Congressional Shift in Virginia

As the results of the 2010 census lead to redistricting in Virgina, we'll find that congressional power will start to teeter towards the northern Virginia.

RACE, VOTING AND REDISTRICTING

• Will Voters Vote for Another Bad Black President? (Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Huffington Post) The 2006 Yale study also found that white Republicans were 25 percentage points more likely to cross over and vote for a Democratic senatorial candidate against a black Republican foe. The study also found that in the near twenty year stretch from 1982 to 2000, when the GOP candidate was black, the greater majority of white independent voters backed the white candidate. This appeared to change in the November 2010 mid-term elections. Black GOP congressional candidates Allen West in Florida and Tim Scott in South Carolina got a majority of white votes and easily beat their Democratic opponents. But West and Scott won in lockdown GOP districts, and against weak, underfunded, Democratic opponents. Their wins were regional wins with absolutely no national implications.

• Redistricting likely to shift congressional power to Northern Virginia (By Ben Pershing, Washington Post) Racial demographics are also a factor in mapmaking. Rep. Robert C. Scott’s (D) 3rd District, which snakes from Richmond down to Norfolk, is drawn as a “majority-minority” seat. While the district needs to add 64,000 people, it is also required by the Voting Rights Act to retain an African American majority if current demographics permit.

How Did Barack Obama Become the Nation's First African American President?

Dr. Omar Ali, author of In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third-Party Movements in the United States, will be giving a Master Class on President's Day, February 16, at 11:00 am, at the All Stars Project, 543 W. 42nd St., NYC. 

Dr. Ali is a professor of history in the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. He will discuss the history of the U.S. presidency from George Washington to Barack Obama, what role African Americans have played in advancing democracy in the nation, what kinds of coalitions were created between black, white, and other Americans to bring about the abolition of slavery to the advancement of civil and political rights, and how America’s independents have pushed for political changes and helped to elect the nation’s first black president.

Here's a review of In the Balance of Power.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• A Long Climb To Power Nears Its Pinnacle: Barack Obama's Path To The Presidency Paved By Decades-Long Struggle Of Black Politicians And Activists (CBS News) When Powell crossed party lines to endorse Mr. Obama late in the campaign, he held considerable sway over independent voters.
  
• Obama 'standing on ancestors' shoulders' (By Patti Mengers, Daily Times, Delaware Co. PA) A self-described "staunch independent," Virgilette Gaffin, who has chaired Cheyney's department of communications and modern languages since last September, sees Obama as an inspiration to her students.... Gaffin became "sold" on Obama after hearing him speak at the 2004 Democratic national convention.
  

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Quote Of The Day: Was Bush's Internal Battle Between Reaganism And Chenyism? (By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief, The Moderate Voice) The Bush/Cheney/Karl Rove concept of governing meant you had government of the base, by the base and for the base. But this isn't the United States of the Base. It is the United States of America which includes independents, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, centrists and some others not included in these categories. 

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Two Billionaires Show Renewed Interest in New York Independence Party (Ballot Access News) Not everything in the article seems completely accurate, but the gist of it seems to be that both men desire to wrest control of the New York City Independence Party away from Lenora Fulani and her political allies.
  
• Billionaires team up to "revamp" the New York Independence Party (Independent Political Report) Tom Golisano is a billionaire businessman from upstate New York who helped found the Independence Party of New York. Michael Bloomberg is a registered independent in the State of New York, a billionaire businessman, and the mayor of New York City. What do these two titans of industry have in common?
  

LAST WORD

Obama Adopts Lincoln's Legacy (By Choi Yearn-hong, Korea Times) "...My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of this county, and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor upon me, for which I shall be unremitting in my labors to compensate...." - A. Lincoln

Lenora Fulani comments on Obama historic win

From BlackAmericaWeb.com:

“When I was running, I was running for change,” Jackson told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “I was hoping I could win, but what I really wanted to do was to change the national debate."

So did political reformer Lenora Fulani.

