more on race in the race

If you were interested in the previous post and on the way African-Americans will weigh in on the November election, I strongly recommend this article on NPR and the interviews attached. 

Two things are indeed worth noting : the GOP is courting the Black vote as it has rarely done before and Conservative Blacks are facing a real dilemna : cast a historic ballot by supporting a Black man or vote according to their convictions. 

What do you make of this dilemna? Should racial advancement trump political beliefs? 

Barack Obama and Blacks, a misunderstanding?

Last week, the famous Reverend Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and the first African American to have had a shot at the Democratic nomination for president made a huge gaffe: he did not know that his mic was on when he made an assertion ( "Barack Obama talks down to Blacks") and an aggressive comment on how we would like to punish Obama for being demeaning towards the African-Americans !

You can imagine how much hype this caused. One of the most famous and revered African American making such a rude comment when he thought he was off the record. 

Another factor that hyped this up was the fact that Jesse Jackson Jr, the reverend's own son made a resounding criticism of these remarks and disowned his father in a way no one ever had. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been involved in running the Obama campaign since the beginning and is one of his staunchest supporters. Watch the video of the CNN anchor reading out the statement of Jesse Jackson Jr repudiating his father's remarks (in the background a video of Jesse Jackson Sr.)

Why is it possible for Reverend Jesse Jackson to say such a thing?  What in Obama's campaign pushed him to take such a radical stance? 

Basically the main reproach Jesse Jackson and other African-Americans have been making to the Obama campaign is that he is too intent on pleasing the white electorate and thus takes the Black vote for granted. For instance, some of Obama's speaches on how Black men should take reponsibility for the actions and truly fulfill the parental duties. To them, such rhetoric seems designed to reassure the white voters on Obama's values and his desire to "reform" the broken Black family and encourage young Black men to be responsible fathers and citizens, and thus probably less threatening than the perenial cliché of the "angry Black man". 

The left-wing of the Democratic Party, along with many Black politicians and activists see this as a white crowd pleasing gimmick, steering the debate away from the real issues : the deep-rooted causes of Black poverty. 

I think that Obama is developing a very traditional discourse on personal responsibility, well tailored to his own success story ( son of a Kenyan immigrant) and deeply rooted in American values of self-help, courage and work. This is characteristic of the shift to the center operated by Obama for the general election campaign (see previous post).

What does it mean about Barack Obama's campaign and his relationship to the African-American community? 

I think that what we are seeing is remarkable and historic : the arrival of a new generation of politicians who have not been part of the civic rights movement of the 1950s-60s. Barack Obama's message is not specifically designed to please the African-American community nor will his policies be specifically oriented towards them. Previously most Black politicians had more or less represented Black constituencies and had been thus most focussed on the needs of their community. 

As he is trying to create a new brand brand of "post-racial" politics, Obama has been wary of appearing as the Blacks' candidate and thus may well have erred on the side of non-racial partisanship. 

No one seriously believes that the Black community will come out for McCain in November, but one may wonder how the global strategy of the campaign will affect the old-guard of the civic rights movement who still wields quite a bit of political weight within the African-American community ( a bit more that 10% of the American population). Will the Blacks vote in November? Can Obama  win without them? and how would it playout during his presidency?

Should he take the Black vote for granted? 

Are we really seeing the end of racial politics with Obama or is he a Black politician trying to be White?

flip-flops for the summer

Flip-flopping is extremely dangerous in American politics.  

Both candidates have recently come under attack for changing their positions to suit  the expectations of the voters they were courting. 

For instance the  online version of the right wing publication The   National Review lists the examples of policy shifts by Barack Obama : on free trade ( he attacked NAFTA during the primary to ingratiate himself with the Democratic mid-western voters but is now distancing himself from his earlier comments to please the independents); on campaign finance; gun control; Reverend Wright, etc... 

Meanwhile the socially and economically liberal The Economist, strongly criticizes John McCain for his "lurch to the right" and for relinquishing his former moderate and independent pleasing opinions. McCain is now less staunchly opposingthe use of torture, the existence of the Guatanamo Bay detention center. He has also forsaken his moderate approach to immigration policy, his initial oppisition to the Bush tax-cuts... The Economist suggests that this is a wrong-headed strategy which will play in Barack Obama's hands. "American elections classically involve a two-step: the candidate runs to the extreme in the primary , then back to the center for the general. Mr Obama is doing that. Mr McCain seems to be doing precisely the opposite. It is a mistake". 

