The National Rifle Association has signed up “a group of new, young and very diverse commentators” to help spread the gun rights message. Today they unveiled the first one, Colion Noir, in an ad on NRA News. Mr. Noir is well known on YouTube and Twitter (@MrColionNoir) as a pro-gun guy. Here is the ad, in which Noir criticizes the Obama administration:
I find the ad particularly interesting in the context of ongoing debate over how Republicans and conservatives can better appeal to minority voters. How, exactly, can we overcome the press’s “Democrat good, Republican bad” mantra? Perhaps the best course is to make progress one issue at a time. I don’t know whether Mr. Noir is a conservative; based on the NRA ad, I would say probably not. But he is with most conservatives on gun rights and likely would vote for conservative candidates–some of them, anyway–on the basis of that issue.
There are a number of other issues on which many minority voters agree with Republicans. School choice is one that is often mentioned, but there are plenty of others. Perhaps the NRA’s approach could be a model. Maybe making common cause with minority spokesmen and voters who are with us on particular issues could help to break through the monolithic perceptions that the Democrats and their allies in the press foster. And maybe minority voters who have seen that they share specific ideas and values with Republicans will be more open to the broader conservative principles of free enterprise and limited government.
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