Philadelphia isn’t known for being kind to Republicans and the City has shown little-to-no brotherly love towards Mr. Donald Trump.
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A historic scene played out inside a West Philadelphia charter school four years ago in May during the presidential election that put Democratic incumbent Mr. Barack Obama, who in 2007 when he first campaigned for the presidency was an unknown State Senator from Chicago, against former Massachusetts Governor Mr. Mitt Romney, a Republican who has made his presence known in this year’s race by becoming among the more prominent anti-Trump voices and a failed recruiter for an independent candidate to challenge Mr. Donald Trump and Mrs. Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Romney’s huge tour bus was parked outside Universal Bluford Charter School at 5720 Media Street while the candidate himself was inside the building with legendary Philadelphia songwriter Mr. Kenney Gamble, who founded the non-profit which runs several Universal Charter Schools. It was a sight to see: the world-renowned music mogul who created the Philadelphia sound but who never was employed as an educator and the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, who doesn’t think class size matters, participating in a round-table discussion about education reform.
Outside the school another newsworthy scene was forming: Anti-Romney protesters were gathering on the street corner and awaiting then Philadelphia Mayor Mr. Michael A. Nutter, who’s now a CNN political commentator, and District Attorney Mr. Seth Williams. When the two arrived, with body language suggesting they weren’t the least bit excited about Mr. Romney’s visit to a slice of urban America, they pointed out that he has no education platform to stand on and praised Mr. Obama, who Mr. Nutter didn’t initially support in 2008, as a qualified leader.
Mr. Romney not only was defeated in 2012 by Mr. Obama, but out of Philadelphia’s 59 precincts, he gained not a single vote. And in 2008, 57 divisions in Philadelphia returned zero-votes for then-GOP nominee, Arizona Senator Mr. John McCain, according to CBS News, who also reported that in 2004, five Philadelphia divisions “shut out former President George W. Bush entirely.”
This history explains the present: Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, hasn’t once campaigned in Philadelphia, a Democrat-heavy city that in less than a month will host the Democratic National Convention. But campaigning in Philadelphia would makes sense for Mr. Trump, given his plan to convert Democrats in the General Election, particularly the white males who rallied behind Mr. Bernie Sanders and who oppose a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Mr. Trump tried to visit a city like Philadelphia: Chicago, which is bigger and equally pro-Democrat. The March rally there was cancelled as a result of growing safety concerns – many protesters had infiltrated the event and were planning to disrupt while other angry protesters picketed outside and clashed with Mr. Trump’s supporters – and a riot ensued; five people were arrested and two police officers hurt. The rally was so infamous, and so volatile, that it earned its own Wikipedia page.
Black Lives Matter protester Mr. Asa Khalif, who has confirmed to me that he and his comrades will be protesting outside the DNC in July, told me days after the Chicago incident that if Mr. Trump came to Philly, a similar scene would play out. Mr. Nutter, months before his second and final term as Mayor of Philadelphia came to an end, said he’d like to ban Mr. Trump from the City and, when I asked Mr. Nutter about Mr. Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country, called him an “asshole.”
At one point, Mr. Milton Street, a former 2015 Philadelphia Mayoral candidate who’s often the butt of many jokes, said he was attempting to lure Mr. Trump to the City with a rally in his name to focus on inner-city violence, among other things. PhillyVoice.com reports that Gtown Radio host Mr. Ed Feldman is hoping to get “City Hall’s support to block a Trump rally in Philadelphia as a public safety concern.”
To win 100 percent of the black vote, which Mr. Trump’s campaign and surrogates said he could do, Philadelphia has to be in play. To convert Democrats to into Trump supporters, an event during the DNC weekend would be a start, and very Trump-like, but not even that is in the pipeline of things to do. It appears that Mr. Trump has written off Philadelphia as unwinnable; as too hostile; as too much of a challenge; and as too anti-Trump and pro-Democrat.
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