In the backroom of a popular Mexican restaurant in Chester County’s mushroom capital of Kennett Square, standing in front of florid Mexican folk paintings, a faux red-tile roof, and a half-finished Corona, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta held court for 20 minutes to explain why Pennsylvania Democrats should pick him, a 31-year-old North Philadelphian with a surname forged in 1960s Black radicalism, as their U.S. Senate nominee.
About 20 folks sated by chips and salsa gave their rapt attention as Kenyatta paid little mind to the political horse race that still pegs him as a long shot. Instead, he gave an animated master class on how progressive ideas could mean opportunity and better schools for rising working-class people like Kennett Square’s Latino community — avoiding the policy-wonk jargon that sometimes weighs down his fellow Democrats.
Kenyatta said voters simply want to “look your child or your grandchild in the face and know with a level of certainty their life is going to be a little bit better than yours was, because they got every opportunity and every chance.”
