Posted on 10/29/2002 5:20:32 AM PST by BlackRazor
Minority vote vital in neck-and-neck battle
By John McElhenny / Associated Press
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
BOSTON - Eight days before election day, the candidates for governor appealed to minority voters in an effort to gain a last-minute advantage.
All five candidates for governor attended a forum last night sponsored by the Black Ministerial Alliance on issues that affect urban and minority voters.
Latinos and blacks comprise 12 percent of Massachusetts residents, a constituency that has become more important because of the neck-and-neck battle between Democrat Shannon O'Brien and Republican Mitt Romney.
O'Brien, the state treasurer, said 12 years of Republican rule had harmed the cause of minorities, from failing to give Big Dig contracts to minority businesses to supporting an income tax cuts that harmed social services that benefit poor and urban communities.
"We've heard Republican promises before," O'Brien told the crowd of about 1,300 at the New Covenant Christian Church, in the city's Mattapan neighborhood.
She said as governor, she would reduce the infant mortality rate among minorities, and hire minority staffers to create "an administration that looks like the face of Massachusetts."
But Romney, the former Salt Lake Winter Olympic chief, said Democrats as much to blame as Republicans for lack of progress for minorities over the last decade.
"I know I've been away at the Olympics for a couple of years, but as I recall, the Legislature has been dominated by a couple of Democrats," he said, referring to House Speaker Thomas Finneran and Senate President Thomas Birmingham.
Romney said he would make sure minority businesses have equal opportunities for state government contracts, just as he said he did at the Salt Lake Olympics. He said he would create incentives for more building permits to be issued to create affordable housing for urban residents.
Minority voters in urban areas have been "largely ignored" so far in the campaign because they don't have the money to attract candidates, said Kelley Rice, alliance spokeswoman.
"Candidates tend to show up at fund raisers," Rice said.
Of the Bay State's approximately 6 million residents, nearly 7 percent are Latino and 5.4 percent are black, according to the 2000 census.
But all 12 members of the state's congressional delegation are white, as are all five statewide constitutional officers and all eight members of the Governor's Council. Every mayor in the state is white, too.
Green party candidate Jill Stein, a Harvard-trained medical doctor, said the state should treat minor drug offenses as a public health problem and not a criminal offense. She said the state should pass universal health care, which would help treat drug offenders instead of jailing them.
Libertarian Carla Howell said urban communities could be made safer by eliminating restrictions on gun ownership and allowing residents to defend themselves against criminals.
Independent and Andover resident Barbara Johnson, who admitted she lived in a "lily-white" community, called for reform of the court system that unfairly punishes fathers in child custody cases and said the Washington-area sniper, who faces multiple murder charges in two states, was "abused by the system."
"There was a man abused by the system," she said, noting he had custody of his children taken away from him when his wife divorced him. "He snapped, there's no question."
A new poll yesterday showed O'Brien leading Romney, 41 to 39 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters, conducted by New England Cable News and Harvard University's Institute of Politics from Thursday to Monday, had a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.
Stein was preferred by 5 percent of respondents, while Libertarian Carla Howell and independent Barbara Johnson each received 3 percent.
O'Brien was assailed earlier in the campaign by state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, D-Boston, for not paying enough attention to minority voters. Wilkerson, the Senate's only black member and the state's highest ranking black elected official, later met with O'Brien and endorsed her candidacy.
Romney alienated some urban voters during his unsuccessful 1994 challenge to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy when he referred to Dorchester as "Kennedy country" because of its boarded-up buildings and lack of jobs.
Kennedy capitalized on the remark the next day by attending a parade with the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Boston's mostly black Roxbury section.
Last night's candidates forum came a day before Romney and O'Brien planned to face off in the campaign's final televised debate. Some observers said the debate would be crucial, given the large number of still undecided voters and polls showing Romney and O'Brien running nearly even.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
If you want on or off my poll ping list, let me know!
When a measurement is less than the margin of error it is insignificant. This poll says nothing. The 2% difference in the major parties is insignificant. All this poll really says is that the major parties are close and the rest are far behind.
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