Obama backer tries to woo blacks away from Clintons
Obama backer tries to woo blacks away from ClintonsBy BEN SMITHPolitico.com 2 hours, 20 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – A key supporter of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama last week urged united African-American support for his Presidential bid, questioning whether black Democrats still "owe" Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton their support, according to several people who attended a meeting of black Democratic politicians.
The comments by Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., which he confirmed Saturday, angered Clinton backers and deepened a sharp rift among African-American political activists.
"How long are you going to owe" politicians for past favors?, Jones asked in a speech Friday to more than 100 members of the Democratic National Committee's black caucus and other political operatives gathered at the Washington Hilton for the winter meeting of the DNC, according to people who were there.
Jones, a veteran black legislator, implored the black officials and operatives not to act like "crabs in a barrel," the attendees said, and drag down a successful member of their community.
Jamal Simmons, a political consultant who was at the caucus meeting, said Jones' words and the heated response that followed highlighted the difficult, personal choice facing many black Democrats.
"The one thing that was extraordinarily clear this weekend is that many African-American political operatives are very conflicted internally about whether to support Obama or Clinton," he said.
Jones spoke after the DNC's chief of staff, Leah Daughtry, told the group that she and the DNC would remain neutral in the 2008 Presidential nominating contests.
"This is no time for neutrality," Jones said in an interview Saturday.
"We have a well qualified candidate, and I urged them to get behind his candidacy." "I didn't mention Clinton by name," he said.
But the remarks by one of Obama's longtime political mentors in Illinois was widely taken to refer to a debt felt in the black political community to Bill Clinton, who enjoyed deep black support in the White House and rewarded black allies.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, N.Y., who is now mounting her own campaign for the Presidency, is trying to collect that debt by pushing hard for the endorsements of black political leaders, an effort that could force Obama onto an explicitly racial terrain that clashes with his national image as a figure of new, post-racial unity.
But while Hillary Clinton continues to lead in polls of African-American voters, Obama's extraordinary potential as a black Presidential candidate has a powerful appeal to many black voters and officials.
Jones concluded his speech with a reference to the jobs and appointments Bill Clinton had given blacks, including many people in the room, and asked when they would stop owing the Clintons for that patronage, attendees said.
"You could hear a pin drop," said one person in the room who doesn't currently support either Obama or Clinton. "It was one of those moments when you say, 'I can't believe he just said that.'" Jones' call was received frostily by Clinton allies, including Minyon Moore, the former White House aide who now heads Hillary Clinton's black outreach, and former Clinton and Gore campaign aide Donna Brazile, according to some attendees.
Moore walked out of the room when Jones stopped speaking, according to two people who were there.
Neither Moore nor Brazile could be reached for comment.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Jones is "a mentor of the senator" but wouldn't comment on the substance of his speech. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson declined to comment.
Politico.com is a Capitol Hill Web site that has partnered with the New Hampshire Union Leader for political coverage
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=a12c76af-879e-48a8-86d2-06fc8c352b89&headline=Obama+backer+tries+to+woo+blacks+away+from+Clintons
WASHINGTON – A key supporter of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama last week urged united African-American support for his Presidential bid, questioning whether black Democrats still "owe" Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton their support, according to several people who attended a meeting of black Democratic politicians.
The comments by Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., which he confirmed Saturday, angered Clinton backers and deepened a sharp rift among African-American political activists.
"How long are you going to owe" politicians for past favors?, Jones asked in a speech Friday to more than 100 members of the Democratic National Committee's black caucus and other political operatives gathered at the Washington Hilton for the winter meeting of the DNC, according to people who were there.
Jones, a veteran black legislator, implored the black officials and operatives not to act like "crabs in a barrel," the attendees said, and drag down a successful member of their community.
Jamal Simmons, a political consultant who was at the caucus meeting, said Jones' words and the heated response that followed highlighted the difficult, personal choice facing many black Democrats.
"The one thing that was extraordinarily clear this weekend is that many African-American political operatives are very conflicted internally about whether to support Obama or Clinton," he said.
Jones spoke after the DNC's chief of staff, Leah Daughtry, told the group that she and the DNC would remain neutral in the 2008 Presidential nominating contests.
"This is no time for neutrality," Jones said in an interview Saturday.
"We have a well qualified candidate, and I urged them to get behind his candidacy." "I didn't mention Clinton by name," he said.
But the remarks by one of Obama's longtime political mentors in Illinois was widely taken to refer to a debt felt in the black political community to Bill Clinton, who enjoyed deep black support in the White House and rewarded black allies.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, N.Y., who is now mounting her own campaign for the Presidency, is trying to collect that debt by pushing hard for the endorsements of black political leaders, an effort that could force Obama onto an explicitly racial terrain that clashes with his national image as a figure of new, post-racial unity.
But while Hillary Clinton continues to lead in polls of African-American voters, Obama's extraordinary potential as a black Presidential candidate has a powerful appeal to many black voters and officials.
Jones concluded his speech with a reference to the jobs and appointments Bill Clinton had given blacks, including many people in the room, and asked when they would stop owing the Clintons for that patronage, attendees said.
"You could hear a pin drop," said one person in the room who doesn't currently support either Obama or Clinton. "It was one of those moments when you say, 'I can't believe he just said that.'" Jones' call was received frostily by Clinton allies, including Minyon Moore, the former White House aide who now heads Hillary Clinton's black outreach, and former Clinton and Gore campaign aide Donna Brazile, according to some attendees.
Moore walked out of the room when Jones stopped speaking, according to two people who were there.
Neither Moore nor Brazile could be reached for comment.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Jones is "a mentor of the senator" but wouldn't comment on the substance of his speech. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson declined to comment.
Politico.com is a Capitol Hill Web site that has partnered with the New Hampshire Union Leader for political coverage
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=a12c76af-879e-48a8-86d2-06fc8c352b89&headline=Obama+backer+tries+to+woo+blacks+away+from+Clintons
posted by presgore19 at 3:07 AM
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