Just because you can do it, does not mean you should. Why are the young men in my neighborhood riding around with stereo speakers in the grill of their cars and why do they play crude music at 11:49 on Sunday morning while passing my A.M.E. church in Sylvester, Georgia. Like Eddie Murphy said about the guy who shot the Pope, “Make sure he goes to Hell.”
Sometimes we all do things that we will regret in the future. Last week, the nation was buzzing about former Alabama Governor George Wallace. We know now that Governor Wallace’s incendiary rhetoric was driven by a lust for power and fame; that his statements and actions did not reflect what was truly in his heart. Toward the end of his life, Wallace had the support of the many Alabama African Americans—take the time to read the following Time Magazine article from 1982.
George Wallace Overcomes — Printout — TIME
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,922988,00.html
It is spiritually disorienting to see a black driving a car with Alabama plates and a Wallace bumper sticker. It is surreal to walk into Wallace’s state campaign headquarters, a neobellum low-rise former furniture store on the edge of Montgomery. There, amid the deep shag carpeting and the clickity-click of computer printers churning out voter lists, sits Mrs. Ollie Carter, a black Wallace worker. All day she phones around the state with a gentle, churchgoing courtesy, asking blacks for their support, reminding them to vote.
Mrs. Carter claims that 98% of the blacks she calls say they are supporting Wallace. She taught elementary school for 19 years in rural Shelby County, and remembers that none of her pupils had their own textbooks until George Wallace became Governor. Wallace people almost always mention his record in improving Alabama education (though the state still ranks among the lowest in literacy), especially those free textbooks for the children, and the system of 26 junior colleges he started around the state. And the fact is that, leaving aside the low growls of race, Wallace was generally quite a good Governor. As for all of that racial viciousness, Mrs. Carter squares her frank and open countenance, earnest and astonishing: “He has made some mistakes. But haven’t we all? You have to understand. The races are more bold and honest with each other in the South.” That is true. So is the opposite; the exchange between the races in the South has also been a drama of long silences, of the unstated.
One theory has it that Alabama blacks have always been cynically knowing about George Wallace, that they have figured all along that his segregationist behavior and rhetoric were matters of political expediency.
We are at a crossroads in southern politics. I am concerned with the temperament of the next generation of the GOP. Sarah Palin and I finished high school in 1982 (same year as the above article) and I don’t want to see this charismatic leader turned into the early George Wallace for “political expediency.” If she makes the right moves and avoids the nutty elements, she could be the positive head of the new conservative movement.
There was a great article on the AJC Political Insider recently about who would be the next leader of the Republican National Committee—Georgians Newt Gingrich and Bainbridge’s Alec Poitevint were mentioned. I worked in the House when Gingrich was speaker and we Dems must respect his intellect. Newt always wanted the best results for America; the question becomes how do we get there. Newt is a Republican who knows those rural Black voters are conservative—Rep. Sanford Bishop’s long service proves this fact.
Obama success to date is not necessarily Democrat success. It could be a statement by the American people that bickering and bitterness is unbecoming. In the AJC article, State GOP Georgia chairwoman Sue Everhart emerges as a sensible leader for the future of her party. Does she know that African Americans could sway several Georgia congressional races and the senatorial race next month? (Obama keeps saying “and some Republicans”.)
Newt knows and Everhart is learning that the African American community in the South is moderate and the opportunity for cooperation with conservative is there; but the far right sounds like the George Wallace of old rather than the last George Wallace. Colin Powell always said that the party that gets the “sensible center” runs America. We will learn next year if the far right or the far left repels the center into the other major party.
“But on the other side of the GOP gulf are those who worry who worry that the GOP has limited itself by catering too forcefully to the Christian right and other interests. This is the “narrowing” that former secretary of state Colin Powell spoke of on Sunday, just before endorsing Obama.
Everhart counts herself among those who want to broaden the GOP reach, not purify it. “[Gov.] Sonny Perdue wasn’t elected by Republicans. He was elected by Democrats and independents, too,” she said.”
Project Logic Ga 
I think a polarizing figure such as Newt is best served by running for President in 2012. I’ve said this before, and I know this isn’t the popular stance ’round these parts. Obama is inheriting a bad government, McCain would be as well – and it is going to take a lot to make things better than they are now by 2012.
Something has to give, and if the GOP wins the Presidency the party is pretty much dead by 2012. Baring a miracle of God that fixes the country.
1964 wasn’t a Republican year. 1976 wasn’t a Republican year. 2008 will not be a Republican year.
2012 however brings new promises of hope for a fiscal conservative. I can’t say that I agree with many of Obama’s policies but I do see that he truly cares about the country. I don’t think he is a bad man, nor do I think McCain is. I also realize that if I want to see a true Conservative run then Obama needs to win.
What the GOP needs to recognize is that no one is truly a fiscal liberal. No matter one’s stances on a host of issues, I do not think that anyone would chose to receive a dollar bill in their pocket if it meant they would have to pay ten dollars the next day. No one wants to go broke. Social issues are a bad message, but fiscal policy can unify.
Another problem with the way the GOP has been run is the lack of engaging the African American community. We hear so much about the 90-10 split, and I think both sides are starting to take it for granted. As a party if we do not start engaging all voters, irregardless of status/race/power/religion, then we doom ourselves to fail.
This is why I suggest Newt in 2012. If McCain gets elected it is unclear of who the Democrats should run in 2012, but if Obama wins then it is clear that a true Conservative must emerge in order to prevent the party from dieing. While Newt has a storied past, and is controversial – the country will be yearning for a stark contrast in four years no matter whom is elected this year.
End rant-thingy.
Once against Ron, you are wise for your years. This is the real deal: this side and that side want to win because they have that “us” v. “them” mentality that carries over from sports.
Somebody fix that dog-gone country. Period. But, the lobbyist have bought and paid for D.C. and will push the best interest of their clients over the nation. McCain doing real campaign finance reform would have been pivotal.
Ron, these cats are not smart enough to listen to us. lol We could have told them that the new wave of Obama voters want change….that change includes messing with both parties to end the bickering. Like, “I voted for these Republicans and Obama…or I am for McCain, Saxby and Sanford…get it a room and don’t come out until you have results.
The young people talk about Ballers and Butter..ie. like Stuart Scott on ESPN saying, “He is like Butter, because you know he is on a roll.”
When someone better tell the old GOP guard that transition or evolution is need because their Baller status is in jeopardy. Georgia two Senators and a few GOP congressmen sit down at the negotiation table with the Democrats and the GOP base goes crazy. Newsflash GOP base: you are not on top at this time….the Dems did not do it…Obama did not do it…the people grew weary of talking about social stuff as their wallets got flatter.
It is insultingly silly to think that Obama would take America to the left. The South would not have it, conservatives would not have it and most Blacks would not have
I think Obama is going to take the country to the left of where it is now, but not to a far left. The country tends to sit in the middle because we are divided about the best way to proceed. I have no doubt that any candidate thinks they are not doing what is right
Having said that, Obama is going to be inheriting a bad, bad country.
Where the country is now is an interesting point; we hear this and hear that but those making the loudest noise could be those most active. The average American was too busy providing for their families but this year.
The silent majority has come to realize that governmental actions hit home.