Todd Akin stole national headlines by uttering the most dangerous nonsense about a tragic situation so dire it deserves the utmost caution and respect: whether or not a rape victim impregnated by her rapist should be forced to bear his child. Akin’s party has sought to put him at a cold distance, for good reason. Mitt Romney’s surprise vice president pick meant to reassure his still-reluctant social conservative base and enliven his stumbling campaign, Paul Ryan, is on public record agreeing with Akin on the policy implications of his unconscionable beliefs on this tragic subject.
We regret only one thing about this damaging fall-out from the Republicans being exposed with policy stands that are crudely anti-woman. Just when Democrats nationwide need to be reassessing their base and committing resources to getting votes from their base, they have been provided with good cause to feel as if any position they take in the lukewarm center will look progressive enough, by comparison to the Republicans, to ensure almost every single liberal vote in the nation. We advise the Democrats to reconsider this strategy from the perspective of their party’s single most reliable voting bloc: African Americans.
We believe that Democrats are correct in thinking that black voters confronted with the likes of Romney, Ryan and Akin are extremely unlikely to vote Republican in November. However, it is essential to the self-interest of Democrats that they make sure that black voters do get out and vote on November 6 – and that they keep voting down the ticket after they have fulfilled what many will consider their duty of conscience to vote for the reelection of President Barack Obama.
Lost in the furor over Akin was an interview we published with Bill Clay, the legendary retired Congressman for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. Clay speaks rightly about a political reality that it would be convenient for mainstream Missouri Democrats to consider a thing of the past. Clay represents a black vote that is not a random voting bloc to be taken for granted by white Democrats, but rather a power base that demands respect, resources and power-sharing before it will share its power in the form of votes. The triumphant campaign of Clay’s son and successor, U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, against a misguided, tone-deaf and overmatched Russ Carnahan proved a point that we fear Missouri Democrats did not take the time to appreciate fully before they commenced to beating down Akin.
We asked Bill Clay what advice he had for mainstream Democrats, and he responded, “If you want the same kind of results we got, you have got to devote the same kind of resources and energy that we devoted. It’s not just issuing press releases. To stimulate and energize the community, you need to make sure the resources are out there for the same people who got the vote out for us. You need to do the same thing, and go to the media in our community and advertise in those resources. You have got to go to the churches and send your top people into those churches.”
Democrats would be very wise to heed Bill Clay’s advice and devote a commensurate share of their campaign resources to reaching and energizing the black vote. Simply expecting the community to get excited about casting a symbolic vote for Obama will not garner the higher voter participation that statewide Democratic candidates will need to win in this increasingly conservative state. We believe the brilliantly successful street campaigns we just witnessed in North St. Louis must be put to work on Democrats’ campaigns for the general election. Since we know these teams mean real votes in the black community, then we know how to judge Democrats’ actions, starting now. If they do not invest in getting more black voters to the polls in St. Louis, we will conclude they do not place a sufficiently high value on those voters. It could be a fatal mistake for them in 2012.
