Posted on 04/30/2006 7:45:45 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
The southern suburbs of Chicago will prove to be pivotal in determining who will be governor of Illinois in the next election. Two of Chicago's most dynamic political figures, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. and state Sen. James Meeks, are spending huge amounts of political capital in an attempt to get Gov. Rod Blagojevich to move in the right direction.
For Congressman Jackson, it is getting the governor to merely live up to his word. The governor said he supports the Jackson proposal for a privately funded airport in unincorporated Will County.
All the governor has to do, according the congressman, is lease the land to ALNAC. The governor's position is he will not do so until there is a consensus in the region. It is not clear how that consensus will be built.
Sen. Meeks wants to see the governor step up to plate and provide the requisite dollars to fund high-quality education in Illinois. Meeks has threatened to launch a run for the governor's mansion if his friend does not do the right thing.
This past week the leader of one of Chicago's mega-churches expressed his displeasure with a recent conversation with the governor. In other words, the governor has placed the ball back in the court of preacher-politician Meeks.
One Chicago-area publisher referred to Meeks as a dynamic blend of church and state reminiscent of the late great Adam Clayton Powell. Powell was a congressman from Harlem and the pastor of the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Powell was repeatedly sent to Congress from his Harlem district and as a result built up enormous seniority and became the chairman of the House Labor and Education Committee. Powell, a prolific legislator, wrote the legislation that led to the famous work-study program which helped millions of students pay for college.
Powell also laid claim to the slogan "black power," saying he used the term long before Stokely Carmichael. The Rev. Sen. James Meeks may be on his way to forging a new black power if he can convince white conservative Christians to join forces with African-Americans in a moral and political crusade to become governor.
Conservative Christians are largely Southern Baptists and are firmly rooted in the Republican camp. Kevin Phillips, the one-time Republican political strategist for Richard Nixon, writes in his latest book, "American Theocracy," that Southern Baptists had grown beyond the point of a regional religion to become a national force. "American Theocracy" is a good book to read over the summer, particularly, if you have read "The Da Vinci Code" or the "Left Behind" series.)
Southern Baptists have become more than the church of the South, but also the church of the nation – or "at least the nation's Washington leadership," Phillips writes in "American Theocracy."
It is the church to which Bill Clinton, Albert Gore, Strom Thurmond, and Newt Gingrich belonged to eight years ago. Whether or not Meeks can garner enough support from conservative Christians in southern Illinois to get elected governor remains to be seen.
He can certainly make life for the current governor interesting if he decides to make the run.
The Meeks candidacy offers challenges for just about every section of the state's population. For African-Americans the challenges is two-fold.
Will blacks be able to overcome inertia and vote in large numbers for a candidate who champions greater funding for education while advocating reduced civil liberties for gays and women when in comes to reproduction?
Second, can blacks relinquish their longstanding relationship, no matter how abusive, with the Democratic Party and gain recognition as an independent force in state politics?
Will Hispanics, who demographically share many characteristics with African-Americans, support Meeks in his effort to get greater funding for education?
For conservative Republicans, the challenge will be to vote for an independent African-American Democrat in order to make a moral and religious point about family values and education.
For the governor and Democratic leadership the challenge is to respond favorably to its most loyal constituency or take the position that African-Americans have nowhere to go politically.
Will liberal Democrats come down on the side of Meeks and pressure the governor to do what Jackson and Meeks call the right thing?
Chicago's southern suburbs will play pivotal role in the drama that will play out in the state between now and November. Hopefully, voters will bone up on the issues and be prepared to make a decision that will have dramatic implications for the future.
David Johnson's "Subject to Change" appears every other week in The Star. Johnson is a professor at South Suburban College in South Holland and a former mayor of Harvey. He may be reached at
djohnson@southsuburbancollege.edu
ILLINOIS PING
The late great Adam Clayton Powell was also censured by Congress and should have gone to jail. He was noted for his Bimini boat runs with young women while drinking Scotch and milk. UGH.
We don't need no steenkin prolific law makers.
Why is it a seperation of church and state issue if a reverend runs for local office, but REVEREND Jackson for President is not?
I think the rule is that, if you're a democrat, then separation of church and state doesn't apply.
If you don't know then I'm not gonna tell you.
On the upside he'll probably prove a distraction to Blago... whether he does any damage is another question.
"U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. and state Sen. James Meeks"
You mean he's a Congressman? No wonder Washington is so botched up!
I choose the Meeks over the Arrogants.
The Meeks shall not inherit Illinois.
Same state Senator/preacher man that had a run in with the police during a routine traffic stop and tried to intimidate the policeman, yeah he has a chance in his own mind.</p>
I would sooner vote for Meeks than either Toopinko or Blago.
That one would be a real toss-up, that's for sure. IMHO, Meeks is John Kerry in a minister costume.
Sounds more like varying degrees of administrative ineptitude.
Me? I ain't voting for anyone for governor. No one (yet) meets my (minimum) standard.
That's an ignorant comment that is bound to offend the Bible Presbyterians, Assembly of God, non-denominational mega-curches like Willow Creek, Harvest, Fellowship, New Life, New whatever, plus the many fragmented small fundamentalist groups that cumulatively are larger than any single major group. In short, conservative Christians do not have a Pope .... hey, wait a minute. Can't conservative Catholics be conservative Christians also?
The key will be HOME SCHOOLERS, not a church. Meeks has good rapport with homeschoolers. If Meeks tailors his "education" message to include them, then they will bring along enough of the pro-life, pro-gun conservatives, regardless of church, to make a difference on election day.
Meeks is pro-life and opposes the gay agenda.
I believe Ketchup Boy was pro-life and "anti-gay" at one time too. So was Meeks' mentor Brother Jesse. But I was actually referring to that sense of entitlement that Meeks seems to share with Kerry which the "do you know who I am?" traffic stop illustrates.
You must confusing French Kerry for "The Swimmer".
Prior to 1973, Ted Kennedy called abortion a human rights violation.
Could be; I'll have to check out Ketchup Boy's flip flops again.
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