By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer 

Posted May 30, 2008 – This could be it; after Saturday one of the Democratic candidates will be closer to nabbing the nomination.  And if the party’s leadership can prevail, they’re predicting the race between Senators Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) will not drag on to the party convention in August. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted on Thursday it will be over on by next week’s end.  During a speech to the Commonwealth Club of California, Reid said, he has consulted Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-Calif.), and they all agree.

Reid went on to say that if neither candidate has clinched the nomination after the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee decision about Michigan  and Florida; or after Puerto Rico’s primary; or following Montana’s and South Dakota’s primary, he’ll advise Senate Democrats to step-up and end the contest by taking sides as super-delegates.
But will President Bill Clinton and the former first lady bow out?  There is speculation she’s planning to take her fight to the floor of the convention.  Some of her supporters are already planning protests outside the DNC Rules Committee meeting.  

“I don’t lament this campaign taking as long as it has, but it’s time it ended,” Reid said.
A fight on the convention floor could be the death of the Democratic Party chance to take back the White House for a couple of reasons. First, new young voters attracted to the party might bolt and a prolonged battle could allow the two camps to fester, dig in and create an even bigger divide.

While the Clintons may be more popular with older voters, older voters can’t deliver party strength in the future.  The young folks Obama and Clinton have brought to the dance can’t become disillusioned or loose faith in process.  If they do, the Dems may never see the opportunity to draw them back into the fold.   

The leadership of the Democratic Party is stepping in (they hope) before it’s too late, but “too late” might already be here.  Democrats want to see if they can “unite” and “win” in November; and the only way that will happen is if they can end this primary sooner rather than later. 
Tune in later today as we talk politics on a new on-line web-cast “Today’s Voice.”   The political talk show will look at the week in politics and provide analysis.  I’ll be one of their featured guests today, so check it out at 2 p.m. EST, at www.myvoicedc.com.

Posted April 3, 2008 – The Rev. Martin Luther King was cut down April 4 when a gunshot slammed into his jaw and spine while he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.

Almost everyone can recall where they were when they learned the news their beloved civil rights leader had been shot.  But the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., he told me it’s a day he’ll never forget.

“I saw him lying on the balcony in a poll of blood and that scene never leaves my mind,” he recalled. 

Jackson remembers turbulent times surrounding King and the magnitude of the pressures and expectations were taking a toll on the young minister.  He reflected on the genesis of King’s last speech at Mason Temple, Church of God and Christ.

  “That night, he began to talk about walking back through the pages of history, like he was kind of going through a kind of reflection, assessment, projection, Jackson said.
Jackson and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, King’s lieutenant in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, accompanied him that night.

“I think none of us could have known the level of intensity of the threat that he felt and he knew was taking place from the government, and from other forces,” Jackson said.
King delivered the one of his most memorable speeches: “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.”
James Earl Ray, a petty criminal and prison escapee was charged with King’s murder. Ray pleaded guilty and died in prison in 1998.

There continues to be speculation about who was responsible for the assassination of King; conspiracy theories continue today.   But Jackson believes so many factors contributed the final act by the gunman that Ray couldn’t have acted alone. 

“Dr. King was the most hated man in America by that time. Our government turned against him, suggesting he was engaged in treason. The [Lyndon] Johnson machinery turned on him; the press turned against him; civil rights leaders were afraid to get close to him.  So he was feeling lots of pain, lots of isolation; so the climate was set,” Jackson told me.

Hear more on the 40th anniversary of King’s death and the conspiracy theories by clicking on the links below.

See the Videos:

MLK’s Death: The Conspiracy Theories
 
MLK Assassination: What Really Happened

Get More: See Pics and Take the Quiz

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

Posted March 10, 2008 — The Governor of New York apologized to the folks he represents today for his reported ties to a prostitution ring. His fall from grace could put an African American in one of the most powerful executive spots in the country.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, 48,  did not resign, but his history of catching the “bad guys” and unearthing corruption made these recent allegations surprising.   

Spitzer, a Democrate, held a news conference this afternoon and told reporters, “I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” he said.

Appearing with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office, Spitzer said, “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

The governor has allegedly been linked to a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP.  The New York Times reported the most highly ranked prostitutes cost as much as $5,500 an hour.

