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Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

The Georgia 2nd congressional district race comes down to one simple point for me: Rep. Sanford Bishop is the goose that laid the golden egg.  We, the 2nd district voters, have positioned him to serve our state and that posturing took time and effort.  Tossing our employee now wouldn’t be smart.

An Albany, Georgia, city councilman who is also a college professor recently called Bishop, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, a $100 million per year industry for South Georgia.  I can get concerned about staff miscues and oversights but protecting a 100M per year is a bigger concern. 

Where were these budget-minded people when we were spending billions “nation building” in Iraq. No one supports our troops more than me but I wish we would have allowed the military the leeway to take down Saddam and his sons with a Navy Seal Team quickly rather than a prolonged situation that had us building schools, hospitals and roads there while our infrastructure crumbles. 

The conservative movement seems hypocritical because Bishop is one of the few Congressional Black Caucus members willing to work with conservatives on issues.  To me, the massive effort to remove Bishop is centered on 2012.  With moderate Democrats gone, the remaining congressional Dems would be more liberal and easier targets for presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

It may sound silly but keeping Bishop and his seniority reminds me of that comedy bit by Sommore.  Her man explains that the woman he is with provides the resources he uses to acquire Sommore’s nice things.  Sommore tells the man to cover her up so the “blank” doesn’t catch cold.

Bishop’s slight oversights are nothing compare to governor candidate Nathan Deal’s mulitmillion dollar oversights but I don’t care about oversights; cover Bishop up so he doesn’t catch cold.  Bill Clinton was “involved” with a chubby intern but his economic policies led to record budget surpluses; we covered Clinton up so he wouldn’t catch cold.   Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss protects our regional farm and military interests with Bishop; cover Saxby up with an appropriate red blanket so he doesn’t catch cold and cover up GOP Rep. Jack Kingston so he doesn’t catch cold while he works (again with Bishop) to securing funding to deepen the Port of Savannah, a leading economic engine for the South.  

To confuse the golden goose/poultry parallel, Bishop could be the 100M golden goose or a chicken on the TV show Survivor.  While some castaways want to eat the chicken for protein now, wiser team members protect the bird for a constant supply of eggs.  Everyone outside the Tea Party Movement know the Obama reelection wave of 2012 will take the 2nd district back for the Democrats.  So, bouncing Bishop would hurt south Georgia for no good reason.  We shouldn’t rally to help Bishop and Obama; we should rally behind Bishop to help ourselves.

I am ticked off that “rallying” is needed anyway.  Let me get this right: Obama comes on the national stage and folks are crying and swooning (he is a great leader.)  But, Bishop has been break his neck for Georgia for decades and folks need to be rallied.  Excuse me.  Sommore needs to be his campaign manager because nobody knows money like Sommore knows money.

Oh, we know Bishop after decades of public service and we know the he wouldn’t jeopardize his status or legacy behind some little part-time jobs or small scholarships.  Please.  Bishop’s efforts regarding job creation  involves billions and college money would be billions in regular scholarships for working people and veterans education benefits for our returning troops and their families. 

Democrats and reasonable moderates need to vote in southwest Georgia or our goose is cooked.   Tea and golden goose liver pate would be one costly dish.

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Could it be true: are some people too dim to vote.  I just noticed a comment on a post about John Monds, candidate for governor in Georgia from the Libertarian Party.  The comment said “he short as hell” and I did not know if the writer was referring to my picture with Monds or with Rep. Sanford Bishop.  Monds, Bishop, and MLK are all Morehouse Men and like Dr. Benjamin Mays of Morehouse they emphasize achievement and intellectual stature over physical stature.  

John Monds is taking the high road in a governor race that has seen negative ads after negative ads from candidates who aren’t generally considered negative people.  I think a cottage industry has developed in which people are more interested in making money from fundraising and media ads than actually winning the elections.

Monds has represented the LP movement well and introduced a southern style of the LP.  Nationally, the LP generally stands for freedom and liberty from government regulations and involvement.  Monds has pushed those principles without bringing up the marijuana card that could spicy up his numbers with some voters.  I am not for smoking cannabis or for gambling personally (gaming being another hot button issue) but many political observers would play that card with the current changes in California in mind.

Monds is a powerful man in Georgia politics because his governor bid could provide ballot access to the LP for future elections and his run will likely force a runoff.  Former congressman Nathan Deal is fighting to hold his base and former governor Roy Barnes is fighting to turnout the Dem base while attracting moderates.  Politicos I bumped into during the local HCBU’s homecoming all said the same thing: why are Democrats spending 30 million dollars on media buys and very little on the streets. 

“The streets” or Get Out The Vote (GOTV) operations have traditionally been a method of awarding those with great community networking skills and those with well-earned reputations as community problem-solvers.  Today, that money goes to run more and more TV ads and the real winners during election season are HBO and Showtime—no commercials.

Mark my word and file this post: the down ballot Democrat candidates are suffering from a lack of GOTV and if the governor race goes into a runoff, Democrats are not coming back out because getting them out now is unbelievable hard.  Some Democrats are rumored to be voting for Monds as a protest for Barnes taking them for granted while courting conservative voters.

Again, are some people too dim to vote?  You have Dems who cried when Obama was elected but won’t vote in the mid-term elections.  We also have conservative voters whose views are shaped by TV and radio talking heads and the Tea Party Movement rather than seasoned public servants or policy wonks.  When did experience become a bad thing?   Rep. Charles Hatcher told me that lobbyists like dumb candidates and heavy turnover because congress is complex and under those conditions the lobbyists have the knowledge and power.

Recently, former governor Roy Barnes bumped into 8th district GOP congressional candidate Austin Scott and Barnes joked that a picture together would ruin Scott’s reputation.  Barnes was so right because the GOP voters want candidates who detest Democrats and Scott must cloak the fact that Democrats and Republicans down here consider him a bright and likeable guy.  Of course, there can be zero mention of the fact that Scott voted to change Georgia’s flag when Barnes was govenor.  If Scott wins next month, his history of voting his mind will put him at the top of the list of freshmen Republicans that President Obama wants to know.