Moreover, it is counter-intuitive: if McCain managed to win the Republican primary without the more conservative section of the party's base, why wouldn't he stick to his moderate policy in the general election, when the conservative voters represent a smaller proportion of the electorate. I think that it comes down to this: Obama's appeal to the independents is very threatening to McCain's centrist strategy and makes the 30M strong evangelical voting block more desirable than ever. 

McCain is undoubtedly trying to rally the conservative and religious base of the GOP. The choice of the VP, will give us a clear signal of the McCain strategy. For instance, if McCain wants to rally the evangelical conservatives, Bobby Jindal from Louisianna might be a good pick and would undoubtedly signal that McCain is not tring to conquer the political center. 

The issue is : how detrimental will these flip-flops be to the candidates? Are some policy shifts worse than others, which ones will be used in the ad-war which is likely to be waged before the election. McCain has already seized on Obama's change of heart on campaign finance : 

To celebrate July 4th with the Americans you can organize a celebratory barbecue ( the traditional American occupation on this day) or listen to the Declaration of Independence read by the NPR journalists.

Big Money

Cash makes a splash in the news this week. Campaign finance is the story.

It's been a few week since Barack Obama locked the nomination and that Hillary Clinton begrudgingly "suspended her campaign". This expression is used when a candidate is no longer fighting for the election but is still making public appearances and raising money on her own behalf. Remember she owes $10M to vendors and $12M to herself ! 

A joint fund raising campaign is now underway with Obama trying to encourage the 1.6Mdonors who contributed small sums to his campaign to help Sen. Clinton and with the Clinton campaign sharing their big "bundlers" ( people who raise bundles of small donations on the behalf of a candidate) with the Obama camp. 

This effort seems to yield two net results : first it improves the Democrats ability to fund their campaign but more importantly by campaigning side by side the candidates are certainely sending a reassuring message of unity to their base. 

To send the message out, they held a rally in Unity, New Hampshire, one of the battlegrounds of November : check out the coordinated outfits of the two former rivals!

Previously another money related piece of news hit the headline : Obama declined the public funding for his campaign, thus signalling that he trusts that he can raise more money than the limited amount ($84M) he would be granted by the State to run his presidential bid. 

This is the first time that a candidate has chosen this option ever since campaign finance regulation was introduced in the wake of the Watergate scandal. And during the primary, the Democratic candidate had said he would accept this limited funding and try to find an agreement with his Republican opponent to cap campaign spending. He thus appears to have opportunistically changed his mind after discovering the power of his fund raising machine. 

McCain will be using public funding and thus spending a large yet mimited amount of money trying to get elected. Republicans obviously attack Obama for his decision and say that their candidate will be placed at a financial disadvantage. The Democrats' response is that : in fact the Republicans will spend far more than $84M dollars to get their candidate elected, via advertisements financed by "shadow groups" commonly called "527s". These groups often run extremely aggressive ads : the most infamous example being the swiftboat smear campaign against Sen. Kerry that seriously damaged the Democratic candidate's credibility. Watch the video. McCain himself lost the 2000 primary to George Bush in part due to a rumour about his daughter, fueled by such 527 organizations. Their allegations seriously impaired his chances in South Carolina and might have cost him the nomination. 

For an analysis of this issue of campaign finance, refer to the NYTimes.

Other issues at random : 

Obama seems to be courting the evangelical vote and competing with the Republicans for what has been one of their strongest voting blocks since 1980 and Ronald Reagan's first election. This emphasizes the evolution currently underway within the evangelical community, perhaps heralding a break-down of what has long been called the religious right. 

The National Review is suggesting that Barack Obama himself is injecting race into the campaign in the hope of hurting McCain by a preemptive strike. 

The blog www.politico.com write about the GOP's strategy to paint Obama as a conventional politician, eager to serve his own ambitions; thus seeking to undermine his message of hope and renewal. Simultaneously the Republican strategists are re-introducing McCain as a patriot, a war hero who is able of making the tough decisions: when a prisonner in Vietnam he was offered the chance to go home, but he "put his country first" (= refused to offer a great propaganda opportunity to the ennely). McCain also highlights his achievements as a bi-partisan legislator, capable of bringing people together to pass important pieces of legislation. This will help the Senator from Arizona dissociate himself from the Bush administration which, it is suggested, placed self interest and political motivations ahead of the common good. 

Extra seminar on Wednesday 11

Dear students, 

I've booked a room for next Wednesday at 2PM. 