If Spitzer is forced to step aside, Lt. Governor David Paterson would take over for the rest of the term.  The New York state constitution would place the Brooklyn born veteran in one of the most powerful executive post in state government. 

Paterson was first elected to the New York State Senate in 1986, and became the minority leader in 2002 and later becoming Spitzer’s second in command.

Paterson who was born legally blind made his debut on the national scene when he addressed the 2004 Democratic National Convention.   

Sen. Hillary Clinton won Nevada today, her second consecutive win in the Democratic primaries. According to CNN, entrance polls revealed that voters were split by ethnicity, age and race but women, who made up 60 percent of voters, put their support behind the New York senator.  Polls also showed that Latinos voted 3-1 for Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama.

Clinton’s win raises tensions as the candidates head to South Carolina where the next primaries will be held. Polls in that state show that Clinton and Obama are neck-to-neck, with an increasing number of Black voters are shifting their support to Obama.

 It’ll be exciting to watch Obama and Clinton face off in the Congressional Black Caucus debates in South Carolina on Monday at 8 p.m. (ET)

 Do you think Obama still stands a chance? Talk about it.

Here are the numbers:

 Democrats

Clinton 84,776 39% 
Obama 78,242 36    
Edwards 36,446 17    
Richardson 9,926 5    
Kucinich 2,931 1    
Gravel 303 0     

 Republicans
McCain 64,789 37% 
Romney 55,793 32    
Huckabee 19,643 11    
Giuliani 15,037 9    
Paul 13,623 8    
Thompson 2,108 1 

DES MOINES (Posted Jan. 3, 2008) – Miles of skywalk in downtown Des Moines help you combat the cold and negotiate your way around the city.  There is a collage of campaign buttons and candidate signs, and a voter enthusiasm for tonight’s caucuses is at a fever pitch.

One of those exuberant folks is Princella Smith, a 24-year-old who proudly sports the campaign of Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (R ). Smith’s an African-American, a Republican and a native of Arkansas.  She told me that other Blacks should also take a serious look at him too.

“He’s got a lot of executive experience,” Smith said. The American people cannot be bought, and they can’t be fooled. He’s not trying to do either.”

Black folks and the Republican Party have a lot in common, she said, and they should at least consider him as an option.

  “The Republican Party is about ownership, leadership and individualism,” she said. “It talks about a message of improvement, and it’s very in-sync with African-Americans.”

Lori Mordini, from Des Moines, is supporting Delaware Sen. Joe Biden (D).  “I’ve always been impressed; my husband supported him in 1988,”she said.  Mordini went to see other candidates, but she said none came close to Biden.  “He spoke to my heart and gave detailed answers to every question – he brings the audience along.”

When you look at media reports, the race appears to only be about the frontrunners in both parties.  But I discovered, while driving around town, that the neighborhoods are peppered with placards for all of the candidates and that folks are wearing lapel pins for dozens of candidates.

Brendon Davis, 28 is from Washington, D.C.,  and he moved to Iowa for a month to help his candidate, Ron Paul.  Davis said his support for Paul is to protect his generation and his children’s from the reckless ways of Washington.  “Spending is out of control and he’s the only candidate who wants to restore good government and cut spending,” Davis said.

While we’ll have to wait for the results tonight, one thing is for sure: We don’t have a clear picture of who’ll win in either party.  

Do you think Blacks should take a look at more candidates in the Republican field?  Will you?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Polticial Producer 

 Posted Dec. 18, 2007 –   Black ministers who have quietly met with the Bush administration at the White House regarding faith-based incentive dollars may now find politics from the pulpit risky business.  Their names and visits will now become part of the public record.
     A federal judge’s ruling Monday was a blow to the Bush administration, which had hoped to keep records private showing visits by prominent conservative religious leaders.

