I went and voted ....
NO!
Let the flags fly!
Posted on 02/07/2003 11:29:14 AM PST by dixie sass
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 — The Democratic candidates for president are struggling these days to work their way through a bit of a headache: How to campaign in South Carolina, a state with a pivotal primary, without running afoul of an economic boycott intended to force the removal of a Confederate flag from the State House grounds.
The state N.A.A.C.P. has for two years urged Americans who oppose the flying of the Confederate battle flag, including the six Democratic presidential candidates, to refrain from spending in South Carolina until the flag is removed. The prohibition, said James Gallman, the president of the state's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, applies to hotel rooms, caterers and restaurants, not to mention business conventions and family reunions.
"If it is possible to cook their own food, stay in homes rather than staying in hotels, or eating in hotels, that's what we would prefer," Mr. Gallman said.
After a few fits and starts, three Democratic presidential candidates said they would spend campaign money in South Carolina anyway, arguing that it would be hard to win the state's Democratic primary without doing so, and that it would be hard to win the nomination without competing in South Carolina.
One candidate, Dr. Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said Wednesday that he was still deciding what to do and would defer to black advisers in South Carolina.
Two candidates — Senator John Edwards of North Carolina and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York, the only black candidate — have said they would honor the boycott.
Mr. Edwards is heading for South Carolina on Saturday, on a campaign excursion that is stirring much curiosity, and a little bit of sniggering, from Democrats in opposing camps anxious to see just how this first-term senator from neighboring North Carolina can pull it off.
"It is incredibly difficult," said Erik Smith, an aide to Representative Richard A. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat who said he would not abide by the boycott. "No one has given a plausible explanation of how you can run an effective campaign. The boycott is more than sleeping in hotels. The boycott is everything from eating in restaurants to paying car services."
He added: "Perhaps being so close to North Carolina, you don't need a lot of staff or infrastructure in the state. You can bring bag lunches in from North Carolina. Follow your motorcade with a tanker truck so you don't have to stop for gas?"
Jennifer Palmieri, Mr. Edwards's spokeswoman, described Mr. Edwards's position in limited terms Wednesday, saying that while he would honor the boycott, that did not mean he necessarily supported it.
What that meant, Ms. Palmieri said, was that Mr. Edwards would refuse to sleep in any hotels while campaigning in South Carolina, though he would not refrain from eating, renting cars, buying gas, hiring staff or doing anything else that might pertain to running for the White House. When he needs to sleep there, she said, he would rely on the couches and extra bedrooms of supporters, or leave by nightfall.
"John Edwards will run an aggressive, well-funded and fully staffed campaign in South Carolina," Ms. Palmieri said.
Mr. Sharpton said that he would honor the boycott but that he had not figured out how to do so.
As suggested by Mr. Edwards's maneuverings, this is a difficult issue to negotiate, and it has inspired a number of flips over the past month.
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, for example, said in January while he was in South Carolina that he would instruct his staff not to stay in hotels. Earlier this week, he announced that while he supported the "goals and aspirations" of the boycott, he could not run for president "if I can't campaign effectively."
Mr. Gephardt switched speeds on the issue of the flag itself. After first declining to take a position on it, he issued a statement the next day saying he had been "too cautious in stating my views in regard to the Confederate flag."
"The Confederate flag is a hurtful, divisive symbol and in my view, has no place flying anywhere in any state in this country," he said.
Dr. Dean, who early on described it as a state issue, expressed irritation that the issue had become so large in South Carolina.
"I don't like it, and it ought to come down, but it's not a presidential issue," he said. "I'm a little annoyed with the local press. I went down there and gave a speech on health care, and they all wrote" about the flag.
The South Carolina primary could prove to be critical, coming immediately after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary next year. Blacks are likely to make up 50 percent of the Democratic electorate.
But there is anything but unanimity — either by party or by race — about the boycott. Representative James E. Clyburn, a senior member of the state's Congressional delegation, who is black, said he thought it was a bad idea that could harm the state's economy.
"It is absolutely of no significance to the presidential primary at all," Mr. Clyburn said.
Mr. Clyburn has told candidates that he does not expect them to honor the boycott, and three of them — Mr. Kerry, Mr. Gephardt and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut — have taken the cover of his position in declining to honor the boycott.
Aides to Mr. Edwards said Wednesday that their candidate, who is making a major effort to appeal to black voters in the South, would be helped by his position. "If that distinguishes us from the other candidates in the eyes of South Carolina voters, we certainly welcome that distinction," an Edwards adviser said.
Mr. Gallman said the N.A.A.C.P. would not tell candidates what to do. "We would prefer that they did not — but we are not going to take it that they are dissing us or they are disrespecting us by not following every condition we set down," he said.
Liberals are silly.
I think Howard Dean's comments show him to be racially insensitive. He should be castigated as "the Trent Lott of the Democratic Party" until he apologizes profusely for suggesting that what he wanted to say about some other topic was more important than the flag issue.
Should Confederate symbols be removed from modern state flags?
Yes 28% 5698 votes
No 72% 14557 votesTotal: Total Votes: 20,255
Thanks for your help,
Cy
I went and voted ....
NO!
Let the flags fly!
That's a jewel. More boycott than brains.
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