some voters off the couch.
Mark Locklear
The Lumbee tribe has been fighting for federal recognition for more than a century, the president said October 21 at a rally in Gastonia, west of Charlotte. When I am reelected I will work with Congress, he said, on the Lumbee Recognition Act, and well get it done.
Three days later Trump was in Lumberton, and Lowery was an opening-act speaker at the rally at the county fairgrounds. They said, Sir, you have to be here with the Lumbee tribe, Trump said. I said, Explain to me about the Lumbee tribe. He reiterated his pledge: When Im reelected The heavily Lumbee crowd clapped, cheered and banged on drums.
Off the charts, McNeill, the former county Democratic boss, said when I asked what the rally did to drive up the Trump vote in Robeson.
He already had the Native American vote, said Mark Locklear, a self-employed investigator, precinct captain who lives in Prospect, and pro-gun, pro-life Democrat who voted for Trump in 2016 (but not in 2020 due to his bullying behavior and response to the pandemic). But what he may have done, with coming here and announcing his support for the federal recognition, is bring some voters off the couch.
At Fullers restaurant, as we polished off cups of banana pudding, Lowery was nearly giddy recounting the rallies. We were like, Oh, wow, he said. The president just endorsed us. The first sitting president to actually say it.
Read the original here:
How Trump Won One of America's Most Diverse Counties By a Lot - POLITICO
- 6 Things New York Attorneys Need To Know About The New Surrogacy Law - Above the Law - February 16th, 2021
- Is Scarlet Witch Really In Control? Every Theory | Screen Rant - Screen Rant - February 11th, 2021
- The third wave that pushed Irish hospitals to the brink - RTE.ie - February 11th, 2021
- Candidates, Experts Discuss Potential Positives and Pitfalls of Ranked-Choice Voting Amid New York City Implementation - Gotham Gazette - February 4th, 2021
- One Year Of Fight Against Coronavirus, Has India Passed Its Peak? What To Expect Now, Dr Randeep Guleria Explains | Coronavirus Outbreak - Swachh... - February 4th, 2021
- Surrogacy reform is spreading in the rich world - The Economist - January 31st, 2021
- As teams prepare for Super Bowl Sunday, CDC says NFL's COVID-19 mitigation strategies are effective - Yahoo! Voices - January 31st, 2021
- The unregulated, All-Star-driven world of open enrollment loopholes in Texas high school football - The Dallas Morning News - January 15th, 2021
- The Twitter presidency is over. Or is it? - Vox.com - January 15th, 2021
- Peaceful transition of power is the American dream right now - Modern Diplomacy - December 28th, 2020
- News industry must seize opportunity restore trust | TheHill - The Hill - December 18th, 2020
- The GOP Hopes This Issue Will Tarnish Warnock's Pastor Image - The Daily Beast - December 18th, 2020
- The real US failure when it comes to globalization is not having a 21st century, social safety net - The Times of India Blog - December 18th, 2020
- Prevent your guacamole from browning with this airtight container - Yahoo! Voices - December 18th, 2020
- Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton holding off on wedding due to COVID-19 - Yahoo News Canada - December 14th, 2020
- Trump May Be Leaving, But 'Fake News' is a Part of All Our Lives Now | Opinion - Newsweek - November 30th, 2020
- Concerns over Thanksgiving gatherings continue as U.S. marks deadliest day in pandemic in months - Yahoo News - November 30th, 2020
- Will Biden administration be a repeat of Obama years? - Yahoo News - November 30th, 2020
- Fontana Residents 'Fed Up' With Possible Thanksgiving Day Planned Power Outages - Yahoo News - November 30th, 2020
- The Next Administration Should Bring the Shadow Wars into the Light - Defense One - November 26th, 2020
- Dan and Ray's traditional Thanksgiving meal will be curbside - Yahoo News - November 26th, 2020
- Thanksgiving 2020 At Home: Reasons We're Thankful - Yahoo News - November 26th, 2020
- Invisible campaign and the specter of socialism: Why Cuban Americans fell hard for Trump - Tampa Bay Times - November 26th, 2020
- Eagles fans, experts split on what to do with Carson Wentz - Yahoo News - November 26th, 2020
- The Damage Of Trumps International Anti-Abortion Policy Wont Be Easy To Undo - HuffPost - November 26th, 2020
- Painting the town: Murals meet the moment | Oregon ArtsWatch - Oregon ArtsWatch - November 11th, 2020
- Jill Biden: a chance to transform the role of first lady - FRANCE 24 - November 11th, 2020
- The Dem Hid From a Scandal. The Republican Attended Super-Spreader Events. Guess Who Racked up the Votes? - Mother Jones - November 11th, 2020
- Trump probably 'cant steal the election' but here's why you should be 'alarmed' anyway: conservative - AlterNet - November 11th, 2020
- The Trump Era Is Over. Our Leaders Want To Take Us Back To 2015 - Jacobin magazine - November 11th, 2020
- Opinion: The future of Fintech marketing - ETBrandEquity.com - November 11th, 2020
- Biden sleepwalks to the White House - Spectator.co.uk - November 11th, 2020
- Letters to the Editor 11/5/20 | Letters to the Editor | Bend - The Source Weekly - November 5th, 2020
