McCAIN SUPPORTERS SEEK 30% BLACK VOTE
The political state of Black America as the weakest in comparison to all other political and ethnic minorities in the wake of the advances and successes associated with the modern civil rights movement is paradoxical and complex. Ironically, there is no coherent strategy being advanced by the Black political leadership and civil rights orthodoxy, to resolve this perplexing dilemma.
Absolute predictability of the Black American vote as advocated by conventional Black political leaders has rendered the community void of political leverage. Black elected officials out number politicians of all other ethnic and political minorities and Black Americans have held the numerical advantage for centuries. Yet Black Americans have remained at the back of the political bus.
McCain supporter Gary James, a longtime leader of the grassroots activist wing of the Republican Party in New York said, “We need to stop playing political checkers and begin to play political chess. Electoral politics is not a zero sum game of friend’s verses enemies, good verses evil, black verses white or I like or don’t like him or her. Electoral politics is an ongoing exercise of attempting to realize our permanent interests, irrespective of what party controls the White House. Also, a political victory is not confined to the classical.”
James is heading up a city-wide get out the voter initiative on behalf of the GOP presumptive presidential candidate, Senator John McCain. The group has set-up a website to promote their objectives in the framework of the Black Political Taskforce. They have formulated a comprehensive multi-media and interactive Internet presence that will launched in the spring.
Keisha Morrisey a former GOP candidate for public office in 2002 and 2003, New York State Assembly and New York City Council respectively, and Harlem coordinator of the McCain initiative said, “We are seeking 30% of the Black vote in November and we believe that’s its attainable given the Senator record as a maverick and moderate force in the party. Plus my generation thinks about politics different from the old school emotional rational.”
(Photo:Evan E. Edwards)
Ms. Morrisey is a member of the under forty generation, mother of a teenage son, and is a public relations and event planner in the entertainment boxing and fighting sports industry. She is often photographed with industry notables doing her job with camera in hand, answering to the name “El Boxing Empress". Despite what appears to be the making of an interesting career in the unfolding Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting sport genre, she is launching a new political club and is actively preparing to run for public office as part of McCain’s grassroots get out the Black vote initiative.
Spokesman for the Black Taskforce, Alton Chase, a longtime grassroots leader in the Bronx and former Republican Party district leader said, “In addition to launching our comprehensive and interactive Internet presence in the spring, we are currently preparing to invite the Senator to address his impressive numbers of supporters among Black voters. We have identified venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan so we are ready to reach out to the candidates scheduling people.
James believes that the presumptive GOP presidential candidate can beat either Clinton or Obama, despite the unprecedented surge of new voters inspired by both rock star Democratic Party candidates. James said, “McCain is a soft political sell for a GOP candidate with Black voters as compared to previous Republican Party candidates. Although President Reagan was on the right of McCain, Reagan-Bush carried New York in 1984, which had not been done since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. With the increase in younger voters as well as a spike in independent voting and registrations, the state may be up for grabs.
The real potential wild card in the November election may very well be the residual political fallout among Democratic voters who may bifurcate along fault lines, as a result of the highly charged racial component that has emerged as a tactical political construct. The remaining weeks of the Democratic Party’s Presidential Primary will reveal the party’s standard bearer and may portend the destination of the Black vote.
But the intensity of the Democratic Party primary process horse race may prove to be self defeating, as speculation abounds about the prospects of a brokered convention. If the horse race is a dead heat when the party begins its August convention, and the ultimate nominee is determined by the Super Delegates, the precarious coalition that constitutes the Democratic Party may rupture along fault lines.
Ms. Dona Brazil former campaign manager of Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign said on a Sunday morning TV talk show roundtable that she would bolt the party if the super delegates override the will of primary voters.
While there is much talk of unity behind the eventual Democratic Party nominee, it remains to be seen if the political energy associated with Senator Obama mania can be contained as loyalist, should there be a smoke filled backroom deal by party bosses.
Gary James is an author, entrepreneur, and leader of the activist wing of the Republican Party. In 1984 his organization was tapped by the Reagan-Bush re-election committee to direct the state-wide grassroots campaign in the Black community, under the leadership of regional coordinator Roger Stone. James ran the state-wide “Black Desk” in 1986 for the GOP Gubernatorial candidate Supreme Court Judge Andrew O’Rourke. He was the delegate for Congressman Jack Kemp in Harlem’s 16th CD in 1988, during the congressman’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination. For more information contact by visiting: Website www.blackpt.org and www.harlemweekly.com
Black Political Taskforce c/o Gary James P.O. Box 342 New York, NY 10037
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