Even slit in black congressional support for frontrunners
By Hazel Trice Edney Of the NNPA
WASHINGTON – As America prepares for a string of primaries and caucuses to determine who will be its next Democratic and Republican nominees for president, members of the 42-member Congressional Black Caucus who have announced endorsements in the race are split 15-15 between CBC member U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, has three endorsements from CBC members. Eight CBC members had not made public endorsements by deadline. All CBC members are Democrats.
CBC member U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) has endorsed Obama and vigorously organized support for his Missouri campaign.
Clay has told the American he thought Obama was the most qualified to lead and heal a divided nation. He also said Obama would be most sensitive to the concerns of African Americans and, as the senator of a neighboring state, the best candidate to represent Missourians.
Other CBC members pointed mainly to the candidates’ stances on specific issues to explain their endorsements.
“He is the most likely to actually produce change in areas that make a difference – home ownership, education, health care, crime policy,” U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) explained his endorsement of Obama.
“He led the charge to get more people health insurance in the Illinois Legislature. He also had the strength of character and courage to stand up against the Iraqi war.”
U.S Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), who has announced her endorsement of Clinton, said she believes Clinton’s long record of service to children shows where her heart is.
She said she is impressed that Clinton, as a young lawyer, served as staff attorney for Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund and later served as consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children.
“She has an enormously convincing story of someone who has empathy,” Jackson-Lee said of Clinton, “and out of empathy one can act upon the pain of others and the joy of others.”
While Scott said his endorsement of Obama has nothing to do with the fact that he is black, Jackson-Lee said Clinton’s candidacy is an opportunity to raise the ceiling for women.
“Now, it is frankly innovative and inspiring that America would find its way to possibly selecting someone who has both talent and experience who happens to be a woman, which would make us move to where countries around the world have already gone in selecting women as heads of state,” Jackson-Lee said.
U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) based her endorsement of Edwards on his health care stance.
“John Edwards is the only candidate to outline a specific plan to provide universal coverage, and I’m proud to be part of a campaign,” she said in a statement posted on the Edwards campaign website.
15 vs. 15
CBC members endorsing Hillary Clinton are Lee, Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio; Kendrick Meek, Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings of Florida; Yvette Clarke, Charles Rangel, Gregory Meeks and Edolphus Towns of New York; Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri; Dianne Watson and Laura Richardson of California; David Scott and John Lewis of Georgia; and Donna Christian-Christensen (V.I.).
Endorsing Obama are Clay; Scott, Danny Davis, Bobby Rush and Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois; Barbara Lee of California; Artur Davis of Alabama; Gwen Moore of Wisconsin; Elijah Cummings of Maryland; Sanford Bishop and Hank Johnson of Georgia; John Conyers of Michigan; Keith Ellison of Minnesota; Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania; and Al Green of Texas.
Endorsing Edwards are: Johnson of Texas; and Mel Watt and G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina.
Those who had not endorsed by NNPA deadline were: Eleanor Holmes Norton of D.C.; Jim Clyburn of South Carolina; Bennie Thompson of Mississippi; Al Wynn of Maryland; William Jefferson of Louisiana; Donald Payne of New Jersey, Maxine Waters of California and CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan.
The focus of the campaign is currently on the state of Iowa and its early Democratic presidential caucus on Jan. 3 and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8.
Obama leads slightly in Iowa and Clinton in New Hampshire.
Many predict that Super Tuesday – Feb. 5 – will be the deciding factor for who will likely win enough delegates for the Democratic nomination in Denver, Colo. Aug. 25-28. Super Tuesday is when 22 states – including Missouri – will hold primaries and caucuses.
Scott said Obama could win a general election despite racial prejudices.
“If he wins Iowa, he would be favored in New Hampshire,” Scott said.
“And if he wins New Hampshire, he’ll have a lock on South Carolina, which would put him well-postured to compete on Super Tuesday and he’ll have enough money.”
Voters must decide between two Democratic front-runners in a heated race for the White House, which will have been run by Republican President George W. Bush for eight years. Most Bush performance approval ratings are under 40 percent.
Some 160,000 troops are still stationed in Iraq in a war that more than half of Americans want ended, according to Pew Research opinion polls.
Leading Republican candidates are former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, U.S. Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
In recent history, blacks have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates for president.
“You have the worst job performance since Herbert Hoover. You’ve got the foreclosures at record highs. You’ve got the median income significantly lower,” Scott said.
“By the time the year is out, if people have a chance to look at the Republican administration, I think any Republican candidate will be hard-pressed to do well.”
Voter info
To exercise your right to vote, you must be registered to vote by the fourth Wednesday before the election. To vote on Feb. 5, you must be registered to vote by Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008.
City voters can register to vote by completing a Missouri Voter Registration Application and presenting it in person or mailing it to the Election Board (300 N. Tucker, St. Louis, MO 63101), a deputy registrar in your community, voter registration agency (DMV, Health and Social Services, Community and Regional Affairs, recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United States).
Visit www.stlelections.com for more information.
County voters can register to vote at any St. Louis County library, at the office of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners (12 Sunnen Dr., St. Louis Mo, 63143), at a driver’s licensing office while applying for or renewing a driver’s license, at a designated state agency while obtaining services, or by downloading a voter registration form with mailing instructions from the County board website at www.co.st-louis.mo.us/elections.