Posted on 09/09/2001 3:02:13 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The Democratic Party owes a huge debt to black America, and it's about time it started making more than token payments. Black voters are one of its most loyal constituency groups, sometimes to the point of voting against their own interests. And that loyalty has yet to be adequately repaid. No political party should be able to take any voting group for granted.
Florida is a case in point. With the exception of the late Doug Jamerson's unsuccessful bid for the office of education commissioner, Florida Democrats have been unable -- or unwilling -- to rally around a black candidate for statewide office. One of the Democratic candidates for governor in next year's elections is Daryl Jones, a black state senator from Miami. Jones comes across as a political centrist who should be considered a viable contender for his party's nomination. But Democrats -- and much of the press -- don't take his candidacy seriously because . . . well, you know.
Maybe Jones can't be elected governor, but shouldn't he at least be considered a credible prospect for lieutenant governor? It's unlikely, however, that the Democratic nominee for governor, whoever that turns out to be, would take the risk of choosing a black runningmate. Democrats would never say so publicly, but they apparently don't believe Florida is ready to elect a black to statewide office. One way to test that theory is to put more black candidates on the state ballot. It is true that Jones carries some political baggage. His nomination as secretary of the Air Force by former President Bill Clinton was withdrawn in a controversy over his record as an Air Force reserve pilot. But his record as a state senator is respectable. On most issues, Jones is a mainstream politician who probably has more in common with Gov. Jeb Bush than with the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Janet Reno, who became the instant frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination the moment she announced her candidacy last week, is not likely to consider Jones as a runningmate if she wins the primary election. Her reasoning probably would go like this: Both Reno and Jones are from Miami, and Reno needs a more conservative partner to help her win votes in Florida's Panhandle. That is probably a smart political calculation.
But what about former U.S. Rep. Pete Peterson, whose political base is the Panhandle? He is probably Reno's closest rival at this early stage of the campaign. He has accused Gov. Jeb Bush of dividing the state along racial lines -- the least credible of the many charges Democrats will hurl at the Republican incumbent. But will Peterson, if he is his party's nominee, be willing to choose Jones for the No. 2 spot? My guess is that he would not. Too risky.
Let me be clear: I'm not endorsing Jones for governor or lieutenant governor or any other office. I cite his candidacy only to raise a larger question: Why, in the year 2001, have Florida Democrats not cultivated a generation of black candidates to compete for statewide office? The answer is obvious: Florida Democrats know they can take the state's black vote as a gimmie, especially in the wake of last November's disputed presidential vote count in Florida. It's easy to understand why blacks want nothing to do with the Republican Party. Some day, however, Florida Democrats, the party of affirmative action in college admissions, need to be held accountable for their poor record in nurturing and nominating black candidates for statewide office.
There are some 9,000 elected black officials in the United States. Most of them are mayors, city council members, county commissioners and state legislators. There are 39 black members of Congress, all of them in the House of Representatives. That represents major progress, but few blacks have been able to win nomination to statewide offices. In 1984, Doug Wilder, a Virginia Democrat, became the first black to be elected governor since Reconstruction, and no African-American has won a governorship since. In fact, none has been nominated, not even in predominantly Democratic states. A fair question is, why?
The answer may be that Democrats value African-American votes more than they do African-American candidates. This has to change. One of these days Democrats are going to have to live up to their diversity rhetoric, in Florida and the rest of the nation. The party needs to extend its affirmative action commitment to the recruitment of minority candidates. It needs to do what baseball and football scouts do -- find young blacks with political potential and help them develop into major-league players.
If blacks can serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and as secretary of State and White House national security adviser, if they can be elected to the U.S. Senate and serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then surely the two political parties can come up with black candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general and other state offices.
secretary of State: Colin Powell (Appointed by Republican President, George W. Bush)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Clarence Thomas (Appointed By Republican President, George H. Bush)
and White House national security adviser: Condaleeza Rice (Appointed by Republican President, George W. Bush)
Maybe blacks need to rethink being slaves to the Democratic Party
What's so special about the year 2001? Are we supposedly better cultured and somehow more civilized than the nation that put men on the moom and didn't use the words "girlfriend" and "bitch" interchangeably?
That will never happen. This is the same old story of the guy who makes a deal with the devil and then has the nerve to act surprised when he gets screwed over.
Besides, I don't think the Demonrats owe them anything and I get real tired of hearing how society owes every minority person a mansion and a Ferrari. If people are not happy with their standard of living then they need to get off their plump asses and do something tangible about it instead of flocking to the Demonrats and their promises of freebies and shortcuts.
It's really too bad that the people who do get off their duffs and make their lives better are abused by their own people. They're called "Uncle Toms" and "selling out to the man". Intelligence and self-reliance are bad, but sitting on your butt and accepting handouts and special treatment is good and noble. How did people get to be this way?
I do believe many blacks are realizing they have listened to their leaders and it has only benefited their leaders.
Now, as it becomes evident things haven't improved, it also becomes evident that those most likely to respect them
are the ones they have turned their backs on.
I believe they realize the corner they've painted themselves into as hispanic voters are being courted.
The black vote is a known quantity. They've left their political clout rot away.
From : Knock and Drag: Ryan Lizza reveals how Dems got out the black vote
In all-important Florida, black turnout jumped from 10 percent in 1996 to 16 percent this year, even though blacks make up just 13 percent of the voting-age population. In Missouri, another swing state, black turnout jumped seven points from 1996. "Black turnout was astronomical," says Thomas, who, in addition to New Jersey, worked on turnout programs in Missouri, Delaware, Michigan, Florida, and Virginia. "Our margins of victory were in urban areas."
Democrats have a simple phrase that sums up their voter-turnout effort: "knock and drag." A crew of paid workers storms through predominantly black neighborhoods and coaxes, cajoles, or browbeats every registered voter to the polls. ....
I believe it was Michael Barone who put to rest the myth of the astronomical increase in black voter turnout in the last presidental election.
Is it me or is that the dumbest thing? If you vote against your own interest, why expect to be paid back? Or to put it another way, vote your interests and you won't need to be "paid back".
And then if their candidate loses, the same DemonRats moan about how the blacks were "disenfranchised" and intimidated away from the voting booths.
This new Dem. strategy is considered secret, insider info...it was kind of Ryan Lizza to share. This paragraph is one of the most revealing, IMHO:
Once targeted districts are identified, Thomas begins a pre-program consisting of direct mail, phone calls, and visits to voters' homes. In the precinct mentioned above, for example, the Democrats sent six mailings to the 799 households that ncec had identified there. Crafting the mailings constituted a challenge, because Gore generated only tepid support among African Americans and George W. Bush proved a difficult man to demonize. And so Democrats did what they so often do when it comes to the black vote: They called the Republicans racist. One flyer featured Bush against the backdrop of a Confederate flag. Mail on behalf of Corzine said his opponent, Bob Franks, "thinks it's OK to teach our kids in trailers" and "will be hazardous to your family's health." But the most effective piece of mail sent to black voters targeted a Republican who isn't even running this year: It showcased the infamous picture of a smiling Whitman frisking a black man with his arms spread against a wall. "Republicans Like Governor Whitman Think Racial Profiling Is a Joke," the caption read.
?????
Then explain it to me!
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