     The judge rejected the White House’s argument and ordered the information be turned over to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the liberal watchdog group that made the request.
     Early in the Bush administration, senior adviser to the president, Karl Rove, arranged several meetings with Bush and religious leaders to develop a “buy-in strategy” for Bush’s new faith-based incentives.
     Some folks agreed to meet because the meetings were behind closed doors and  their attendance and the topics discussed were not available for public consumption.
     Several well-known African-American pastors were included in one of the first such meetings in March 2001.  After the meeting, Bush told reporters, the ministers are “very crucial for helping change” their communities.
      “Many of those preachers are bishops over churches that have got great programs and change people’s hearts and provide hope in neighborhoods where there is no hope,” Bush said at the time. “So I view them not as agents of politics; I view them as agents of change.”
     Claude Allen, Bush’s former domestic policy adviser, along with Rove, arranged meetings with Black ministers, including the Rev. T. D. Jakes, of Dallas; the Rev. Kirby John Caldwell of Houston; and Bishop Eddie Long, of Atlanta.
     Some Black pastors were more public about their support: Caldwell delivered the prayer at Bush’s inaugural in 2005. But others were more low key and had hoped to keep their attendance at these pow-wows, hush-hush.
     That’s why Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wanted to know who was meeting with the administration. They went to court to get the Secret Service to turn over visitor logs about nine conservative religious commentators, including James Dobson, Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell, with whom the president met.
     Anne L. Weismann, the watchdog group’s chief counsel, told The Associate Press.  “The judge saw their arguments for what they were.”
     It will be interesting to see exactly which Black religious leaders met with the Bush administration over the last six years.

Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Oct. 30, 2007 – It’s a statistical dead heat in Iowa between the two Democratic frontrunners.

In fact, Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are running so close in Iowa that they’ve both decided to make the Midwest state their new home for awhile. 

Tonight they’ll be in Philadelphia with the other Democratic presidential candidates to participate in a live television debate. 

The stakes get higher each time the candidates square off.  Tonight, I’ll be watching to see if Obama can hit a homerun.  He’s overdue and can’t let another opportunity go by.    This week, he stepped up the heat on Clinton by openly attacking her plan for Social Security. Social Security may not be a sexy topic, but it’s the kind of issue that has given Obama some traction in early primary states.  He accused Clinton of failing to delineate a clear plan on how to fix the program.
 
I’ve been to Iowa for the caucuses,  and traveled with candidates across college campuses, corn fields and church services.  Campaigning in Iowa is no joke, and folks there aren’t always predictable.  You have to earn their support the hard way, one vote at a time.
 
The University of Iowa Hawkeye poll, released on Monday, showed that among likely Democratic caucus-goers Clinton was slightly ahead of Obama, 29 percent to 27 percent.  If you know anything about polls, you know that’s a statistical draw. Obama started running a new television ad in Iowa in which he says, “I don’t want to just put my finger out to the wind and see what the polls say. I want to bring the country together to solve a problem.”

Tonight, folks will be waiting to hear just how he plans to do that.  

Posted Oct. 4, 2007 – President Bush kept his word to Congress and the American people when he shot down a bill Tuesday that would have renewed and expanded health insurance for poor children. 

The veto was no surprise, but the political fallout might be. The White House sent a tsunami of e-mails explaining how bad it would be if this bill were signed into law and the state-federal partnership insurance program was expanded to cover more children.

In a statement from the White House, Bush said, “The policies of the government ought to be help poor children and to focus on poor children.  And the policies of the government ought to help people find private insurance, not federal coverage.”

Bush maintains the expansion that would include up to 10 million children (the cost of which is equivalent to what the United States spends in for 41 days in Iraq) and take the nation’s health care system in the wrong direction. 

 “I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system,” Bush said.   He wants Congress to come back with something covering fewer children and costing less. 

The reaction from Sen. Edward Kenney’s (D-Mass.) was forceful.   “Today we learned that the same president who is willing to throw away a half trillion dollars in Iraq is unwilling to spend a small fraction of that amount to bring health care to American children,” Kennedy said.
 
The Senate has the two-thirds votes it needs to override Bush’s veto. But it’s not clear whether the U.S. House of Representatives has the  votes it needs. But House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) remains hopeful. “I call on my colleagues in Congress to join the broad bipartisan consensus of senators, representatives, governors and advocacy groups who want to improve the quality of health care that America’s children receive and override the president’s veto,” he said.

The Democrats postponed the vote to override the veto until Oct. 18, which may give members time to take the pulse of folks in their respective districts.  Republicans are worried the veto is a kitchen-table discussion item that could hurt them at the polls in 2008.

 But the real pain may be felt by the 10 million children and their families who will be without health care.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer