Saturday, February 07, 2004

Dis us and kiss us?

The Knight Ridder Election 2004 blog (what a clever idea!) reports that the Detroit NAACP isn't too pleased with the Democratic Presidential contenders, all of whom (except for Al Sharpton) chose to skip a Thursday night NAACP-hosted candidates' forum. (Dean was planning to attend, but changed his mind.) K-R doesn't link back to any particular report, but here are a couple of stories from the Detroit Free Press (Kerry All But Owns Michigan) and WDIV (Sharpton Is Lone Candidate At NAACP Forum).

Here's the quote that K-R picked up, though, from the Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit NAACP branch, as reported by the Freep: "You can't diss us in the winter and expect to come back and kiss us in the fall."

If we've know anything about politics, it is that the NAACP is going to support the Democratic candidate in the fall no matter who he is, or what he says or does in the months before. That is, Rev. Anthony, you are as wrong as wrong can be. The Democrats have been "dissing and kissing" you and the NAACP for as long as I've been following politics, because they know they can count on you. You're in their pocket and they know they don't have to expend any resources to keep you there.

Free advice: Drop some hints that some Republican candidate, any Republican candidate for any office, actually has some good ideas, and see what happens.

If you cannot conceive of any situation in which you might do that, well, my point is made. Neither Democrats nor Republicans will waste much time campaigning for your vote. There's no point. Only Al Sharpton, who enjoys shaking bees' nests, will show up and play the Race Card when it really isn't about race at all. It's about return on investment. The Republicans can't buy you for any price, and the Democrats can't give you away. Your mind is made up. (In other contexts, we call that "prejudice".)

You're welcome. Have a nice day.

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