That last line means that the conservative Austin Scott would be better for this White House than the current Democrat congressman Jim Marshall who is slamming Obama and Pelosi every chance he gets.

Come to think about it, I am taller in pictures than Austin Scott, Sanford Bishop, John Monds, Rep. John Lewis, Senator Johnny Isakson and Rep. Jack Kingston but that doesn’t mean a thing when we remember MLK’s line about contend of character.  (The same could be said about U.S. Senate candidate Michael Thurmond, who I never met.  He would be a great asset in the U.S. Department of Labor.)

In America, no one is too dim to vote.  However, we clearly have those who are too dim to realize the importance of voting but I am not worried because they didn’t read this long blog post.   If weed was legal or decriminalized, those dim cats would be even dimmer.  Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is off on the marijuana issue.

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I am moderate Democrat and understand that Blue Dogs are moderate to conservative on some level. However, the latest campaign ad from Rep. Jim Marshall might have crossed the line.  The ad slams Speaker Pelosi more than she could possible deserve. 

The same Mrs. Pelosi who engineer the Democrat takeover of the House and helped the Obama/Biden ticket.  She is from San Francisco but her leadership isn’t ultra liberal, as some would have you think.  If she is so bad, why did Rep. Marshall vote for her for speaker?  Can he ask for Democrat votes while never admitting if he voted for Obama or McCain? 

If the ad say Marshall is supported by groups that wouldn’t have anything to do with a Pelosi supporter, what will become of those who wouldn’t have anything to do with a Nancy Pelosi slammer.  How does he feel about Rep. Steny Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn of Pelosi’s leadership team.

While we are fighting to support real Democrats, several Dem freshmen members of Congress recently learned that funding support for their reelection might be pulled and redirected. They must be smart with cash for the final push but those brave freshmen that supported President Obama deserve help before a veteran like Marshall who brags about “voting the same as Republican leaders 65% of the time.”   Hear that sound, it the erosion of your base.

And I approved that message.

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What in the world could get Obama supporters voting this election season?  Watching Fox Cable News for one hour.  That’s it; I have done it again and gratis I unfortunately add. 

The word unbeknownst comes up in conversational English rarely but many southerners work with people who “unbeknownst” to their neighbors are being brainwashed by the Rightwing media.  We aren’t talking about extremists or separatists; I am referring to average hardworking Americans who have been whipped into a frenzy by a constant dosage of well-crafted propaganda designed to pit Americans against Americans and drive T.V. and radio ratings.  Dig this: the ultimate goal isn’t necessarily winning elections.  The goal is getting gold..staying paid.

The propaganda is rooted in truth but amplified to a dangerous level.  For example, we all had radical phases in college but had to back off that “knowledge and wisdom” before we went too far.  Too much Public Enemy would make you slap someone and like get shot with a deer rifle.  (Flava Fav is dating whom again…and Ice Cube is America’s dad.)  

On the morning after the talent rich Atlanta Braves ended another season without a championship, the talent rich Democrats wonder why we can’t win when obviously helping hard-working people weather a rough economic storm.  It’s because Fox Cable News has twisted voters’ minds so well.  Barrack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton are collectively the anti-Christ or something.  Those people at Fox know what they are doing and they are very good at it. 

If you voted for Obama/Biden, you should have someone ducttape you to a chair that is out of arms’reach from the remote control and watch the national Fox cable channel for one hour.  The methods and ugliness of that channel will close the enthusiasm gap with a quickness and make you vote.  If not, you are doing the president wrong by voting for him but being ghost when the heavy lifting starts; he can’t do it alone.  The cats on Fox News are smart people and they know deep inside that Obama isn’t the things they are saying.  To be fair, MSNBC is fast becoming a Left version of Fox so turn to CNN and toss the remote out of the window.  

For the college kids, watching Fox News could be a new drinking game; take a shot every time you say “Say what” “Dam” or “Nasty.”  The Tea Party type Republicans aren’t your daddy’s GOP and as freshmen members of congress they would commandeer that party like the inmates running the asylum.

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I feel like Chicken Little but would perfect a little chicken—smoked with some John Boy and Billy barbeque sauce.  It’s hard for a brother to publicly admit a love for yardbird but it is time to tell the truth.  After watching a zillion campaign ads a month before the election, I wish those fellows would spend 5% of that money on some good old fashion barbeque chicken rallies so real folks can talk about the real mess we are facing.  The folks on the Right are out hustling moderates with those events this years.  

The Chicken Little thing comes from running around say that we should diversify our political portfolio by understanding moderation and some elements of conservatism.  Well, the Blue Dogs became the closest thing to Democrat conservatives and that put big Election Day targets on them.  Because political portfolios are like my nonexistent stock portfolios, we thought we should also hedge our bets my investing in some reasonable Republicans, those slightly over the political centerline.  That stock would have dropped like BP stock because the GOP got rid most of the few moderates in their ranks as they drove farther Right…scary far Right.  

Barrack Obama is Jimmy Carter and Sarah Palin is Ronald Reagan.  Like my homie Carter, Obama is the smartest guy on the planet but not smart enough to realize that our party doesn’t deserve him.  From Georgia Tech and the Naval Academy, Carter was a brainy president who campaigned telling the truth and wanted to govern the same way.  If we listened to Carter and changed our energy consumption in the 70s, our involvement in the wild Middle East could be limited to wanting peace rather than needing their oil. 

President Obama, like Carter, is too nice for the rough, sneaky world of politics.  Obama planned to help regular people and watch them show their appreciation my supporting Democrats at the polls.  Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea.  People didn’t appreciate Carter or Clinton and November 2 will be Obama’s unfortunate wake up call. 

You can’t help people who won’t help themselves.  President Obama and the congressional Democrats have done a good job during a terrible period and history will realize that fact.  Jimmy Carter has a vibe about him that seems to say, “If you would have listened to me.”