“When Americans choose a president, we are making a statement about the person we select. But at certain times in history, we are also making a statement about ourselves. In my opinion, 2008 is that kind of election. I think the American people -- black, Latino, white, immigrant, poor, middle class and rich, are not only looking for a change in the White House. We want to change the way we relate to one another,” Fulani said Tuesday. “When I ran for president as an independent in 1988 and became the first African-American and first female to gain admission to the presidential ballot in all 50 states, I was not running a campaign to win,” Fulani told BlackAmericaWeb.com in an e-mail.

“The chances of a radical black female activist and developmental psychologist being elected president were somewhere between zero and none. I was running to build and to lay a foundation for an independent movement. In that campaign, I saw that Americans from all walks of life and from all communities were beginning to question the old categories, the old paradigms and the old-style of partisan politics.

“I think Barack Obama’s achievements are historic,” Fulani said, “not simply because he is about to become a major party nominee, but because he tapped into that deep desire that people have to create something new in American politics. The black community has been -- and will continue to be -- a major force in that creative process.”

Clinton, Obama, white women and Alice Walker

Lest We Forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave.
by Alice Walker
The author argues that we must build alliances not on ethnicity or gender, but on truth.

March 27, 2008
I HAVE COME home from a long stay in Mexico to find – because of the presidential campaign, and especially because of the Obama/Clinton race for the Democratic nomination - a new country existing alongside the old. On any given day we, collectively, become the Goddess of the Three Directions and can look back into the past, look at ourselves just where we are, and take a glance, as well, into the future. It is a space with which I am familiar.... (TheRoot.com)

A Political Junkie's Confession: Cat/Rooster/Dog Fight Obsessions of a Lesser God

Ok, I admit it. I'm a political junkie. I'd rather talk politics than almost anything else. I confess that for the past number of weeks, I spent my days planning my evening rendevoux with CNN and MSNBC.

Sure, I'd go to work. I'd answer some emails, return a few phone calls, write a few memos... But I was always plotting: If it's 7pm, It's Anderson Cooper 350. Or do I check in with Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Corner. A bite to eat, a cup of tea, and I fall asleep after a lighter and much needed dose of Jon Stewart and the Daily Shore..... But I have to say, the current level of punditry is a bit much!

Anderson Cooper seems to be particularly upset tonight that we have black people in America, that African Americans have cultural institutions beyond his control who speak to historical issues in historical language that he hasn't heard and doesn't understand. Anderson Cooper, a white male paid presumably by CNN, takes it upon himself to interpret historical statements he knows nothing about. He doesn't seem to have any understanding of our history as a nation or our developing multi-racial culture. Likewise for Morning Joe, which I have recently been watching. Love the show, getting a little iffy on the "coverage".....

It's hurtful to America to see intelligent people sit in a tv studio, bringing on more and more pundits, who have less and less to say about what's really going on in this country.

Again, Anderson Cooper, Joe Scarborough, Jessica Yellin, Wolf Blitzer, et al, should get off their duffs and get out there and see what's happening in America! Talk to people!

The Hankster received an email from a reader who was really upset about the level of attacks in the campaign, particularly directed at Barack Obama. The lies and rumors. I advised him to go out and do some grassroots organizing.


CNN and MSNBC CHOOSE not to go out and talk to voters. They would rather talk to themselves. They insist on running "stories" among each other about such things as:

Geraldine Ferraro talking about Barack Obama being lucky to be black (or whatever she said) and Jeremiah A. Wright, pastor of Barack Obama's church in Chicago, sermonizing about racism in America...

And who cares what's what and who's who because the real issue is to set up some kind of cat/rooster/dog fight among the American people who have worked so hard to overcome these divisions....

