Why I respectfully disagree…

Last week I learned of Al Sharpton’s and Robert Johnson’s statement on the matter involving soon to be former House Majority Whip Congressman Clyburn in regards to his run for House Minority Whip. Sharpton stated,

“For there to be a debate, therefore, that Jim Clyburn, the majority whip who will be running for minority whip should not be given that position by the Democrats in Congress to me is offensive,” … “Everyone around the country should call their congressman and say we want to make sure Jim Clyburn remains as whip of the Democrats as minority whip,” Johnson added in a written statement, “To diminish his (Clyburn’s) leadership role in Congress would run the risk of losing a significant part of the Black vote, a decision the Democratic Party cannot afford at this most critical time in history,”.

Sharpton continued, “Black voters are the strongest voting bloc and have continuously shown their dedication to the Democratic Party. As a constituency, African-Americans are engaged in our country’s political process now more than ever, and Congressman Clyburn is the voice and face that we need to lead the Democratic Party in Congress.”

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2010/11/11/1555891/sharpton-clyburn-replacement-could.html#ixzz15SzlbuJi

I wonder if Reverend Al Sharpton, Robert Johnson, and the Congressman have looked at the percentage of African American voters that voted in this year’s most recent mid-term elections. 34% of African Americans voted in this year’s mid-term election, about 4-5 percentage points lower than the national average. That number has been hovering around the African American community for a while. Some have regarded the turnout as apathetic. African Americans can be very influential in the voting process, but a sad truth is the community does not fully exercise that right to maneuver much on the national scene. With that, I respectfully disagree the Congressman’s role could be charactized on behalf of African American voter participation.

The reference to race, to incite a base that is not as active as it could be, along with drawing on faulty reasoning to support a presence in leadership roles, disappoints me. The Congressman feels his face represents a vital base of the Democratic Party—understood, but how far should one go with that ratio? Ranking members of the Democratic Party also have their qualms about Nancy Pelosi remaining as speaker. Should all women of the Democratic base too feel they’re not being represented if she isn’t reappointed to a leadership role? NO! Why? Because some feel that Nancy Pelosi’s leadership was adequate for the first term, and perhaps not for a second. The same could be true of Clyburn, but that argument is not permitted a due process to be made. And never mind the fact that we have an African American President…needless to say, doesn’t he too reflect an aspect of the base?

It’s my understanding, Congressman Clyburn is strategic, serves his district well (my representative is that guy that yelled at the President), and focuses on the issues and the community. Why wasn’t that argument made for his continuing a leadership role? The Congressman and others drew that heavily-dreaded ‘race’ card to grapple onto power. And yes, I feel that is what this is about. The Congressman can’t represent a base that is not fully there, or hasn’t been there for years. Trends of African American participation are not striking in correlation to having a minority for a majority whip. If the Congressman was not re-elected into a leadership role, past voter participation among minorities would likely remain the same.

What is the effect of all this? Dissent and what now appears to be a slightly uncertain Democratic party. The Congressman has been offered an assistant leadership role and has urged others to accept it. The Congressional Black Caucus has given him his support without fully understanding what his new role will be and have publicly stated they will not support Nancy Pelosi. That too is a mistake. Many accredited the Democratic Party’s discipline to her leadership and Congressman Clyburn has stated himself this Congress has been the most productive since possibly the New Deal.

When it’s all said and done, the Democratic Party is now a minority in the House for a reason. And instead of focusing on being the ‘representation of the base’, the Party should aim to energize the base and remind them to why this is what we DID NOT want…Republicans to have control in some form because the entire Democratic base will soon enough be left behind. There is far too much out there for us to organize and unite around, and at the end of the day, most Democrats don’t care about the face of their leadership. 2008 proved that. We do care about having a Party that will not mirror the Republican Party and forget about who ‘we’ the base really are: struggling, hard-working folks who can’t seem to shake the true effects of the Republican-controlled era.