By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Jan. 30, 2008 – The departure of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards from the race for the White House puts a handful of Black lawmakers up for grabs, and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could be the beneficiary.

Because Edwards announced his run for White House in 2006, earlier than his two top rivals – Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Obama – he secured several Black lawmakers, including two fellow Carolinians, Rep. C. K.  Butterfield, and Rep. Mel Watt. 

  But they weren’t alone in backing Edwards. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) and the late Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.) who died earlier this year, also thought Edwards was a good choice.

Then Obama entered the race.  The loyalty issue weighed heavy on some of the members I spoke with after it was clear they would have to choose between Clinton, a longtime friend of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Obama, one of their own members. But now that Edwards has bowed out of the race, we can watch the two frontrunners morph their message to lure some of Edwards’ supporters to their camp. It will be interesting to see where Edwards folks decide to go.  Edwards sent a message to his former rivals, saying what he wanted in return for his support during his speech.

  “They have both pledged to make ending poverty part of their campaigns,” Edwards said. In recent weeks, following Edwards lackluster showings in early primary states,  Butterfield decided to switch his endorsement to Obama, Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), who had backed Edwards run in 2004, also signed on leaving only a small pool of members of the Congressional Black Caucus undecided or uncommitted.

Two folks plan to remain neutral through the primary process, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), because of their leadership positions. The undecided are:  Johnson, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Watt.

 Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) who spoke of supporting Clinton in September during their caucus’s legislative weekend, made it official Tuesday with a public announcement in Los Angeles. 

 New Jersey  Rep. Donald Payne’s staff confirmed he’s also signed on to support the New York senator. With the recent additions of Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) to Obama’s camp, he now has 19 to Clinton’s 17 committed Black lawmakers, thanks to the switch of the two Edwards supporters.     

As the Former North Carolina Senator Prepares His Exit, Rep. Maxine Waters  (D-Calif.) Plans to endorse Hillary Clinton

 By Pamela Gentry, Senior Politcal Producer 

Posted Jan. 30, 2008 – It looks like the Dems are down to two frontrunners in the race for the White House as former North Carolina senator John Edwards will announce his departure from the race this afternoon.

Edwards had originally scheduled a speech on poverty from New Orleans , but will now use the event to tell his supporters and America he is leaving the contest.

Now the big question remains: which remaining candidate will Edwards throw his support behind.   He’s managed to snag a few delegates in the early states, but no victories.   

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will now be facing off Super Tuesday without the Edwards factor.  Both candidates will continue a full court press for endorsements over the weekend, hoping to ramp up support in the 22 primary states.

Rep. Maxine Water (D-Calif.) is also on tap to endorse Clinton today.  Her support could give Clinton a boost with African-Americans in California.  Clinton is trying to rebound from the loss of the Black vote in the South Carolina primary.  

Following the Republican primary in Florida, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is also planning  to announce he’ll be leaving the race.  He plans to give his endorsement to Arizona Sen. John McCain.
    .

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

Posted Jan. 29, 2007 – President Bush’s State of the Union sounded like the state of disaster to Black lawmakers whose only praise of the speech was it was his last.

The Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) released a statement saying, “While Americans wait with bated breath for relief from an impending recession; relief from the sub-prime mortgage crisis; relief from skyrocketing healthcare costs; and light at the end of the tunnel in the Iraq War, this President addressed us with the rhetoric of a failed legacy. The past seven years have set this country back by decades.”

Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Chairman wasn’t alone, here’s what other Black members of Congress had to say about the speech when it came to issues important to African-Americans:

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)

“I’m pleased with the first steps we’ve made this year to reach agreement with the President on an economic stimulus package….Unfortunately; the President has been reluctant to work hand in hand with Democrats on other important issues affecting our nation such as national security.  It is imperative that President Bush undo the indefinite mandate he has unfairly thrust upon our brave troops fighting to defend our freedoms abroad.  His policies have led to an alarming weakness in troop readiness among our Armed Forces.”
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)

“Once again, the President is asking the American people to sacrifice without reigning in the expansion of the federal government and the cost of war.  He announced tonight that he will again encourage budget cuts of 151 federal programs, cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, cuts to federal provisions that help children, help the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor.

Yet he has not mentioned controls on the most bloated areas of the budget.  Why should those who struggle the most sacrifice all they have, while others with more resources enjoy the benefits of tax breaks?  In this challenging economic environment, it would be fiscally irresponsible to allow the tax cuts for the rich to become permanent.”

