> On Thursday, August 28, 2003, at 10:21 PM, joand315 wrote:
>
>> Based on Dean's recent hiring of Carol Moseley Brauns's campaign
>> manager and a few other African Americans to his campaign staff, I
>> don't see how you could say he was apathetic. It's more likely that's
>> he inept in that regard, but willing to learn.
>
>
> Let's hope so. I don't know anything about Dean's operation but what I
> read and hear. But I'm going on the obvious fact that Clinton, whatever
> his failings, has always been able to elicit an enthusiastic response
> from African Americans that most other white Demo candidates have not. I
> think it is not just a matter of putting some AAs on your staff -- even
> the Repubs do that. It has more to do with an emotional rapport --
> "message: I care." But not just claiming it -- making the claim
> believable. (Of course, once you get into office, you can reneg on most
> or all of your promises, because this constituency is not going to
> defect to the GOP.)
As I said before, I think Dean is too socially liberal to appeal to most African American voters. His health care program and his education program and his home visit program for newborns might appeal. His program to promote small business because they won't outsource jobs might appeal. He's not the right religion, though. Clinton and Gore were both Baptists were they not. At least when they wanted to they could preach like Baptists and I think that is the right language to appeal to African American voters.
Dean took a page from Clinton's book and said in his stump speech that he was tired of living in a country that was divided by race, but we all know that that's theoretical for him. He's going to have to figure out how to make it real.
>> It's not often mentioned but Al Gore had pretty good rapport with
>> African Americans. I saw him on TV give a really rousing shirt sleeve
>> speech African American group. He was animated he and excited and
>> seemed very at home. I think if he could have been that way in front
>> of white folks, he would have done better (won a bigger majority of
>> votes) than he did.
>
>
> Yes, I agree that Gore was almost as good in this respect as his boss.
> Probably not coincidentally, both are Southern politicians (as was LBJ,
> for example). What examples are there of Yankee Dem politicians with
> that kind of interracial rapport?
Bobby Kennedy Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman - I guess that's borderline since he's from Missouri
off the top of my head and it's not hard to see why they got that kind of support. They did things that tangibly improved the lives of African Americans in this country.
Dean is planning on using the good old voter registration drive to reach not only the African American community but the very important Hispanic community as well.
-joan
> Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
> ________________________________
> Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not
> truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. -
> Frank Zappa
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