Posted by Editor on June 20, 2008 5:14 PM to Career News and Resources
Career News and Resources: Analysts Predict Low Cost to Pro-Clinton Black Officials
By Zenitha Prince
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - In the waning days of the Democratic primaries when it became clear Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) would be the presumptive nominee, pundits predicted that the strong aftertaste of acrimony, which still lingers on the palate of many voters, could cause an upset within the party.
"Obviously, in all major presidential campaigns where there was strong contention the aftermath of bitterness hurts the party," said Dr. Lorenzo Morris, chairman of Howard University's Department of Political Science.
For Obama, drawing blue collar, "activist women" and Hispanic voters would be a Herculean task, many concluded, pointing to exit polls in which many then-Clinton supporters said they would not vote for Obama in the fall. But those dire prophecies are exaggerations, other analysts say.
"For pro-Clinton Black officials the backlash will be very little as long as they are on board now...The press keeps publishing these stories that are totally baloney," said David Bositis, senior analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Policy, which studies political and economic issues related to African Americans.
"I can't tell you how many headlines I've seen that say Obama has a real Hispanic problem. The Gallup poll that came out last week, shows him leading McCain 62 to 29 percent among that group," he said. "And all of a sudden, Obama has a big lead among women, going from a 6-point lead to a 13-point lead.
"So they are already coming home." The same is true for Black politicians who sided with Clinton against their constituents' wishes and who will be up for re-election in November, Bositis and Morris said.
In the heat of the historic race between Sen. Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) many of these officials, whose districts were heavily pro-Obama, were barraged by demands from voters, especially African Americans, demanding that they switch sides.
"It's unlikely that pro-Clinton CBC members and especially Tubbs Jones will lose their seats."
New York Rep. Gregory Meeks describes voters' response to his stance: "Some were upset, some didn't understand because their support for Sen. Obama was very emotional and focused," he said.
The clamor was especially loud in cyberspace, with Black bloggers and websites taking up the hue and cry.
ColorOfChange.org, a 400,000-member group that seeks to change Black politics and empower Black voters, collected thousands of signatures on a petition drive to compel pro-Clinton Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) superdelegates to cast their votes for Obama at the national convention.
Some, like Georgia Rep. John Lewis caved, believing they should reflect the will of the people.
Others, like Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, a national co-chair of the Clinton campaign, refused to renege on their pledge to the former first lady.
"I love John Lewis and I am disgusted with people who put that pressure on him," Tubbs Jones told the AFRO. "He earned the right to choose whoever he wanted."
Tubbs Jones, Clinton's most vehement CBC supporter and the representative of the 11th Congressional District, which includes Cleveland's heavily Black East Side, was a favorite target. Though Obama lost in Ohio, he won by 70 percent in Tubbs Jones' district.
In a Feb. 26 posting on www.thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com, one user scolded, "You are going down right with [Clinton] because the people of your district will ensure you will not be re-elected as you not only picked a loser to campaign for but you aren't savvy enough to understand that the train has left the station and you are NOT on IT!!"
And, The Call and Post, Cleveland's Black newspaper, chided Jones in a May editorial -- one of many--to "come home" and mend fences with "the vast majority of her constituents, this newspaper and virtually every black preacher in town."
Meeks and Tubbs Jones said they believe their support for Hillary could be used against them.
"Some people may attempt to ratchet up differences we may have or continue to talk about the fact that I voted for Sen. Clinton [because of] their own political ambition," Meeks said.
Tubbs Jones, a veteran campaigner who has served in public office for almost 30 years, added, "I have a Republican opponent and if I were in his shoes, that's what I'd use."
Whether it will be effective at the polls, however, is uncertain, she added.
"I don't know what [voters'] reactions will be or maybe the backlash just hasn't touched me," the Ohio Democrat added. "I don't want to say I'm not worried because I don't have that big an ego. I work hard and if [my opponents] want my job they have to work hard for it."
It's unlikely that pro-Clinton CBC members and especially Tubbs Jones will lose their seats, Bositis said. "Stephanie Tubbs Jones is an effective congresswoman," he said. She was re-elected four times with more than three-fourths of the vote and usually faces minimal opposition. And Obama's camp would not want to alienate any new Democratic allies, Bositis said.
"When Hillary's people and Obama's people talked, one of the things they talked about was Obama's help in supporting CBC members who supported Clinton," the analyst said.
Morris said those Black officials will also be helped by the Black electorate's short memory and forgiving nature.
"Marion Barry (Washington, D.C.'s former mayor who was convicted on drug charges and later elected as a councilmember) is an example of the capacity for Black voters to forgive, especially when there is no ideological conflict," Morris said. For pro-Clinton Black officials, he added, "the backlash will be very little as long as they are on board now." Meeks said he is already working on reconciling with his constituents and Obama-leaning peers.
"I've had meetings in my District with Sen. Obama's people to make sure we have plans to work together to win this election in November. It's been very positive," he said.
Tubbs Jones, the most vocal of CBC members in questioning Obama's qualifications, said it has been hard to "switch a light on and then switch it off." But, at the end of the day, she said, "I'm a Democrat and all of us are going to work collectively to get a Democrat into the White House."
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