Below is a sample of some of the inflamatory articles:
Democrats Do Not Agree With Ferraro that Race was a Factor in ...PR Newswire (press release), NY ....... Geraldine Ferraro's comment was racist? ... A Ferraro Postscript [Ramesh Ponnuru]National Review Online Blogs, NY - It is also true, for example, that Obama wouldn't be in this position if Clinton were a more inspiring figure, compelling speaker, or talented campaigner. ... I'm Not Racist. Some of my Best Friends Are Black.Yahoo! News - But when they feel challenged by blacks, as the Clinton campaign does by the Obama campaign, we're not so fresh after all. In essence, what Ferraro is ... Obama Denounces His Pastor’s Statements New York Times Obama repudiates ex-pastor's remarks Boston Globe Sen. Obama condemns his pastor's comments Detroit Free Press WSJ: Obama's church may be breaking IRS rulesChicago Tribune, United States ...... Barack Obama's home church, Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's South Side, activities that may violate IRS rules against churches advocating for ... Clinton As Racist Machiavellian Black Star News, NY - Former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro is the latest foot soldier to make a fool of herself in the Clinton cause, this by speculating, “If Obama was a white ... Obama blames '60s for pastor's comments Chicago Tribune, United States - Ferraro recently stepped down from Clinton's campaign after saying that Obama enjoyed an electoral advantage over Clinton in the Democratic presidential ...)


We the people, however, CAN CHOOSE to do something about the dismal state of politics in this country. If you thought politicians would help, think again. If you thought the MSM would pick up our statement, think again....

It's up to us. Do something positive!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OKLAHOMA INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Three indicted TABOR petitioners make their 1st court appearance (by Marie Price, The Journal Record) Kim Wright, with Oklahoma Independent Voters, said prosecution of the “Oklahoma 3” intimidates voters from exercising their right to petition their government.
• Independent voters can't vote in primary (Sequoyah County Times)

CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• California’s Unaffiliated Voters Are Sometimes Unreachable (By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, NY Times)
• Thousands switch or join parties ahead of primary (By Craig Gustafson, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE)
• McCain, Clinton have big leads in California (By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times)
• Yes, You Can... Vote for President in California! (Rick Jacobs, Huffington Post)
• Term limits debate heated by Prop. 93 (By Bill Hoban INDEX-TRIBUNE, Sonoma News) * McCain, Clinton lead in California (CNN Political Ticker)

FLORIDA INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Without independents, will McCain, Obama falter? (BY REID J. EPSTEIN, Newsday)
• Independent Voters (WMBB - Gulf Coast West FL)
• More than 44,000 Florida voters switch parties (Tampa Bay Local News 10)
• GOP race in Florida is Romney vs. McCain-The two candidates are running neck and neck before the Republican primary Tuesday. (By Linda Feldmann, The Christian Science Monitor)
• GOP candidates look for Florida win (By From Wire Reports, The State)
• More Floridians shun major political parties (WWSB ABC 7 Florida, Associated Press)
• Florida voters show growing independent streak-More voters are registering, but they are increasingly turning away from the major parties. (Mark Schlueb, Sun Sentinel)

COLORADO INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Poll: Colo. independents siding with Dems (UPI)

MISSOURI INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• McCain and Clinton top choices among Missouri voters (By The Associated Press, Columbia Missourian)

SOUTH CAROLINA INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Who Voted for Obama? (WLTX S.C.)

IOWA INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Changes in the [partisan voter registration] cards (by TIM JAMISON, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)

THE CAMPAIGN

• Sharpton On Bill Clinton: "It's Time For Him To Just Be Quiet" (Huffington Post VIDEO from The View)
• The Inconvenience of Democracy (Deepak Chopra, Huffington Post)
• Reclaiming the Notion of a “First Black President” (Monique W. Morris)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Iowa voters say it loud: it's a shake-up! (The United States of America could actually produce a black president....)

• Obama Wins Iowa, Bolstering Bid for New Hampshire Independents-RECORD TURNOUT: The number of Democrats participating in the caucuses jumped to almost 240,000, close to double the 124,181 who voted in 2004. (Bloomberg.com)
• Analysis: Obama Ahead; GOP A Headache-Obama Attains Front-Runner Status; Huckabee Win Roils GOP Race (CBS News)
• Focus Turns to the Independent Voters In New Hampshire, Unaffiliated Are Key For McCain, Obama (By MARY JACOBY Wall Street Journal)
• A Whiff of Revolution From Iowa (By E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post)

And now on to New Hampshire....