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.)

“Job growth under President Bush is the worst under any president since Herbert Hoover ushered in the Great Depression.  The unemployment rate is rising while real household income is declining.  While the rich are afforded tax break after tax break for the last 8 years, the number of Americans living in poverty has increased by a staggering 4.9 million.  The middle class continues to be squeezed as energy costs, health care costs and education costs continue to climb.”
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio)

“While I am pleased that the President is finally paying attention the issue of our lagging economy through his support of the recently proposed economic stimulus package, I’m afraid that it will be too little too late. Additionally, we continue to spend billions of dollars every month in Iraq, while our deficit continues to grow. Ohioans need more than just the same old song, they need real, long term action that will help them get back on their feet.”

The President also called for more of the same in Iraq and offered no hope for a change of direction in Iraq.”

 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

“Even more incomprehensible, President Bush has flat-lined funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative and our domestic HIV/AIDS programs, even as data shows communities of color are increasingly bearing the brunt of the disease. Over 188,000 African-Americans were living with AIDS at the end of 2005, representing 44 percent of all cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Although I am pleased the President mentioned the global HIV/AIDS pandemic - as one of the original co-authors of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief legislation - I am disappointed he did not use this opportunity to announce a more significant commitment to the crisis.”

Rep. William Jefferson (D-Lo.)

“I am pleased that the President mentioned the recovery of New Orleans and has pledged to have the North American Summit in the city this year. But I would have liked more detail and specifics as to what his commitment to the Gulf Coast means. His mere mention of a promise is not enough to give our citizens the assurance they need that the commitment of our federal government matches their day to day commitment to our recovery. 
 
 I am concerned that some of the economic stimulus proposals are the same as proposals previously included in the Gulf Coast Go-Zone legislation and may have the effect of drawing investment away from the Go-Zone to other areas of our country. While we must spur our economy, it is important that we do not water down the competitive edge allowed the Gulf Coast to recover.”
 

Photo by:  Otis P. Motley

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

Posted Jan. 28, 2008 – In an auditorium packed with frenzied supporters, the Dean of the Democratic Party, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) threw his support behind the candidate he said represents the hope of America’s future, likening Sen. Barack Obama to his brothers John and Bobby, who “inspired and challenged” a new generation of leaders.  

 “I feel change in the air.” proclaimed Kennedy, one of the most influential politicians in America.   “I believe there is one candidate with leadership at this moment and the moment is now for Barack Obama.”
Kennedy, flanked by his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy, said that Obama is the “candidate that inspires our country and inspires our hope.”

That message clearly reached 22-year-old Ariana Hodes, 22, a student at American University.  “I’m a huge fan. I agree with what he said [Kennedy]. He has the sprit to inspire our generation, because he asked us to get involved, he’s the first to reach out to us,” she told me.

Yvonne Partezky, 58, from Potomac, Md., came to see Obama up close and personal, because she just decided to switch her support from Clinton to Obama after the “race” controversy in South Carolina. “[Clinton] shot herself in the foot with that stuff, “she told me after the rally.

Partezky who’s African-American, said she could see similarities in the Kennedy-Obama comparisons.  “I thought he was great, and it reminded me of the ’60s,” she recalled.

Kennedy’s speech was laden with clarification of Obama’s record, which he said had been distorted by Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the relatively young candidate’s readiness to be president, comments designed to counter the Clintons’ assertions that Hillary was the only candidate “ready to be president on day one.”

Lauren Schultz, 24, came to the rally with her husband, Jeremy, to check Obama out, and was impressed with what she saw. “It really made me realize he can bring us all together, and he has the ability to do that,” she said. “Sometimes experience kills your spirit.” 

Monday’s announcement by the Massachusetts senator apparently had been in the works for some time, but the timing may have been influenced by the recent endorsement by his niece in Sunday’s New York Times, and the recent focus on Obama’s race.  

 The Clintons had hoped Kennedy would stay neutral and worked feverishly to put the breaks on Monday’s endorsement.  A barrage of phone calls took place, including one reportedly “heated” exchange between Kennedy and former President Clinton. 
During the jam-packed rally at the Bender Arena  at American University, Kennedy praised Obama for a new style of leadership, “He will be a president who refuses to be trapped in the patterns of the past,” Kennedy said. “He is a leader who sees the world clearly without being cynical. He is a fighter who cares passionately about the causes he believes in, without demonizing those who hold a different view.”