I hope this is a convenient slot for all of you who wish to attend. I'll have your exam papers so that you can consult them and see where you fell short. Please come with your answer sheet, available from the google group. I'd like you to let me know via email if you are thinking of coming. 

Good luck on your exams. 

AM

PS : Hillary Clinton won South Dakota (surprising me at least) and made a speech in which she willed to go on. Meanwhile in Minnesota, Barack Obama proclaimed himself the winner of the primaries after reaching the threshhold of 2118 delegates required to win the nomination. He emphasized his now traditional themes : change and the fact that this was  a historic moment. 

Montana and South Dakota and we're done

Two more primaries and the season will be completely finished. These two States are not very well known so it's time to find out more about them : 

To learn more about Montana, you may want to listen to a ten minute presentation of the State by the youthful journalists of the Bryant Park Project. 

And now meet South Dakota.

Obama is expected to win both primaries, it'll be interesting to see by what margin he takes the two States : can he match Clinton's performances in Puerto Rico (+60%), Kentucky (65%), West Virginia (67%)? 

All the while, Hillary Clinton is making her case that she has won the popular vote (to be closer to the truth let's say it's a virtual tie) and trying to convince the superdelegates that she would be a stronger candidate in November. But the superdelegates continue to endorse Obama in a steady trickle. Many of them will have to make up their minds in the coming days, once all voters have had their say. However, the voters have not delivered a clear message to the superdelegates, it all rests in their hands; for good or for bad, they are the kingmakers.  

Is the end nearing or receding?

Over the week-end several key events have been in the public eye but have not brought the Democratic fight to an end. One may even say that these events may prolong the fight. 

On Saturday, the Democratic Party's Rules and By-Laws Comittee handed down its much awaited decision on the issue of the Michigan and Florida delegates. A very quick reminder : these two States had held their primaries in January, in defiance of the Democratic National Committe's calendar rules. In consequence, the DNC made it known that the delegates would not be seated at the Convention in Denver. The two States ploughed on regardless, eager as they were that their vote should "count", or make a difference in the race by voting before Super Tuesday. All the candidates abided by the rule that they were not to campaign in these States and all candidates except Clinton took their names off the ballot in Michigan. 

The results of these two primaries were favourable to Clinton. And ever since, the candidate has been clamoring to have the delegates seated at the convention, lest the voters of these States should feel disenfranchised and fail to turn up at the polling stations in November. 

The DNC was in a bit of a pickle : either it stuck by its rule or it allowed the delegates to be seated and thus lost all authority. 

Amidst agitation and demonstrations, the Rules and By-Laws Committee approved a compromise, as expected by the media and the politicians : the delegates from Florida and Michigan will all be seated at the convention but each will have half a vote. They then proceeded to allocating the delegates betweeen Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. 

For Florida, 105 delegates were awarded to Clinton and 67 to Obama. 

In Michigan the problem was a bit more complicated due to the circumstances : who should get the 55 "uncommitted" delegates? Obama, or should they be kept "uncommitted" ( open to being convinced by the Clinton camp, for instance)? Clinton's campaign insisted that it had won 73 delegates, while Obama supporters wanted to split the delegates in two, allocating 64 to each side. The Rules committee chose a different allocation altogether : 69 delegates to Clinton and 59 to Obama. 

For some this ruling is unfair and Clinton has been cheated of 4 delegates. It might only fuel Clinton's outrage and undermine Obama'a chances of winning Michigan when comes November : for more on this read Thurlow Weed's article on Real Clear Politics. 

A staffer of the Clinton campaign has said that they might take the issue to the Credentials Committee for an appeal. In that case, the primary contest would continue through until July, when the committee is expected to meet. The other scenario of a never ending primary is one in which the fight continues until the Denver National Democratic Convention at the end of August. What this means is that Clinton would refuse to step down and thus encourage the fight to be settled by the vote of the delegates. This is often referred to as a brokered convention.

The other important event was Senator Clinton's win in Puerto Rico. She trounced the Senator from Illinois by a 2 to 1 margin. Clinton remains a huge forcein the field even if the media have been trumpeting the victory of her opponent for over a week now. 

 Once again this primary showcased the strength of Clinton in the Latino constituency. Will Obama manage to do well in the general election if he only has lukewarm support in several key Democratic constituencies : working class voters, women and Latinos? 

An interesting question worth considering by the super-delegates that have not made up their minds is : who is really winning the popular vote?