GOP Chairman Hosts NYC “Urban Listening Tour” with Rev. A.R. Bernard

Brooklyn mega-church Pastor and registered Republican Mayoral interest, Rev. A.R. Bernard, hosted GOP National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus at his Brooklyn based church on Monday afternoon, following a discussion on the future of the GOP, and its real efforts towards diversifying the Republican Party.

A.R. Bernard, who serves as Senior Pastor to Christian Cultural Center, located in the heart of Brooklyn, solicited Republican leaders on Monday to share their insight about where the Republican Party currently is, where it’s going and why so many minorities have overtime vacated the party of Lincoln. Chairman Reince Preibus who recently launched his, “Growth and Opportunity Project”, an initiative to enhance the GOP’s efforts in urban neighborhoods, explained his vision for growing the size of the Republican movement’s social tent, specifically targeting minorities. Priebus, who was recently re-elected as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, faces the major tasks of trying to save a conservative ideology slowly fading in the shadows of the Obama administration.

As for Bernard’s own candidacy as a Republican, critics believe that he would further add diversity to an already non-diverse base of Republican primary contenders that includes Gristedes billionaire-mogul John Catsimatidis, Doe Fund President George McDonald, former MTA Chairman Joe Lhota, and, although running as an independent, former conservative Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr., whose own Hispanic base could galvanize enough votes to become the next Mayor of Gotham.

Monday’s press conference also featured New York State Republican Chairman Ed F. Cox, who spoke highly about Bernard’s conservative effort to highlight the GOP’s presence surrounding inner-city neighborhoods. Cox said the party has to do a better job of appealing to minorities on the simple issues, what he called, “bread and butter”. He reminded the audience that Republicans have taken the lead championing school choice, charter schools, and parental choice in failing school districts. Furthermore, the RNC and Empire State Chairman briefly discussed the importance of retail politics, by re-branding, and re-building a constituency that has faltered since the final days of the Bush Presidency. One caveat is the constant reminder by conservatives to solely focus on what Republicans did in the past, rather than discuss relevant issues of the day: healthcare, massive unemployment and education reform.

Although Republican leaders coming to ‘BK’ will be viewed as a good deed, the challenge for Bernard and Priebus will be the ability for the RNC’s visit to Brooklyn to not appear as nothing more than a political tactic or means to quickly garner support for the upcoming 2016 Presidential race. “As we’ve traveled the country the past few months, we’ve heard over and over that the Republican Party needs to welcome new voters into the fold,” said RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. This commentary further explains the GOP’s serious push towards being inclusive and dedicating itself towards real minority outreach; not just the hiring of a few black or Latino staffers, but actually connecting with everyday voters.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brandon Brice is a graduate of Howard University, Rutgers University’s Graduate Eagleton Institute of Politics and is currently completing his studies at Columbia University. Brandon is a political contributor for HipHopRepublican.com, and is a conservative blogger/freelance writer for the Washington Times.