Politicking While Black

Wow, what a load. Politico just ran a lengthy piece about how black politicians aren’t doing so well in the age of Obama. They site several reasons and I think a couple of them are interesting because it gives us insight into the mindset of black liberals.

The article in question began by pointing out that even though Obama is now President, things are not looking good for black politicians. Since 2008, not a single black has been elected to the Senate. Indeed, the only two blacks in the Senate were appointed, and “embarrassingly for Democrats,” one of them is a Republican. For shame. Only one governor is black. And several “next-generation black politicians” either lost their reelection bids or wiped themselves out in scandal. Why is this? Well, here are the excuses reasons given:

● Racism: You knew this would be on the list because liberal-black America is obsessed with race. And what’s interesting here is how they define racism. The black liberals interviewed said you couldn’t “entirely” chalk up the failure of black candidates to “crude racism, but it would be foolhardy to not consider the unease that some whites still feel about voting for a black candidate.” In other words, we’re not saying it was racism, but it WAS racism.

This, of course, is disproved by the fact that Obama won two elections. More interestingly though, look at how they describe this racism:

What still gives some black Democrats pause about running statewide is that they simply don’t think conservative-leaning white voters will give them a fair shot. ‘Most people are not going to want to say this publicly, but it is infinitely easier to win a public office in an urban center where you have a lot of cosmopolitan-minded people than it is to run statewide,’ said Cleaver.

Think about that. So the fact that black LIBERALS can’t get conservative whites to vote for them is racism. Bullsh*t. That intentionally confuses “liberal” for “black” and invents racism where none exists. This is nothing more than a shameful attempt to describe disagreement with the political views of black liberals as being racist. And make no mistake, that is what they are doing. Throughout the article, they denigrate black conservatives as not counting, and they all but scoff when they note that some blacks have had success by running as conservatives rather than as black liberals. If whites will vote for conservative blacks, but not for liberal blacks, then the problem isn’t the black part. . . it’s the liberal part. And that’s not racism, except by those who believe race is the key factor when it clearly isn’t.

● Racial Gerrymandering: Starting way back when, race groups like the NAACP decided that the best way to get elected was not to come up with ideas which would appeal to a majority of voters, i.e. whites, instead it was to rig the game. So they demanded that “majority minority” districts be created. This involved cramming all the blacks in the state into one or two districts so they would be guaranteed to vote for a black candidate. Again, notice the assumption that blacks will vote for blacks, i.e. blacks vote on the basis of race, i.e. blacks are racist.

The irony here was that by forming these districts, blacks essentially made themselves irrelevant because white politicians no longer needed to worry about appealing to them. Basically, they chose to guarantee themselves safe seats rather than worthwhile seats. Now black groups realize their mistake and they want to undo these districts. . . sort of. Actually, that’s the problem. They want more districts with more blacks, but they won’t give up their safe seats.

This issue, by the way, runs right into another problem: the current crop of black politicians clings to their seats for dear life. And with a limited number of “black” seats available because of these gerrymandered districts, that means that there is simply no room for the next generation of black politicians to move up. Nor do these incumbents run in statewide races because they don't want to lose their guaranteed jobs. That means no serious black candidates run statewide. Do you see now why there aren’t any blacks in the Senate or the governor’s mansions?

● Obama’s Not Helping: The article also says that blacks are upset that Obama hasn’t anointed a group of black heirs and groomed them for the future, though some excuse him because this would anger us white racists. This sounds good, but ask yourself this: where would these young black heirs go? Since all the “black” seats are taken by people who’ve been there since the seats were created, what could Obama do with the people he groomed? Why groom heirs who then need to leave politics and make you look weak in the process?

● Money: Finally, they claim that blacks have a hard time getting money to run for office. They claim this is because blacks represent poorer districts. Except, that’s a crock. Most politicians represent poor districts. Where they get their money is from the same places everyone else gets their money – rich donors. These are typically banks, unions, Fortune 500 companies, and billionaires like George Soros. . . none of whom live in the district. There is simply no reason blacks couldn’t raise the same amount of money as whites, unless. . .

I haven’t looked this up, but I’ll bet the problem is the committees blacks choose as their fiefs. I suspect blacks are more likely to sit on ethics, race, gender, and judicial/criminal committees than they are to sit on committees that regulate banks or handle budgets. Those aren’t committees that attract donors. And even if they were, why should donors give blacks money if blacks sit in ultra-safe districts and will vote in one reliable direction all the time? Seriously, why pay for something you get for free already?

These are all pretty ridiculous arguments that sidestep the obvious, which is that these blacks are talking about “black liberals,” not blacks. And black liberals have very limited appeal. Moreover, they have herded their supporters into ghettos, guaranteeing them a safe seat, but limiting the number of seats they could win. They vote in ways that make it pointless for money-men to support them. And rather than address these issues, they redefine opposition as racism and they attack people like Obama for not fixing what can’t be fixed by Obama.

They really have nobody to blame but themselves.

Let’s hope that more black conservatives come along to keep exposing this. Maybe someday people will get the message.