I can’t understand why the current GOP is loving on Ronald Reagan so much because everyone knows that the conservative movement has moved so far right that Reagan wouldn’t pass their purity test.  Reagan would be a Blue Dog.  But boy, ole boy, President Reagan had Hollywood style charisma; dude was a natural leader.   

Which brings me to natural leader Sarah Palin.  The GOP actual has quality presidential material sitting on the bench in Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.  But, No…that would be too much like right.  They want Palin and she is like butter because you know she is on a roll.

Sarah Palin, who has as much business being president as I have, is using this mid-term election to take control of congress and give President Obama hell.  But checking this out: she isn’t creating an army of regular Republicans—regular Republicans wouldn’t be too much different from Blue Dogs.  Palin is taking over with the Tea Party Movement and if she were successful next month she would be the GOP candidate for the White House.  If moderates don’t vote, we are greenlighting President Palin. 

I think Reagan would reject the whole witch hunt technique of the far Right and the birthers.  When big money and power are on the table, people will resort to anything.  As President Obama often states, the TPM is primarily regular Americans concerned with the size and scope of government.  But the brains behind the movement are nasty nerds who didn’t study political science in school; they studied marketing and got really good at it.  The same ad men who design marketing plans for soap, burgers and cars also design political plans that whip people into a frenzy of hate and divide this nation.  

Before his political career, Ronald Reagan was one of the few Americans who stood up to the witchhunting red scare of  Senator Joseph McCartney.  As Gil Scott Heron sang, “When other celluloid saviors were cringing in fear from McCartneyism, Ron stood tall.” Reagan went before the congressional committee and said that as a young actor he had various friends and some had usual political affiliations.  If Reagan were alive today, what would he think about the attacks Obama took during the 2008 campaign?

Gil Scott Heron broke it down in his classic “B Movie.”  The political song was about America’s desire to have a president who rode to the rescue like John Wayne in B Movies.  “..but since John Wayne was no longer available, we settled for Ronald Reagan.” 

The first line in “B Movie” (just before the righteous bass playing started) was “And the first thing I want to say is mandate my ass.”  He went on to say, “we have been convinced that 26% of the registered voters—not 26% of American people- forms a mandate or a landslide.”

Almost thirty years later, Heron’s grasp of political numbers is still important.  How big is the Tea Party Movement.  What the hell difference does it make because the most salient statistic is this: 100% of them vote.  Do we need chicken, fried fish, and one of those kid bouncy room things to entice regular folks to vote?  If we do, we deserve the Tea Party as mean-spirited leaders of this nation.  How is this for enticement—President Palin.  Beck and Limbaugh will tell you in a minute that their jobs aren’t running the nation but generating ratings. If a cultural civic war happens as a result, ratings will be off the chart—more money. 

We listened to Gil Scott Heron vinyl and tried to understand trickle-down economics.  A rich guy needs to be richer so he can get a bigger pool and I get my money as his pool cleaner.  They get the rest of the masses with church stuff; like Democrats are godless heathens. 

Democrats help people who don’t vote or follow politics but don’t let a football game come on the box.  I came up with a little test this morning:

Ask a southern guy to name as many SEC football head coaches as possible then ask him to name the same number Supreme Court justices.  Ask him to name as many NFL starting quarterbacks then name one U.S. Senator from that player’s teams’ state. 

My point is football is important but voting and good leadership directly affects your family and your wallet.  Conservatives generally aren’t bad people but their plans for leadership center on allowing people to suffer and struggle to encourage them to prove their condition—tough love style.  Vote for those you want to govern but by all means vote. 

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5 min.Early vote

Grown folks knew what is happening was going to happen when we elected President Obama.  They said that the same people who cheered and jumped up and down would be the same people who did vote in the midterm elections. 

I can see it in the First Lady’s face; a face that looks like mine.  She is telling him, “remember when I said you can run only with the understanding that if it doesn’t work, if the nation doesn’t want or appreciate us….we walk away.”  She looks like she is thinking, “we don’t need this mess.” 

Oh, do we need them. We need her to cut loose and tough talk with regular Americans about what we can do to improve our situation with the moderation, planning, focus and deliberation that made the Robinson family successful. 

She could create a new moderation that opens the door for moderates being shown the door by the far right.  The emergence of these new moderates gives a voice to those who read Hill Harper, Bill Cosby and Joe Scarborough books. The Blue Dogs were correct all along and that’s why the crafty cats on the far Right want them gone; no moderate Democrats mean the Democrat Party is primary liberal and an easier target in 2012. 

But, first things first: vote in the midterm.  In Georgia, a 2010 vote is more important than your 2008 vote.  A very vocal and energetic segment of population has ginned up voters with a desire to take over the congress from the Democrats and even the Republicans.  Yes, the far Right section of conservative side is looking at the regular Republicans as if to say “this is how you do it” and you know what they do if you are over 40 years old.

Grown folks, we need to talk.  After we talk, we need to call, email, text, tweet or whatever whose under 30 and tell them (not ask them) to vote.  The Republicans have a few quality guys who might be president in the future—Rep. Paul Ryan and Governor Mitch Daniels come to mind.  But, this midterm election is the  next step in the Palin for president plan and her Tea Party congressional candidates will be spending the next two years graying the rest of Obama’s hair with subpoenas and impeachment efforts.

We shouldn’t hate on those who use “any means necessary” to stop an agenda they dislike because they couldn’t do it if regular folks would take 10 minutes to early vote.  By any means necessary (cookout, Sunday dinner, half-time talk at the high school football games), we should remind our community to vote.  Early vote or the Obama presidency effectively ends early–not four years but two years when he should have eight.

You might as well dust off your 70s vinyl because we are about to go back to the future next month if you we don’t vote.  I am listening to that haunting R&B flute with fond memories of the past but also clear recollections of our community being voiceless and the South being a powder keg.  By mid November, reasonable people will be saying “I want my country back”  when referring to last month.