This endorsement isn’t just a photo-op.   Obama’s campaign might benefit in upcoming Super Tuesday races where unions and Latino voters will be weighing in.  Kennedy’s dedication to these constituents runs deep because of his passionate work on labor immigration issues.

Obama told the crowd, “The dream has never died …. It lives on in those Americans, young and old, rich and poor, Black and White, Latino and Asian and Native American, gay and straight, who are tired of a politics that divides us and want to recapture the sense of common purpose that we had when John Kennedy was president of the United States of America.”

Now Obama want’s his chance to do the same.   

 Posted Jan. 28, 2008 – It looks like Sen. Barack Obama can’t get enough endorsements in one day; today the author who dubbed Bill Clinton the “first Black president” says she’s backing the Illinois senator. 

 Author, Toni Morrison wrote in her endorsement,  “In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don’t see in other candidates.”

How do these endorsements impact your campaign decisions?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Poltiical Producer 

(Posted Jan. 27, 2008) – Lines wrapped around the corner in northwest Washington as students lined up at American University today to see Sen. Barack Obama. (D-Ill.) land the highly coveted endorsement to Sen. Edward Kennedy. (D-Mass.)  

This will be the second endorsement from Obama from a Kennedy in as many days. On the heels of his South Carolina victory, Obama was greeted with the news that Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, had called his candidacy for change a step in the right direction. 

“All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals,” Kennedy wrote.
Kennedy’s sentiments were echoed by dozens of young people, both Black and White, I came in contact with on the campaign trail over the past few days.
Danyelle America, a resident of Columbia, S.C. is a hair stylist, who decided to settle in South Carolina after leaving the military, agreed with Kennedy. “We’re less than 10 miles for the [state] capital, and we don’t see anyone [elected officials] until election time. Noone comes over here; Barack Obama changed that,” she told me.

Latasha Walker, 20, who hadn’t registered in time for the primary, but will vote in the general election, told me she was disappointed there was so much talk about race by the media.   “You didn’t hear about race in Iowa and New Hampshire from the media, but when it came to South Carolina, it seems like that was all you heard,” she lamented.

Here in Washington students started lining up outside the American’s University’s Bender Area at five o’clock this morning to see Obama.  Now they’ll get the added bonus of hearing a historic endorsement from the  Dean of Democratic Party. 

The senators will be joined on stage by Caroline during the rally scheduled to  begin at noon. 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Poltical Producer 

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Posted Jan. 26, 2008) – After a hard-fought battle that clearly put the “Bill Clinton Mojo” in question among Black voters, Sen. Barack Obama Saturday obliterated his top rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in the South Carolina primary.

“After four great contest, we have the most votes, the most delegates and the most diverse coalition of Americans,” Obama told a cheering crowd of three thousand.

This week’s brutal contest, which largely was fought over the ballots of Black folks, perhaps had as much to do with ex-president Bill Clinton’s comments about “race” as it did about the actual key issues affecting Americans of all races.  

But, as exit polls clearly showed, Obama’s message of change – versus Hillary Clinton’s emphasis on experience – resonated with voters other than African Americans.

David Axelrod, senior campaign manager for Obama, said, “This [the outcome] is a strong repudiation of these tactics.”  

The good news for Obama is that, despite all the attention given the very volatile issue of race – particularly in the South, which has a longstanding history of racial strife – he was able to capture 25 percent of the overall White vote, and an astounding 50 percent of White voters under 30. By contrast, only 7 percent of Whites voted for the Rev. Jesse Jackson in this state in the 1988 Democratic primary.

But, it’s not the first time during this tense primary season that Obama has been able to attract enthusiastic support among Whites. In both Iowa, which he won, and New Hampshire, which he lost by a mere 3 percentage points, there are virtually no African-American candidates to speak of.

But it’s not as if the Black vote is not important, or that the Obama camp doesn’t recognize the significance of it. He bested both Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards four-to-one among Black voters. 

Obama supporters crowded into the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, cheering loudly and fired up to go as the election results poured in.   Cutis Thomas, 27, from Greensboro, N.C., said, “We’re heading into a recession, and during these times of economic devastation and the war in Iraq, we need a man that’s spans racial and cultural lines and speaks to everyone.”

An hour after the polls closed Clinton sent a statement to the press, saying she has called and congratulated Obama and was now turning her attention to the Super Tuesday states. 

 “Thank you to the people of South Carolina who voted today and welcomed me into their homes over the last year.  “We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard in Florida and the twenty-two states as well as American Samoa who will vote on February 5,” Clinton said.

