Put yourself in the place of most prominent African Americans in the Democratic Party last summer. You’ve got a wonderful African American candidate for President in Barack Obama. On the other hand, you also have Hillary Clinton running for President. Maybe you owe her some favors, or her husband favors, or maybe she’s just a long time friend. You don’t trust white voters to support any black candidate for president, even one as “articulate” as Barack Obama. The Clintons have been pushing you hard for your support, maybe even making subtle threats about remembering who was for them and who was against them should she win. Not to mention Hillary was out fund raising every other candidate by multiples of ten. Over a hundred million dollars.
And of course, you’ve got the mainstream media narrative which had already anointed her as the Democratic nominee 6 months before any primary or caucus was even held. So, you stick with what you know, even if that means going with the white candidate over the black one. Because politics is all about perception, and the perception was Obama was a lightweight who would be exposed once the primary season started, and Hillary Clinton was “inevitable.” Hey, nobody wants to back the losing horse in a race. So many black politicians and Democratic Party activists jumped on the Clinton bandwagon. She was the safe bet.
Now it’s six, seven months later and – surprise, surprise – Obama is the one who looks like the leader. His campaign has all the cash, all the support among the African American population, all the enthusiasm from white voters, young voters, independent voters, and all the “Big Mo” from winning more states and more delegates despite the best efforts of the Clinton campaign to slime him by bringing race into the campaign, by ginning up phony smears of influence peddling and plagiarism, etc. It looks more and more like Obama will win more states and more pledged delegates than Clinton, a fact that the Clinton campaign is tacitly acknowledging by its focus on winning the votes of “super delegates” and now even threats of “poaching ” Obama’s pledged delegates at the convention.
This isn’t the way things were supposed to happen, but it is the way things are. So, prominent African American supporters of Senator Clinton, what do you do now?
(cont.)
Hillary Clinton’s black supporters — especially the most prominent ones — hadn’t expected their candidate to be in a dogfight right now. They thought Barack Obama was an election cycle or two away from being serious presidential timber. They thought Bill Clinton’s presidency and the close relationships the Clintons had forged with African Americans would translate into goo-gobs of votes in ’08. They were wrong. […]
Obama has swamped Clinton among black voters in each of the 20 contests that had exit polls and large enough samples of African Americans to be meaningful. Just to put that kind of shutout in perspective, black voters represent the only demographic group that the New York senator has not carried at least once during the Democratic primary campaign. Obama now has such a lock on the loyalties of African Americans — 84 percent of the black vote in Alabama, 87 percent in Georgia, 84 percent in Maryland, and on and on — that the black vote is no longer contestable.
Which brings us back to the dilemma facing some of Clinton’s high-profile black supporters — those with titles and constituencies of their own. They are feeling some kind of crazy pressure. Last Friday, about 25 of them held an hour-long conference call to discuss what one described as an effort to “pester, intimidate, question our blackness” for not supporting Obama.
The catalyst for the call was a report in the New York Times that Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was wavering in his support of Clinton. Lewis would not comment, but according to the Times, the congressman had indicated he was prepared to fully flip and back Obama and thus be more in step with his congressional district, which voted 3-to-1 for Obama on Super Tuesday. […]
Some of Clinton’s other black supporters decided to rally and try to blunt the fallout. Among those on the conference call were Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, and congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.
Palmer was among the more forceful voices, urging others on the call, as he put it yesterday, “to stand up and say why you’re for Hillary Clinton in the face of adversity. We can’t afford to be wishy-washy . . . Stand up. Fight. Advocate for your candidate. Don’t capitulate. . . . Don’t let nobody intimidate or threaten you. Just hold on.” […]
Black Clinton supporters are feeling the same heat that black backers of Walter Mondale felt in 1984. Many black elected officials signed on early with Mondale, some because of the former vice president’s civil rights record and his long ties to African Americans, some because of practical political considerations: They knew Jesse Jackson wasn’t going to be the Democratic nominee, and so they went with the likely winner. They played it safe. […]
Like Jackson back then, Obama’s campaign is creating unease for black politicians who find themselves out of sync with their constituencies. One big difference, of course: Obama is in a position to win.
The moment, observes Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and longtime speaker of the California assembly, is like nothing that has ever been realized for a black officeholder. “It’s like Michael Jordan and Dr. J. wrapped into one, playing basketball by themselves,” says Brown, who is neutral in the presidential race. […]
It appears many black politicians also didn’t understand how far racial pride would extend this election season. They are being called out on blogs, and petitioned in their home districts for going against Obama — to their surprise and dismay.
“Some African American leaders, quite frankly, underestimated him,” said Cassandra Butts, a longtime Obama friend and adviser.
They’re not underestimating him anymore.
The longer they wait the more intense the pressure will be to flip to Obama from the members of their own communities who have voted overwhelmingly for him in state after state. And for those who don’t switch, but remain loyal to the Clintons? I think they may be surprised, and even stunned, by the backlash that might occur should African American voters see Clinton win the nomination at a brokered convention even if Obama has more delegates going in, and more states won. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes if that happens.
Because it could get very ugly very quickly.
This is a fascinating development. I tend to like it when a group outflanks its leaders, forcing those leaders to reevaluate their positions and their alliances. All too often a politician becomes a tired hack and follows orders from top down. Better from the bottom up.
Just the ol’ revolutionary in me.
That’s what the real Obama phenomenon is about. A rejection of the elites whether in the Party or the Media deciding for us who will be President. And I think this applies on the Republican side, too. McCain was supposed to be dead on arrival last summer, Guliani or Romney were the clear front runners, but come primary season the voters decided to go against the conventional wisdom and vote for the guy conservatives despise.
That’s what really pisses them off, that we the people are asserting ourselves.
Kind of a continuation of what happened with the voters asserting themselves in November 2006. Wonder if the parties will pay as much (or as little) attention this go round as the Democrats have since their win?
I’ll just say this.
It’s not about blind allegiance to someone of the same hue. This is about an old way of seeing and doing things versus the new. While some of the support of Billary among their African American supporters is clearly based on long-term relationships and friendship, some of that support is based on…
Let me give you an example. Take a look at the numbers from Prince George’s County, MD. Most of the county (but not all) is a part of the 4th Cong. District where Donna Edwards defeated incumbent Al Wynn.
Now this isn’t all Obama, of course. Donna is a strong candidate. Al helped himself out by not voting with his district on the war and on the bankruptcy bill. I forgot to mention in earlier posts that he did himself no favors by pushing slots on his constituents (at least the Montgomery Co. part of his district never had to worry about that since he knew he’d NEVER be able get away with pushing slots on them). Folks were also just tired of his meddling, but no one else had the stones to take him out–until Donna.
Returning to the main point, I think there’s been a lot of discontent that CBC members have been falling down on the job, both as individual representatives of their districts, and collectively as the CBC as a voice on behalf of African Americans. And I think that Obama’s candidacy has shown A LOT of people what’s possible. It goes way beyond skin loyalty. He’s made lots of people take another view of things.
I know that many young, educated black people like me are sick and tired of being held back and down by the fossils that make up the CBC. Most of these black leaders are only in power because of who they were, not what they did. They go on TV yammering about Obama not being “black enough” to for black America. They stayed silent as the Clinton’s campaign engaged in race-baiting. They’re silent after the Clinton’s told us that black voters don’t really represent America.
Back in December I wrote a post title Can we please get some new Black leadership? I wrote it after reading about Andrew Young’s incredibly stupid comments:
I don’t see people questioning their blackness. They’re the ones who decided that Obama wasn’t black enough, that black people wouldn’t vote for him becuase he’s “not one of us”. I’ve always called BS on that. I have friends from all over South and Central America and Africa who are just as black as me (I’m a chocolatey wonder of full on hotness ya’ll). They always say the same thing: When they got here, they saw themselves as apart from the black people already here, better than us. It didn’t take long for some Arab, white, Asian or Latino person to treat them like a nigger. They know that no matter where you hail from, in America you skin color is your calling card. These people really expect us to believe that a brother from Belize doesn’t get to experience all the wonderful daily racism in America? Please.
No, what I see are people wondering when these fools plan on leaving the plantation. I’m always wary of using the House Negro analogy, but it’s at the point where that’s exactly what we’re looking at. It’s a whole new world and these people are not prepared.
I completely agree that this isn’t or shouldn’t be about loyalty to a skin color. There really shouldn’t even be an issue. If your constituents have clearly voted for one candidate, then you should vote that way too. The only question now is, what is it about the Clinton’s that have these people too scared to stand up for themselves? We’re talking about a group of people who stood up to contest Gore/Bush election, while their non-black colleagues did nothing.. We know they have backbones, why are they so wary of using them against the Clinton’s?
you stay true to your pledge, your friend….that you most likely have “IOU” dues.
paramount, this decision should not be race based. Obama understands..he has said so.
that said, if there’s a need for a second ballot, some factors to consider:
which candidate has demonstrated competence in campaign, organizational skills, to engage new voters that’s crucial to November?
which candidate has a ceiling of support – 47% negatives?
both candidates policies are similar so what of the experience factor? two past great presidents – FDR and Lincoln – were considered too in-experienced for the Oval Office.
Wise judgment and legislative skills trumps experience.
Advantage = Obama.
Why do I have a bad feeling about Wisconison today? Am I just being paranoid or fatalistic after NH?
I have lots of feelings but they usually prove wrong, lol.
Wait and see what happens. That’s all we can do.
I can only imagine the howl from this blog and others if a blogger posted a call to whites who’d backed Obama and hadn’t come home yet, so to speak. WTF does Obama’s color have to do with anything when considering whether or not to vote for him, Steven? Shouild black civil rights leaders vote for Obama because he is black? I sure as fuck hope not. I expect them to vote…and lead btw, on principal, whoever the candidate they end up voting for is.
This post from you was really disappointing.
Steven wasn’t telling the CBC that they must vote for Obama. He merely laid out facts and mentioned that the CBC is in a tough spot.
Super
Fabooj explained the purpose of the diary. And it is a dilemma for Senator Clinton’s establishment supporters in the African American community. Their constituents have spoken that Obama is their candidate, something people weren’t sure would occur last year, if you recall the “Is Obama black enough?” stories being touted in the media.
last year, I had a conversation with 3 DC African American women. One was the chair of the party, another became a councilwoman and the third was the Young Dems national committeewoman and now a chief of staff on the hill. All three told me I was crazy when I said that I couldn’t see a woman, any woman, ever becoming president before a Latino man, before an African-American man, before a…man of any kind. The three proceeded to tell me how wrong I was in no uncertain terms because clearly, I didn’t understand the concept of racism in this country.
All three have been supporting Clinton. I wonder if they still are, now? I suppose I’ll get a chance to ask them at the next meeting. I’d like to hear their revised take on the situation and if it’s been revised at all.