Minutes after being declared the underdog winner in a U.S. Senate race, the character that Robert Redford portrays in The Candidate utters the frightening line “Now, what do I do?”
North Side voters might be asking themselves that same question about Democratic nominees for the state House of Representatives T.D. El-Amin and Jamilah Nasheed.
A number of leading African-American politicians and civic leaders suddenly seem to be unsure as to what or whom these – ostensibly Democratic – politicians will represent in Jefferson City come January.
Recently, El-Amin was reminded of the importance of taking the fight to Republicans, even though Democrats are outgunned in the state House and Senate and will be after Nov. 7.
El-Amin’s response was a Twilight Zonish monologue on first “dealing with our own” and “fixing the problems” he has with other Democrats. Hey, T.D. (the politician formerly known as “Talibdin”), you’re a Democrat. Or are you a Republican in disguise, who can’t wait to start socking away dollars in your war chest as they roll in from right-wing PACs backing everything from vouchers to teachers carrying guns in schools?
Nasheed was given similar advice on challenging Republican rule, and her response was as meandering and indirect as El-Amin’s. The first words out of Jeff Smith’s mouth at campaign events involved taking the fight to Gov. Matt Blunt and the Republican Party. Those words never seem to cross the lips of El-Amin or Nasheed. Neither, lately, do Medicaid, Voted ID or racial profiling.
Nasheed and El-Amin wrap themselves in a “blacker than black” flag. But black is as black does (and votes). We must watch what new friends these folks make in the state capital. And we must all remember that right-wing interest groups have recently learned to hold their nose long enough to do business with black politicians who – whether out of selfishness or cluelessness – are willing to do their bidding.