And on a side note: CIA confirms Ventura meeting occurred--CIA was (is?) apparently monitoring the independent movement..... (by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent Texans: Top 10 Reasons to impeach Gov Perry (Waxahachie Daily Light)


• Sam Nunn talking with Unity 08 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


• California healthcare reform or return to business as usual (By David Lesher-LA Times)


• A black candidate could win (Fosters Daily Democrat-NH)


• Clarence Page: Is Obama black enough or too black? (Daily Journal)

Will Obama Welcome Independents?

by Lenora Fulani in Black Star News.... As Barack Obama's campaign takes root, will he acknowledge his illigitimate cousins???

California: 10,000 hear Barack Obama in Oakland

Obama hoping to woo East Bay's melting pot (Inside Bay Area): And, in the end, while many African Americans are personally rooting for him, some think the presidency still may be out of reach given the complex political formulas it takes to win the job.
"There is no precedent for it. I'd love to be wrong," said Charles Henry, professor of African-American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "I'm certainly backing Barack Obama because I do think he takes us down the road but if you look at recent politics, it's white male Southern governors who've won."

There is indeed an African American running for President of the United States. Where Jesse Jackson was outrageously shunned by the Dems in 1984, not unlike Howard Dean's attempt in 2004 to push the Dems in a more progressive direction, it might be a new day. Independents should speak out. -NH

Black Mules & Rino's

Black Mules & Rino's Cut Off New Generation Leadership At Grassroots by Gay James on cadreusa ...In 2002 the party gave the congressional designation in Harlem’s 15th CD to Dr. Jesse Fields an official of the Independence Party, reportedly controlled by Dr. Lenora Fulani. Many longtime local Republicans were irate because of the obvious snub and apparent compromise of GOP values in the political deal with the Independence Party. But the controversy began because Mr. Conrad Muhammad the former minister of the Nation of Islam’s Mosque # 7 and his GOP supporters were lobbying for his (Conrad Muhammad) designation as the party’s congressional standard bearer.
The popular and charismatic Conrad Muhammad had begun evaluating both political parties as well as the prospect of running for public office a couple of years earlier. The advent of Conrad Muhammad as a GOP Congressional candidate generated shockwaves within the leadership of both local political parties. The word on the street began to generate great curiosity, if not a ground swell, and much local and state political interest in the Grand Old Party was percolating....

Battle for Barak's Soul (part 1)

Will the Black establishment or even the Black anti-establishment establishment back Obama? A Black President?

Virginia Governor Doug Wilder says “The civil rights movement was over 50-something years ago…” Preeminent civil rights leader cir. 2007 Rev. Al Sharpton says “Just because you’re our color doesn’t make you our kind…” “Hollywood Abandons Hillary”… Sen. Daschle backs Obama… Two South Carolina black state legislators back Hillary…

And what about the independents?

It’s no secret that independent voters set the agenda (the war in Iraq) for the mid-term elections in 2006 and were responsible for the change-over of party control in Congress. For weeks before and after the November 7th election, it was all about the independent voter.
And Black independents? Invisible? It’s no secret that Barak Obama needs independent voters in order to move ahead in this protracted 2008 presidential race. Dr. Lenora Fulani, the first woman and first African American to make it onto the ballot in all 50 states running as an independent for president in 1988, and America’s preeminent black independent, cautioned Obama in her statement on Feb. 10th, that following a behind-the-scenes piece of advice from Dem higher-ups telling him “Don’t put anyone in your statement who isn’t a Democrat,” would be unfortunate. “Being black is not synonymous with being a Democrat anymore, as much as the Clintons – and others – would have us believe…”

(cont. on next post)

Battle for Barak's Soul (part 2)

(cont. from previous post) The future of America depends on independents. It’s clear that the two-party system has yielded more and more corruption and that “bipartisanship” is just another word for partisan collusion. What we need is leadership. Does Barack Obama want to be the one?

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, ordinary black leadership from the streets caught the imagination and creativity of all Americans. Call it the Civil Right Movement. I would caution Governor Wilder and other beneficiaries of a grassroots movement for integration in the ‘50s and for voting rights in the ‘60s, that the civil rights movement is maturing. A reminder – the Democratic Party came late to the demand for equal rights and de-segregation. It took ordinary people, sitting in at Woolworth’s or refusing to go to the back of the bus, who’d “had enough” (and by the way, many of them were white) to force a change in official policy. The Democratic Party had the smarts to take ownership of the civil rights movement, not because they were concerned about civil rights. It’s all about the votes for them.

