Want a person of color for president? Vote Republican

If you would like to see a person of color win the White House in 2024, your only choice between the two major political parties is the GOP.

There are currently 13 announced candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, and three announced candidates for the Democratic nomination. Of the GOP candidates, three are Black, two are of Asian-Indian descent, and one is Hispanic. That’s almost half of the 13 announced GOP presidential contenders.

As for Democrats, you only have a choice of three white candidates, all of whom are seniors. Robert F. Kennedy will be 70 years old on election day, Marianne Williamson will be 72, and Joe Biden will be about three weeks shy of 82.

By contrast, most of the GOP presidential candidates of color are (relatively) young. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is 57, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd is 45, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is 51, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is 37, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is 45. Talk show host Larry Elder, 71, is the only senior among the GOP presidential candidates of color.

Moreover, the three Democratic presidential candidates are wealthy. Kennedy was born into wealth and privilege. Williamson, after an early bohemian lifestyle, got wealthy by writing a number of bestselling books. As for Biden, while he likes to boast of his working-class beginnings, he has made a relatively cushy salary in his roughly 45 years in government — from the time he entered the House of Representatives in 1971, then the Senate, and finally the White House as vice president in 2009. And, of course, earning the president’s salary since January 2021.

But did his government job make him wealthy? The mainstream media didn’t seem interested until last week, with the release of a WhatsApp text that came from his son Hunter, implying that “the big guy” knew about, and may have benefited from, some of Hunter’s questionable gains from foreign sources.

How ironic! Progressives, along with the media, like to portray the Democrats as the party of the future, appealing to younger, more diverse, inclusive and progressively aligned voters.

Yet Democrats’ three presidential candidates are all white seniors, with the most likely Democratic nominee being the oldest president in American history. Among the six Republican candidates of color, the average age is 51 (dropping to 47 if we set aside Larry Elder’s extreme longshot candidacy).

Of course, only one person can be elected president. So most or all the GOP candidates of color will be disappointed. However, one of them might be tapped for the vice presidential slot, and several might be nominated to a cabinet position.

Williamson’s candidacy seems to be little more than an exercise in vanity. Kennedy is actually doing better than many thought, with some 15 percent support, according to The Hill. But unless something unexpected happens to Biden — which may, given his age and apparent health challenges ­— he will be the Democratic nominee.

As far as Republicans, Scott and Haley probably provide the best chance for a person of color winning the GOP presidential nomination. But Ramaswamy has run a surprisingly effective campaign so far. Hurd has only just jumped in, but he was a very popular Republican member of Congress. Even so, all of them have a hill to climb to top Donald Trump and DeSantis.

The point is, even if you take out the candidates who have little chance of winning the nomination, the GOP still provides several options for someone who wants to support a person of color for president.

For Democrats, they only have Biden, though he will bring with him a person of color, Vice President Kamala Harris. Of course, it’s anybody’s guess whether she adds to or detracts from the ticket, considering her low poll numbers.

But the contrast makes it very hard for Democrats, and especially Biden, to paint Republicans as racists, or even white supremacists, who want to disenfranchise the poor and people of color. Though Democrats keep trying, including former President Barack Obama.

And it raises an important question: If the GOP is the racist party of exclusion that Biden and many Democrats claim, why do so many successful people of color belong to the GOP, eager to be the party’s face of the future?

Merrill Matthews is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @MerrillMatthews.