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With Rep. Bishop

Albany, Georgia City Commissioner Jon Howard is my classmate from college and one of the most dedicated public servants you will ever meet.  He put together a candidates forum this morning and I found myself talking with Bishop, Everson, Monds and Dukes. 

That list of names isn’t a law firm but speakers at the forum who represent the whole political spectrum.  Sanford Bishop is a sitting Democrat congressman and my old boss.  I had three congressmen bosses on Capitol Hill and they all took pride in listening to and serving everyone in their districts—the people who voted for them as well as the loyal opposition.  During this election season, I have heard that the Democrats don’t listen to people.  I take that personally because I know for a fact that we had hell to pay if we didn’t give full consideration to every citizen from our area. 

(Follow me because this is about to get complex.) 

When a candidate says “everyone I talk with wants the D.C. crowd gone,” that candidate is being sincere and isn’t lying.  That candidate simply has been receiving a constant diet of information from a select or limited group of voters-come to my side of town.  Albany State University is playing a college football classic game against Savannah State in Waycross, Georgia, today.  Waycross is represented by GOP Rep. Jack Kingston, who prides himself on going to political forums in every area…alone.  Jack knows he isn’t going to get any votes on that side of town but wants to stand like a man by his legislative decisions.  

Knowing the political makeup of Kingston’s district, I would not move there and badger him for not being a moderate like me.  By my logic, the same mindset applies in Bishop’s district.  However, Democrats have a tendency to take some elections off or not fully appreciate the work of elected officials like President Obama.  So, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and the other side is very loud. 

Democrats are too nice to each others.  If  you support this president, you should vote now because this election to those of the far Right is a referendum on the White House and the Democrat-controlled congress.  The vote this November is actually as important as the vote in November 2008 because Obama wasn’t going to win Georgia but we have a lot to lose this year. 

Melvin Everson was a GOP candidate for State Labor Commissioner and also a graduate of Albany State University.  I told him earlier this summer that I looked forward to voting for a fellow Golden Ram but his party’s primary voters picked someone else.  At the forum this morning, he was surprisingly classy to supported other GOPers because I am still tickled about his defeat and the defeat of GOP congressional candidate Dr. Deborah Honeycutt in the Atlanta area.  I better leave that alone but…..you know what’s up. 

Winfred Dukes is a local contractor and long-time state representative.  I never met him before today but admired his fight during the last legislative session.  Some young members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity were sitting in front of me and clearly there to support their brother Dukes.  

With Libertarian Party Governor candidate John Monds

Before John Monds spoke as governor candidate from the Libertarian Party, I told the young men that Monds was also a member of their organization.  Speaking with Monds today was interesting because he could be the kingmaker in the governor race.  Monds, whose wife is a professor at Albany State, could get more support from the ASU family and the Omega family than his political party.  The GOP could be cruising to victory in the governor race because a woman, Karen Handel, lost in their party to former Rep. Nathan Deal.   What party wouldn’t welcome the chance to pull a sizable amount of the women voters from the other side?   Monds could get enough of the vote to force the Democrat and Republican into a runoff.  So, Roy Barnes’ campaign better not take my community for granted.  Monds and the LP have a message that some people are starting to dig.  

In politics and policy, you circle the wagon and this president isn’t the horrible leader some would have you think.  However, it’s up to us to have real talk about real issues.  I was there in 1994 when Gingrich, Kingston and company took over congress in Bill Clinton’s first mid-term.  This year is different because Newt had vision (back then) while the Tea Party Movement, which has taken over the Right, has something else in their eyes.  

In addition to Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, the other bigwig in the 1994 revolution was Dick Armey and Armey is very good at what he does.  Where is Armey today?  He created Freedomworks—the foundation of the Tea Party Movement. 

Back in the day, the Right demonized Bill and Hillary Clinton but quietly many on the Right were surprised when they got a better look at her during her presidential bid.  Did she change?  No, they just got to see the real her rather than believing the rhetoric from the media.  

President Clinton recently said that President Obama should nationalized the mid-term election, admit that the recovery is taking longer than planned and ask for two more years to get things done.  

I am for that because I am patience and respect elected leaders. When Vice President Cheney said that the war in Iraq would be funded by money from the Iraqi oil fields if we could get to them before they set them on fire, I trusted him.  I never voted for Bush/Cheney but I respected the will of the people.  Did President Obama ever get a second of similar trust and respect?  

Georgia Democrats shouldn’t be mad at the GOP and/or the Tea Party Movement.  We should be mad at each other for not using an equal amount of energy to rally real people we help with policy.  (They must dial back that spending because I can’t stand owing China.)   

President Obama had an issue discussion in someone’s backyard this week and I love it.  We should follow his lead and take to the backyards to fire-up the grills and the voters.  If we can argue and fuss about football teams, we can do the same about these important elections.   Enough with the zillion T.V. ads for the governor race; that money could fund some serious Obama style backyard talks.  So, my fancy friends in D.C. need to stop calling me about the elections in our state and send down some Johnsonville brats and  Matchlight coals.  We will take care of the rest.

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People who skip voting this year are nuts who should be shunned.  In rural Georgia, we spend hours every Friday night at high school football games but early voting takes less time than a marching band’s halftime show.  What’s up with this one or two tubas stuff?  We had an army of tubas back in the day but today I can’t feel the bass.  In the political arena, I am hearing too much from the highs and little from the bottom (the bass or base).  We are selecting decision makers and nothing tickles off your fancy boss more than knowledge that his vote carries as much weight as yours. 

After the success of the Clinton’s presidency, Gore should have been a shoe-in if the working people they helped simply would have voted.  If you don’t vote, you have zero right to gripe and moan about governmental policy.  Hell, we should have paid attention to the process starting in the primary season because good candidates from any party should be heard. 

South Carolina GOP Rep. Bob Inglis has spent the time since his primary defeat telling it like it is. He should have spoken sooner because some of the cats about to take power are out there–really out there.  As President Obama says, they are concerned Americans and their commitment is admirable but let’s be civic.

