Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus says the GOP must "ask for the sale."
Black Republicans in Georgia are fired up and ready to help bring other African-Americans to the Party. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus met with about two dozen members Thursday for a closed-door "listening session" to discuss ways to diversify, WXIA-TV reports.
"No longer is going to be the day that Democrats can count votes by color," Ashley Bell, a former county commissioner said after the meeting. "The Republican party is going to be out there fighting for every vote in every neighborhood."
Priebus has dubbed the effort the "Growth & Opportunity Project." He believes the GOP's policies and principles are just fine, but the party needs to be more disciplined, understand what issues resonate and spend money year-round delivering its message.
"We have to ask for the sale," he said.
Bruce Levell, a Georgia state party chairman, acknowledges that the party's message delivery needs some work.
"It's hard to attract someone to a party when there are people involved in that party who say mean things," said Levell, who is African-American.
But Democratic state Sen. Vincent Fort isn't buying what Priebus is selling and doesn't think African-Americans will either.
"It isn't just that the African-American community doesn't like how the message is communicated. They understand the policies that Republicans have and they reject them out of hand," Fort said.
BET Politics - Your source for the latest news, photos and videos illuminating key issues and personalities in African-American political life, plus commentary from some of our liveliest voices. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
(Photo: NBC News 11 ALive)
On Facebook
On Twitter
