Re: paris, texas. in plain view

Temple3 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:50:42 -0000

Thanks for putting this story out front for all to see.

http://temple3.wordpress.com/2007/03/14/burning...

Re: The Obama Election and its Symbolic Consequences

Temple3 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:08:33 -0000

Not anymore foreign than a corporation founded in Delaware and doing business in New York, if you know what I mean.

Re: The Death of the Southern Strategy?

Temple3 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:57:53 -0000

I believe that Obama's success within the Democratic Primaries were contingent on something that has been true for at least four decades: that the path to the White House for Democrats goes through Black America. To be more specific, a hopeful Democratic candidate must gain the active and enthusiastic support of Black folk in order to win. Candidates like Dukakis, Kerry and others who failed to reach the Oval Office also failed to deliver an emphatic message that resonated with Black folk. While this has been true post-1968, the Democrats have clearly used a Southern Strategy. The most obvious indication of this is in the selection of candidates: a Georgian (Carter), an Arkansan (Clinton), a Tennessean (Gore). Even Gore won the popular election.

The Northerners - Dukakis and Kerry - were symptomatic of classic white liberals whose positions may be solid on some issues, but the absence of an authentic resonance precluded the emergence of foot soldiers to carry the day. I firmly believe that if Democrats are to continue to succeed in contests for the White House, they'll have to swing two things -- one of which is entirely OUT of their control: first, they need to ensure that they have solid Black support. That's easy enough, but they'll have to deliver politically while they're in office; second, they'll have to ensure the Federal Reserve Bank loosens the money supply and averts recessions when they are the incumbent party. There is no winning when the Fed tightens and voters are concerned about their wealth.

I would assert that Americans of all stripes were more concerned about their wallets than about their daughters (weed-smoking Negro coming to dinner with a big phat engagement ring while hanging long and to the left -- feel me?) Moreover, Obama benefitted from embracing policy positions that made him indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton. His novelty was more palatable than her corruption. In other words, the potential of a Black Menace was simply not sufficiently real given the nature of the economic crisis which significantly deepened just as McCain was closing in the polls. Future Black candidates (in the short term) will need to run along similar lines and may even need high-profile White candidates with replicable positions to run interference.

I would even go so far as to say that the Republicans were fairly certain this was the Election to Nowhere. Little else can explain the selection of Sarah "Show Me Your Tits" Palin, the evacuation from Michigan; the McCain dodge pulled by men like Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal and others; or (perhaps most significantly) the Send the Wives Move that Bush and Cheney pulled during the Convention in Minnesota. There were more protesters outside than Republican hacks inside. That was all I needed to see to know the die was cast.

With all that said, I believe that a Southern Strategy is in play for both parties -- but the strategy must be strictly regional, rather than a euphemism for a Hang the Niggers Strategy, which is what I believe you're actually referring to. The Hang the Niggers Strategy is obsolete. The Southern Strategy is not. If Republicans are going to reclaim the White House (and they will since that's the only game in town), they'll need to simply extend their reach and modernize their message to focus on economics more than the culture wars which they arguably won from 1980 through 2007, save for the Clinton years. (You know I'm no fan of Slick Willie or any of his peeps.)

The economy was/is deemed to be in terrible condition (I'd argue the jury should still be out on that, but that's for another time.) Incumbent rarely win when such is the case -- particularly when they lead with half-assed efforts like McCain's campaign -- and the popular vote was STILL close. The Southern Strategy is alive and well. The Republicans fleeced the nation for all they could. All the military contractors got PAID; the judicial protections were eroded...now it's time for the Democrats to get their Rob & Steal game on.

Re: News and Notes Silenced

Temple3 — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:53:57 -0000

I like her work. I met her more than a decade ago after she'd written "Don't Believe the Hype." I was working in East Harlem doing leadership development with teens and I thought she'd be a great guest speaker for them to hear. She was great. The "kids" were definitely feeling where she was coming from. She'll be just fine.

Ultimately, it does boil down to distribution.

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Re: paris, texas. in plain view

Re: The Obama Election and its Symbolic Consequences

Re: The Death of the Southern Strategy?

Re: News and Notes Silenced