Support reasonable candidates from both major parties because those people Inglis calls the Flame throwers are reckless.  You don’t want to win a high school football game in a dirty manner and the same should apply to elections and governing.  After winning elections, winners must then govern.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2010/09/21/am.inglis.gop.moderates.cnn

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I caught RNC Chairman Michael Steele at two speaking events on Saturday and I couldn’t help but think what should have been.  Steele nodded in agreement when I said that his Blueprint document from his campaign for chair was the forgotten outline for their success.  In other words, they could be winning on facts, policy, and positive candidates rather than fear and loathing.

He got off the bus with the GOP candidate in Macon and smile as if to say “where did you’ll find this one.”  Austin Scott is a policy wonk and the type candidate (like Scott Brown) who centrists could take in swing districts.  Before the event started, I told someone that I was the most important person there.  The guy said wouldn’t that be the person with the news camera.  My humorous point was that I was from the center and the last month of the election is about getting our votes—not preaching to the choir by getting the same votes of the same people you had on day one. 

I came to see Michael Steele “shoot the gift” and did he delivered.  Old school rap fans know the term shoot the gift, which means using words to achieve an objective.  Like the Nas lyric “I move swift and uplift your mind, shoot the gift when I riff in rhyme..” 

Michael Steele brought the gift in Macon, Georgia, and reminded me why so many Blacks in Maryland supported him for U.S. Senate.  He represents a version of conservatism that is palatable in our community.  The guy spoke without being angry and some in the crowd seems to be hearing their views presented with sugar for the first time and grasp the concept. 

In Statesboro, Georgia, later that day, I was talking with Steele’s staff photographer in the lobby of a hotel as we watch a college football game.  Again, I said Steele really should be in the Senate and he agreed that his old friend was in his element when connecting with the people.  I have known Ray McKinney, the GOP candidate from the 12th congressional district, for years and he could win the center from a Blue Dog if he pulls blue-collar labor voters.  For example, the story was told at the event of a pallet of campaign materials arriving and the warehouse personnel looking for a forklift driver.  As a nuclear power plant worker, Ray knows equipment and jump on the forklift himself without second thought.  McKinney isn’t a country club Republican.  

We Democrats accept flexible candidates in swing districts because the other voters in the area need to have their voices heard also and policy might have elements of their concerns.  South conservatives traditionally have a “my way or the highway”  “winner take all” mentality.  I think that isn’t a healthy way to run a diverse nation and my friends and I will support GOPers like Steele, Scott and McKinney who add range to the game. 

Steele will be in my congressional district this coming week but I won’t be there.  My community likes our Blue Dog just fine–thank you very much.

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George C. Fraser

 

In his book “Success Runs In Our Race,” George Fraser convinced me that networking was vital to professional and social success.  On Tavis Smiley’s Covenant With Black America, Fraser asserted that African-Americans were the only Americans who sought political power before economic power upon arriving in this country or what would become this country.  

You have to love being at a cookout or mixer when intelligent topics like this come up.  The radical brother points out that we arrived in the hulls of ships and in bondage; political power was needed first just to keep citizens and the government itself from harming us or restricting freedoms.  

The conversation then turns to the age-old Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Dubois argument. When I was young, Dubois’ push for education and college degrees appealed to me.  As I grew older, Washington’s focus on job training, business ownership and finance made more sense.  

Helen Blocker Adams is bringing George Fraser to Augusta, Georgia, on October 14, 2010, and I must go hear this noted author because we are in rapidly changing times.  While some in our community are bracing for a political nightmare if the conservatives take the House and Senate back, those of us who grew up reading Black Enterprise Magazine are wondering how we will adjust, maintain and prosper.  Southern Black voters are generally moderate to conservative but more importantly resilient when the government doesn’t care—and the government often doesn’t care so stop looking to them and save yourself.  

During this campaign season, I imagine Fraser’s networking principles would recommend meeting and listening to everyone—don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.  I think young people miss the networking opportunities they could experience from following politics.  If you go listen to everyone or volunteer, the professional benefits will come.  

Fraser’s new book is “Click: Ten Truths to Building Extraordinary Relationships.” The current political candidates need to read this one and come to the event at Paine College. 

http://www.georgecfraser.com/    Check out his video

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President Obama is coming to Georgia for a list of events that include speaking to the National Convention of the Disabled American Veterans.  There is buzz down here about which politicians will be seen with the president as their elections approach. 

My friends and I are watching them closely because those congressional candidates who benefited from the Obama wave in 2008 should (we feel) be respectful or else. 

But not a veterans event….veterans….those who bore the battle.  With all the military bases we have in Georgia and the veterans who settled here, they must make that speech.  With troops in the field in two theaters of war, they could find their way into that arena.   This addresss will contain major policy points on medical matters.

It might not be about who was pictured with the President; it could be “where is your picture from the DAV convention.”  Rep. Bishop sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies so he is straight; but, I don’t see a Georgian on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.  Really?

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We have all seen the Geico commercial where Charlie Daniels takes the violin from a strolling player in a fancy restaurant, rips some righteous fiddle licks and gives it back to the guy before saying, “That’s how you do it, son.”  I enjoy everyone on the violin from Daniels to the brother in Dave Matthews Band to Israeli-born Miri Ben-Ari, who puts it down over hip hop beats, to Novi Novog, the lady who played stings for The Time and Prince in the 80s.    

To me, there are different ways of doing things and it’s good to study other methods and approaches.  New Jersey’ Governor Chris Christie is one to watch because the big fellow is one conservative who is going to tell it like he see it – right or wrong – and let the chips fall where they may.  Baller style, that’s how you do it son.  I think candidates Obama and McCain were planning the same thing.  We remember the talk from both about reforming the system and walking away from the game on top like NFL great Jim Brown.  Of course, elected officials often find that easier said than done.

Governor Christie is hell-bend on reigning in state spending and bumping heads with key groups in the process.  The recent video clip of his confrontation with a teacher over pay and benefits was an instant classic.  The teacher said she was not being paid for her education and experience and Christie basically told her to work somewhere else.  Ouch.