- Florida Democrats Assess What Went Wrong For Biden With Latinos in the State - Newsweek - November 5th, 2020
- Whats at stake in Arizonas 2020 election - Cronkite News - November 5th, 2020
- HOW DUVAL SHAPED PAST ELECTIONS: Why Jacksonville is critical to winning the presidency - FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX - November 5th, 2020
- Jill Biden: A Chance To Transform The Role Of First Lady - NDTV - November 5th, 2020
- Election 2020 Live Blog - 90.5 WESA - November 5th, 2020
- 2020 Watch: Is Biden remaking the Democratic coalition? - Minneapolis Star Tribune - November 1st, 2020
- HOW DUVAL SHAPED PAST ELECTIONS: Why Jacksonville is critical to winning the presidency - The Florida Times-Union - November 1st, 2020
- How Joe Biden May Have Outmaneuvered Donald Trump On Energy, Climate, and the Economic Recovery - TIME - November 1st, 2020
- Presidential race shaping up to be tight in northern Maine - CBC.ca - November 1st, 2020
- Kamala Harris Urges Democrats To Keep Their Foot On The Pedal In Late Texas Visit - Patch.com - November 1st, 2020
- Emo-truthful Trump-Biden 2020: another post-truth election | OUPblog - OUPblog - November 1st, 2020
- Early Voting May Change the Impact of Last Week Blitz Campaigning - WOUB - October 29th, 2020
- Lagging in the Polls, Trump Team Predicts Win Based on 'Enthusiasm' - Newsweek - October 25th, 2020
- Network, GPS Will Be Jammed In Project Convergence 2021 - Breaking Defense - October 25th, 2020
- Surrogate Carrying Twins Shocked When Parents Say They No Longer Want The Babies - BabyGaga - October 25th, 2020
- Biden needs Black voters to turn out better than '16, in Florida and across nation - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - October 25th, 2020
- Trump vs. Biden: Here's how every region of the state plays its part in the race - Detroit Free Press - October 25th, 2020
- Weekly jobless claims fall to 787K | TheHill - The Hill - October 25th, 2020
- Wisconsin Democrats Are Organizing Like Mad. Will It Be Enough? - Vanity Fair - October 25th, 2020
- How Fox News analyst Arnon Mishkin will call the election - Los Angeles Times - October 25th, 2020
- My Wild 2 Weeks Inside the Trump Campaign Bubble - POLITICO - October 25th, 2020
- A burning planet: Why we must learn to live with fire - National Observer - October 25th, 2020
- Will Americans vote against Trump's behavior or for his achievements? | TheHill - The Hill - October 25th, 2020
- Salem 'Witch City' Massachusetts to triple fines over Halloween weekend amid coronavirus pandemic | TheHill - The Hill - October 25th, 2020
- Queensland election: has Palaszczuk helped defeat the politics of gender? - The Guardian - October 25th, 2020
- It's time to end employment discrimination for people with disabilities | TheHill - The Hill - October 25th, 2020
- Akufo-Addo Is The Most Serious Threat To Our Country And Democracy - We Change Him On December 7 Or We Suffer - Modern Ghana - October 25th, 2020
- Trumps top health official lies and says the US is doing as well as the rest of the world on COVID - AlterNet - October 25th, 2020
- Strategist on stimulus: the market has already priced it in - Yahoo Money - October 25th, 2020
- Cooper and Forest clash over masks, schools, and COVID-19 response in NC Governor debate - The Fayetteville Observer - October 16th, 2020
- Trump needs North Carolina in 2020 election, but the swing state is a toss-up - Citizen Times - October 16th, 2020
- 'All hands on deck': Stabenow works to build another blue wave in Michigan - Michigan Advance - October 16th, 2020
- Tom Stevenson In the Grey Zone: Proxy Warfare LRB 22 October 2020 - London Review of Books - October 16th, 2020
- Gentlemen against Trump - The Week - October 16th, 2020
- Battleground state of Wisconsin clashes over Trump and beyond - Anadolu Agency - October 16th, 2020
- Trump barely won Pennsylvania in 2016. His 2020 election may depend on keeping this swing state. - The Times - October 16th, 2020
- Somewhere in Whitehall a defence review is taking place - TheArticle - October 16th, 2020
- Air Force to Test Weapons Swarming Software in October - Air Force Magazine - September 23rd, 2020
- Improvised Mode: The Army Network Evolves In Project Convergence - Breaking Defense - September 23rd, 2020
- Biden Will Beat Expectations in the First Debate - Election Central - September 23rd, 2020
- On the trail: Visits part of Trump push in key battleground state - Concord Monitor - September 21st, 2020
- What's causing Western wildfires and how to stop them | TheHill - The Hill - September 21st, 2020
- Office working was already on the way out, Covid-19 has just hastened its end - iNews - September 21st, 2020
- Putin is about to turn his attention to the American way of life | TheHill - The Hill - September 21st, 2020
- Does the DHS Whistleblower Report Reveal an Election Interference Scandal? - Lawfare - September 21st, 2020
- Obituary of the Supreme Court justice - Sports Grind Entertainment - September 21st, 2020
- Buying power: Author warns democracy is for sale as parties put a price on influence and access bought and sold - The Sunday Post - September 21st, 2020