It will take a similar resolve among independents to move beyond the current crisis in democracy in America. Just as the abolitionists who were at work before the Civil War, or the trade unionists who worked overtime to bring workers’ rights to America and gained social security for all Americans after World War II, our time is now.
This is not a party-driven movement. Movements never are party-driven. Movements come from the people. The people must be heard – if not now, when?- NH

Yes, Barak -- There ARE Black Independents!

Listen Up, Barack – Black Presidential Candidates from Years Past Have Good Advice Galore
Date: Friday, February 23, 2007
By: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com

....Fulani, now a developmental psychologist, got her name on the ballot in all 50 states as an independent and qualified for matching federal election funds. She said Obama must reach out to the independent voters to be successful.
"More than 35 percent of young African-American voters identify as political independents," Fulani told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "Some want to ignore us in the polls. We want to be the ones who not only swing, but also sway the vote."
And there are plenty of reasons to court black independent voters.
In the most recent election for mayor of New York, 47 percent of blacks who voted did not vote for the Democratic nominee, Fulani said.
“Many Democrats don’t want to recognize the black independent voters. They would rather keep black voters under their thumb,” she said.
With the backing of independent voters, a candidate can stand up and address issues that relate the needs of a broader segment of America, she said....

Is Hillary Black Enough?

From Craig Crawford's Trail Mix in CQ Politics: ...At a town hall in Miami’s predominantly black Liberty City neighborhood, Clinton warmed up a crowd torn between longstanding loyalties to Bill Clinton and fascination with Obama (who spent the day courting elite celebrities in California). ...

Obama drama: Another political sleeping pill for Black people

by James Clingman
Chicago Defender, February 21, 2007
Here we go again. Will the euphoria sweeping through our ranks over the possibility of a Black President eventually dominate our collective psyche? Will it overwhelm us with notions of equality and victory, and ostensibly cause us to subordinate our primary interests and abandon the pressing issues that negatively impact Black life in America? With more than 21 months to go before we vote and one year before the first primaries and caucuses, Black folks are spending a great deal of time and resources following each episode of the Obama Drama. Been there, done that....

Barak Obama, let's see your baggage?

Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer chronicles Barak Obama's civil rights background (here in the Boston Globe) "...Obama was part of a team of attorneys who represented the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois in 1995 for failing to implement a federal law designed to make it easier for the poor and others to register as voters.... "

Is this the beginning of "cleaning up" Obama -- or in his case, the "dirtying down"? 'Barak, let's see your baggage, meager as it may be!'... Did somebody at The Top decide that it's not smart to alienate the Old Guard civil rights movement (which is about 2/3 of the country)? -NH

Obama, race, slavery and winning the Presidency

Obama's candidacy sparks debates on race; Is he African American if his roots don't include slavery? by Leslie Fulbright, ...The Rev. Al Sharpton of New York, who ran for president in 2004, was also upset. "We cannot put our people's aspirations on hold for anybody's career, black or white," said Sharpton. "Just because you are our color doesn't make you our kind."
The two major parties have fielded five black presidential candidates over the years -- Shirley Chisholm, Jackson, Carol Moseley Braun, Sharpton and Alan Keyes. But the issue of race didn't rise in those campaigns to the degree it has this year, perhaps because Obama is the first black person viewed as a possible winner.... (San Francisco Chronicle)

Sloppy journalism?

Barak Obama: Independent legacy?

'News Worth Noting' Obama Knows Novelty Goes Only So Far
Fresh Face in Washington in the ‘08 Race Who Still Must Report to Day Job
WASHINGTON--There is always, it seems, a fresh new face breezing into a presidential race, offering himself as the person to change the tone, eliminate the vitriol and transform the old ways of politics. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (Dem., Ill.) is auditioning for that role in the 2008 campaign. He said so himself, leaping into the Democratic contest the other day on a promise to “advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need.” A long line of Democrats, Republicans and independents have gone before him, casting themselves as the sparkling candidate of the new politics only to find that their freshness withers well before the balloting begins. Think John Anderson, Gary Hart, Ross Perot.... (Black Chronicle)