Christie says NJ teachers are well-paid and have excellent benefits but they need to understand that average citizens have cut back in these rough economic times and governmental employees must do the same.  My mouth dropped when the teacher made her point because we “assumed” in the 80s that we would at least make enough money to paid for our educations.  Hell, I simply wanted to make my age and grow old.  The price of everything has skyrocketed but salaries are stuck in 1990.

Can a person walk away from a job offer with a salary of the same amount as that person made 20 years ago?  No.  Our parents always said people with bills should take any income source they can until hard times pass.  Guys with children should drop fries, wash windows or collect cans because those kids did not ask to be born.  The guy Joseph in the Bible told pharaoh to store away in times of fat in preparation for times of lean.

The now defunct cable channel Fine Living produced a show called Radical Sabbatical about rich people who decided to cash out on Wall Street do things like starting kayak businesses on lovely western rivers.  While that might be extreme, I admire my homeboys who made good money in production, the military or teaching and could retire to enjoy family by their early 50s or work less stress, giving back jobs.  In actuality, people spend money like money will always come in and the result is sometimes similar to NBA veterans who are penniless by forty.  That’s not how you do it, son. 

If the budget hawks approach matters like Christie, the average America could see their point.  Dave Matthews Band, Miri Ben-Ari and Novi Novog fused hop hip and rock with strings and the results introduced everyone to something new; Novog on Time’s Chili Sauce was brilliant.  The same thing must happen in Washington with spending because something has to give. 

People on the outside think something has got to give with the education system because teachers are making good money but Johnny can’t read.  Of course, the teachers will tell you that we went to school reading back in the day and the family should do more to prepare little Johnny to sit his blank down in class and focus.  I still like the programs that bring military veterans into teaching because some kids need a little guidance.  That’s how you do it, son.

Christie and the Teacher video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw0aBkt8CPA

http://www.miribenari.com/

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I don’t care what anyone says; President Obama is exactly the president “candidate Obama” said he would be.  The problem is people don’t know how to listen.  He isn’t big on party politics because he didn’t spend that much time in the national arena before ascending to the top.  That’s why he is constantly looking for Republicans with whom to work.  He thinks that is natural and logical in D.C. 

Of course, the GOP leadership dares their members to seriously dialog with the White House—let them fail so the Red Team can take the presidency in 2012.  Can any good American really say “let them fail”?  “I hope Hurricane Katrina kills thousands so the Democrats can win in ’08.”  “I hope BP’s oil reaches Key West, turns and goes up the East Coast so we can get the White House back.”  How sick can someone be to think those thoughts? 

I don’t know the plans of the Democrats or Republicans but we Obamacrats still believe in changing the way Washington works.  (Okay, this is just me thinking out loud.)   First, we must remember that Obama is not Superman or the second coming.  He is a very smart person and I think he is malleable.  The president would come toward the center if it produces results and keeps decent conservatives from drifting into radical ranks on the far Right  The center is mandatory to lead in America–belive that.

The situation with Mrs. Shirley Sherrod shows what I have always known: Obama is not familiar with the plight of southern Blacks because he thankfully has not been through our troubled past.  I am glad the brother grew up around sweet people and it reflects in his considerate nature but is he mean enough to scrap like Clinton—Bill and/or Hillary.  Mrs. Sherrod’s Baker County, Georgia, is similar to Hope, Arkansas so Bill knew how nasty things could get.  Speaking of nasty, we should discuss the fact that thuggish youth of all colors are more of a domestic terror threat than the Klan and the  Taliban put together.  In the public policy arena, one must have a certain amount of nasty in them. 

How can we help our community during this election season?  We should support our traditional candidates but develop a line of communication/dialog with a select group of reasonable conservatives (wrestle them from the Far Right.)  If a candidate is lock-step with the far Right’s approach of misinformation and hate-speak, they should be defeated for pitting Americans against each other and scaring folks for political gain (the same applies to the far-Left.)  

In the 90s, our community overwhelmingly supported the Democrats. When Newt Gingrich and company took the Congress, we were toast.  Conservatives vote when the only election on the ballot is a run-off for dogcatcher but our community is fickle about hitting the polls. 

Obamacrats (Republicans, Democrats, and Independents) should dialog on understanding, policy and logic. Personally, I could trade a few anti-Obama Blue Dogs for conservatives who are about dialog with the whole community.  Senator Johnny Isakson would be the best example of such a Member of Congress and moderates should have as much influence with him as the Far Right.  Those conservatives would be essential for this White House over the next two years and the people will decide in 2012. 

President Obama is one of the smartest people in American history but he can’t know everything.  We remember governing without our community’s input and must work to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.  The African American community is very diverse and our conservative brothers and sisters believe in a limited government than in many ways makes good common sense.  They should talk with their other family about the questionable methods and techniques of the recent past because maybe we can make progress or at least peacefully function. 

I still believe in the version or incarnation of Newt Gingrich that simply stated that the limited role of the federal government was to foster an opportunity for children to grow, learn and achieve if they focus, work hard patiently and keep it clean.  If not, the life they get will be the life they made.  I can live with that. 

I can’t live with people who benefit from the Obamacrats but ignore us or worst slam the White House.  Obama is a nice guy but the rest of us grew up with these scrappy Tea Party people.  Scrapping and calling someone out is nothing new to us.

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Lincoln and Booth

This drama about the Tea Party movement and the NAACP has me thinking.  Are racists at Tea Parties?  Yes.  Are racists at NAACP rallies?  Of course.  If you get a big group of people together, heaven only knows who is in the crowd.  Anyone who says Blacks can’t be racists is delusional.  Is that racism justifiable?  Is the thug mentality more detrimental to our community than racism?  I better leave that alone.     

PBS’s brilliant documentary about the assassination of President Lincoln includes a photo with John Wilkes Booth in the crowd at the second inaugural.  The last paragraph of that great speech reads:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. 