Now the remaining question will be how long will Edwards remain in the race and whom will he endorse when he leaves? 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Posted Jan. 26, 2007) – I’ve done my own unofficial polling of Black voters today, only to discover, no one candidate has a lock on their vote.   It won’t be easy for folks doing exit polling to identify a clear victor before the votes are counted.

The predicted heavy turnout was evident at the Greenville Community Center in the predominately African-American in northeast section of Columbia. 

Eleanor Dalton, a volunteer coordinator for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, told me, “Everybody’s voting for somebody.”  Dalton was outside of the Greenville Center working with volunteers pushing pamphlets to voters on their way to the polls.

Booker T. Smith, a retired nurse, said he’s supporting Sen. Barack Obama because of his campaign theme of unity.  “I like the way he talks – we need a change, if Hillary get’s in Bill is going to be running the White House.”

My unscientific poll found some folks were disappointed there was so much talk about race.  “This competition has widened our political conscience for all ages and races,” Dalton said.

Arlene Sinkler, a customer service worker, is thinking about the candidate than can defeat the Republican challenger.  Sinkler is supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton, (D-N.Y.).  “I feel she’ll stick to the issues because Republican will keep a lot of confusion going, and she’ll know how to stay focused.”

The polls will close at seven tonight, stay tuned for the results.
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Poltical Producer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Posted Jan. 25, 2008) –   It’s High Noon in the Palmetto State, and Saturday’s showdown between the two biggest guns in the primary will provide a true test of who has the hearts and minds of Black America.

The television airwaves in South Carolina are jammed with political ads. .Every commercial break chock full of back-to-back campaign ads touting the virtues of each candidate.  Most ending with a reminder: “Vote Saturday.” 

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D- N.Y.) returned to the state for a blitz of morning television appearances and whistle stops across the state, ending the day here in Columbia, where she was joined by her husband for a rally.

Her top rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has a couple of roundtable discussion with women, an important voting block he needs to engage for their support as he makes his final campaign stops across the state before tomorrow’s primary. 

Clinton has been doing well among women voters, an advantage she’s also enjoyed with Black female lawmakers.  Clinton has secured the support of seven of the 10 Black women in Congress who have endorsed candidates.   Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, (D-Ohio), who serves as Clinton’s national co-chairwoman, will be in the South Carolina today lending her support. 

With the number of African Americans expected to turn out, the Columbia chapter of the  NAACP announced it will have voting monitors at polling places to assure no one is turned away, and they plan to have paper ballots in case of an “emergency,” such as voting machines malfunctioning.
 

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Politcal Producer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Posted Jan. 25, 2008) – Lawmakers got the message from the American people this week and agreed to get a check in the mail to help folks out during this economic slowdown.

It’s not hard to figure out why.  The American people are pissed, and lawmakers know what it means if voters take that frustration to the voting booth in November.
 
With the Democratic South Carolina primary just days away, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a native of the state, said he was pleased that the “stimulus package that will provide timely, targeted, and temporary assistance” to families during the economic slowdown.

While the package has the blessing of Congress and the White House, some Black lawmakers says it’s not perfect. 

“I am disappointed that there are no provisions extending benefits to the unemployed,” says Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), who’ll be in South Carolina this weekend campaigning for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) “They are the ones who have been hit the hardest by the drastic downturn in the economy.” Ignoring these folks will bring the same problems back, she said.

The deal on table now gives folks tax refunds from $600 to $12,000; provides money to 35 million needy working families; awards tax relief to businesses that make new investments; and ignites mortgage lending reforms.

Rep. Elijah Cumming (D-Md.), who’s backing Sen. Barack Obama, (D-Ill.) for the White House, agrees with Tubbs Jones when it comes to improving the economic conditions for the American people.  “To truly help those who are being hit the hardest, it is critical that any stimulus package include provisions dealing with food stamps and unemployment benefits,” Cummings said.  This package does not.

Both Obama and Clinton issued statements praising the plan and touting their own.

Obama said, “Experts agree that what struggling families need right now is immediate tax relief to stimulate our economy, which is why my plan has always called for a $500 tax cut for working families and a $250 supplement to their Social Security check.
Clinton countered, “I have been calling for extending tax rebates to these lower-income Americans, and will push to ensure that these families receive the full assistance that they need.”
 
The question now is whether the stimulus package will work and will either party or candidate will reap a reward because of it.