As a congressional staffer who lived blocks from the Capitol, I found myself stopping by any rally on the National Mall on Saturdays because I was compensated to serve as a conduit of information between all the people and my congressional bosses.  From pro-gun to gun control, pro-choice to pro-life, treehuggers to drill in the tundra, I listened just so I could say I listened.  The fetus pictures at the pro-life rallies were as rough as the concentration camp pictures at the Holocaust Museum. 

The Million Man March was a historic event but without doubt there were some people in the crowd who had considered taking the fight to another level; that’s what zealots on both sides do. I like to think that positive messages from that event introduced peaceful options to them. 

All of my African American friends who are conservative have attended and/or have spoken at Tea Parties.  When they looked into the crowd, they were hoping that no signage when overboard.  Like President Obama, I understand and respect their concerns with the size and role of government.  Of course, I also have moderate African American friends who wonder if leaders of the traditional civic rights organizations are battling for equality or seeking to stay paid.  That’s the thing: organizers of groups on the right, left and center often have their personal income in mind before anything– this blogger needs to get paid also.  A ruckus is good for donations and the NRA guy and the Handgun Control lady could be dining together in a D.C. tony eatery…. private dining room of course.

As I say weekly, our community should be supportive of a few sensible conservatives or those really nutty folks will be running things.

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The 13th District congressional race in Georgia is interesting because Dr. Deborah Honeycutt is again facing Democrat Rep. David Scott.  Former Honeycutt campaign manager Michael Murphy is also in the race but as a Democrat.

When Murphy decided to move from the GOP to the Democrats, I was surprised and disappointed that a comfortable place did not exist for someone like him in that party.  As a Democrat with many conservative friends, I like options and choices for southern voters and don’t get me started about putting all of our eggs in one basket. 

Some observers think that the move farther Right signaled moderates and centrists toward the GOP exit door—let’s hope not.  But, my conversations with Murphy in the past have centered on a lack of an urban agenda in the GOP; which is sad because the party of Jack Kemp shouldn’t be that way.

Dr. Honeycutt has always seems like a positive person and should she enter congress I don’t see her standing idly as ugly rhetoric becomes the foundation of the GOP agenda.  In that regard, I think all voters should keep a hopeful eye on GOP candidates who are about constructive policy-making and yes, there are several out there. 

In a recent T.V. news story, Scott, Murphy and Honeycutt pounding the pavement as the primary election approaches.  Like Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a health competition keeps all involved sharp and keen.   

http://www.11alive.com/news/politics_govt/story.aspx?storyid=146049&catid=12&GID=8F2NzPXAx2JQvPfbdDgU6nR7C+hayMyaTYusKTUf6YI%3D

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While blogging has been interesting, the time has come to put political concepts in play or as my daddy use to say “take it out of the talking phase.”  Americans have been attentive to politics and policy continuously for the last few years and that is a good thing.

During this important election year, the collected knowledge of the voters could make this of the most informed elections in history.  The major political parties are in a state of flux so let’s hope this transition period will produce healthier, goal-oriented policy-making in which leaders consider the people and the future more than money and power.  Yea, right.

Moderates and centrists should hope for a reduction of the classic political party slate. Getting our whole community to blindly support every candidate in one party is insulting on some level; especially when we see that parties don’t always monitor the legislative activities of officeholders.  But if the candidate has a “D” or “R” on his or her jersey, we started with the assumptions.

I appreciate the Democrats who battle with the Far Left over wild spending and expanded size of government.  More Republicans should do the same with the Far Right when they generate rhetoric that fires voters’ blood dangerously.

The Slate is a relic that should be blown off in the general election; if you like a candidate from another party, you should vote for that person.  In a complex twist, we should stop hating the other guys for being so wrong and hope that a few of them add reason and logic into their debates, plans and discussions.  We shouldn’t think that voting for all Democrats is helping the Democrat Team and President Obama because some Ds are in it for themselves and a few better Republicans could look at the others sternly when they start with that crazy talk.

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In the Fall, Georgia should have a campaign visit from one or more of the Democrat Big Three: President Obama, President Bill Clinton or First Lady Michelle Obama.  Where is my ticket or can I get the hook-up.  The logical facility for this historic event would be the Macon Coliseum because Georgia is the biggest state this side of the Mississippi River and logistics can be a bear. My county, Worth County, is half the size of Rhode Island.   

Macon would mean that Georgians could drive equal distances to the venue and the congressional districts that need a little Dem star power converge in that region (the 2nd, 8th and 12th districts.)  The problem that the congressmen from the 2nd and 12th have nice relationships with the White House while Rep. Jim Marshall from Macon has chosen to go it alone. 

In the early 90s, I was worked for the Democrat congressman who represented Augusta and Athens, and a visit to the district from Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary was on the schedule.  A reporter asked my boss if he wanted Bill Clinton to campaign with him in Georgia and the congressman said basically he would do his own campaign.  O’Leary call our office and when on about “Bill is my friend and you don’t ask me to help you and disregard my friends.” 

Secretary O’Leary is currently the president of Fisk University and is saving that historically rich Black college from the brink of closure.  Fisk alumni include W.E.B. DuBois, Nikki Giovanni, Congressman Alcee Hastings, James Weldon Johnson, Congressman John Lewis, Mrs. Alma Powell and Secretary O’Leary.  In 2005, the financial situation at Fisk was so dire that they considered selling artwork given to the school by painter Georgia O’Keeffe.  If anyone can save Fisk for future generations, O’Leary is that person. 

When the White House and the DNC consider where to dispatch the big guns, Macon should be at the top of the list.  If not, Rep. Marshall must have said “no thanks”—a move that hurts the entire Dem ticket in Georgia.  Albany State University or Fort Valley State University would host a big three event but the Georgia Dome will likely get the nod and Rep. Marshall will not think about being on that stage.  They should send Hazel O’Leary to rap with him.  “Look here…let me holler at you for a second, partner….you don’t ignore Bill nor this outstanding young couple in the White House.  Keep this up and you will find yourself by yourself.” 

Secretary Hazel O'Leary

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The kids in my family play a car game called “I Spy With My Little Eye.”  While driving around Georgia this weekend I did the same with campaign signage.  On Highway 300, a candidate has decided that he can be trusted while I have always found the incumbent to be trustworthy. 

It’s funny that candidates leave the Republican or Democrat off their signs if they hope that voters from the other party won’t notice.  The party situation in Georgia is awkward because the GOP requires a serious level of party commitment while the Democrats allow candidates leeway to get elected.  The question becomes how much leeway is acceptable. 

I spy with my political eye any opportunity or dilemma in Georgia with congressional race between Rep. Jim Marshall and Austin Scott.  First, I am a Democrat who actually likes Rep. Marshall on paper because he has impressive credentials.  I can’t figure out why the Democrats allow him to miss major votes yet still enjoy the full privileges of membership. Since Senator McCain won that congressional district in the presidential race, Democrat leaders may realize that Marshall must vote the mindset of his district or the seat goes GOP.

However, a congressman of Marshall status (Ivy League, Army Ranger) voting against White House legislation actually makes the Far Right giddy—watch the Democrat slam the Democrats.  Is my eye missing the fact that Marshall helping the Ds hold the House is the ultimate goal despite any individual votes?     

It is no secret that Far Right people worry me.  While traditional pro-business Republicans are part of the political tradition in the South, these new people in the game are like bulls in the China shop with their conspiracy theorists and watering the tree of liberty with blood.  Yikes. 

How many reasonable GOP members of the House and Senate would say in their conference meetings that they should stick to the fiscal issues and avoid teetering on a second Civil War.  While Marshall carries value in the Democrat Caucus, would trading him for a more dialogue-oriented GOPer be more practical for our state.  

I spy with my political eye that campaign operatives love pitting “good vs. evil” or good vs. bad.”  That is not always the case because I personally respect R.J. Hadley, Michael Thurmond and Johnny Isakson.  The choice for Senator in Georgia will be between good, better and best with the voters deciding.  The same is true in my opinion between Marshall and Scott but as a moderate I actually think Scott’s history of challenging his party by voting his mind bodes better than Marshall’s constant challenge to the Obama White House.   

LBJ said he rather have J. Edgar Hoover “inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.”  Of course, Marshall is no Hoover but at some point someone must say “dude, what up….with friends like you…”  LBJ couldn’t have passed major civil right legislation with many blatant party defectors and someone needs to remember how that old school Texan corralled the party.

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The Washington Post has a database of congressional votes and I decided to look at votes for Speaker of the House. There have been times when moderates and/or centrists couldn’t bring themselves to vote for certain candidates for Speaker.

I remember my first congressional boss saying that he liked Democrat Gene Taylor of Mississippi because he was a smart guy and stood by his convictions.  After legislative business for the day, Taylor would join others in floor speeches about waste, fraud, and spending.

Taylor voted “present” for speaker in the 104th Congress and Newt Gingrich became Georgia’s third Speaker of the House (Howell Cobb and Charles Crisp being the others.)  In the 105th Congress, Gingrich won again but three other Republicans received votes and Rep. Connie Morella joined four other GOPers in voting present.  Mrs. Morella was a Maryland moderate from suburban D.C. who was often at odds with the Far Right in her party. 

In the 108th Congress, Taylor voted for defense hawk John Murtha for speaker while Texas conservative John Stenholm voted present with two others.  He did the same in the 109th Congress and Dennis Hastert again won the speakership.  In the 110th and 111th Congresses, Taylor voted for Speaker Pelosi but you get the feeling that he respectfully couldn’t vote for a fellow Democrat he didn’t want to be speaker.

In the 108th Congress, Republican Ginny Brown-Waite voted for Pelosi but Hastert of her party won. 

Since the speaker controls the House, that second vote of every congress is the most important vote for two years.  The speaker vote is public record but a members’ record in presidential voting isn’t.  The strongest indication of a House members’ views might be who he or she backs for speaker, the person who will control the committees and the legislation that reaches the House floor. 

Rep. Jim Marshall of Georgia has voted for speaker four times and voted Mrs. Pelosi each time.  He could have voted present, voted for a conservative Democrat like Murtha or even a Republican but he voted for the gentlelady from San Francisco.  Her leadership helped support the election of President Obama and her ultra liberal district’s opinions don’t dominate her speakership as some might think. 

At the same time, Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama or John Edwards never got Marshall’s public support during the  presidential race.  He didn’t support McCain, who won Marshall’s congressional district, or any of the GOP presidential candidates.  His support would have been welcomed in rural Georgia.  So, he voted for Pelsoi but can’t tell us whom he picked for the White House.  I wished he said he was with the Democrat team and fighting daily to pull them away from the Left, which I think is the case, but this mystery stuff is inexplicable.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/speaker-elections/

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The term alienation of affection appears in divorce documents but it could apply in politics.  People grow apart or the person you thought you married doesn’t actually exist.  You wedded the image or façade created by that person.  Since we should avoid the victim role in America, it is your fault for not being a better judge of character or turning a blind eye to the obvious. 

“He is just not that into you” describe the divorce-like conditions between some incumbents and voters this year.  If you tell someone to do something and that person ignores you, the cat should be in the wind….out of here like last year…I am not saying you go to go home but…

Of course, the other party might argue that the relationship should continue because while not perfect he or she is the best available in the area.   In my community, we say it is better to be alone than in the company of fools.

If the Tea Party is busy divorcing candidates on the Right who go against their wishes, we should have similar discussions and action in the Center.  This idea could be the focus of proposed the Coffee Party or just Ghost Vote incumbents who assume they have us and hang with the Right too much.  Hey, uncles and aunts will tell you that you must take care of home or someone else will.

In politics and in life, you must “rehumanize yourself” if the machine or “the man” sees you as a statistic; remind those fancy people that the masses across the political spectrum are restless and why should the Tea Party get to have all the radical fun.

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