"You can't vote against health care and call yourself a black man" ~ Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr
Congressman Artur Davis (aka Persona non grata in the “Yellowhammer State”) wasn’t paying attention when Jesse “The Patron Saint of Negro Folk” Jackson made the above statement to the Congressional Black Caucus. YES, Artur Davis, he was talking about you!!! And Jackson was saying it to your own organization!? Davis really wasn’t reading the tea leaves during his campaign for Governor of Alabama. Davis, a Harvard Law School classmate of President Barack Obama, was so inspired by Obama’s Presidential run that he wanted to emulate it (on a more local level of course). Obama’s victory had Davis thinking that it was his moment to do the impossible. He thought by appealing to white folks he could show that he was for all people. No matter how many times I read that last line it still doesn’t make sense. Davis was once touted as the - could be, might be, maybe, next Governor of Alabama. Davis, through poor decision making, decided to run a November campaign in the spring. His handlers forgot that he needed to get out of the Democratic Primary before he could run in the General Election. All his mistakes eventually came back to bite him in the end. These democrats don’t understand that it’s not about the party. The reason a lot of them are in office doesn’t have anything to do with their platforms. During the 2008 General Election, they rode Obama’s coattails into office (Yes I’m talking to you Governor Beverly Perdue!!!!). It’s like Sean Combs (or is it Diddy?) getting you into the VIP section at the club. Girls (or Guys) are only talking to you because you know Sean Combs/Puffy/Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy. Any other night you would be outside behind the velvet rope.
When you are running to something, it also means you are running away from something. Davis ran away from the very people that put him into office. He chose “The Middle” over “Black Folks.” And that is his god given right to do so. Just because he is black doesn’t mean he has to appeal to black folks. The only time you see Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas near something black is when he’s wearing his robe to work. Davis could have used some of Obama’s 2008 “Black Magic” in this off year election. Black folks weren’t voting like they were back in 2008. If you think about it, white folks aren’t even voting at 2008 numbers. This was going to be an uphill battle from the start. What made it worse was his vote against the health care bill. That was his classmate’s first piece of major legislation and he voted against it. During that time, if you were black and didn’t support the healthcare bill you were crucified out in public. You could’ve had a legitimate reason to not support it but that didn’t matter. Many black folks weren’t hearing that. You were either for Obama or against him. Did I say “what made it worse” already? My bad, I forgot to mention that he didn’t kiss the ring of Alabama’s black establishment. Now we are officially at the Worst!! Everyone knows that you have to “shake hands and kiss babies” with your own folks!!! Davis should have known that he needed to go on black radio and eat chicken dinners and such!!!
Well the chicken dinners didn’t go uneaten. Ron Sparks, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, didn’t have a problem kicking it with black folks. And that’s why he will be Alabama’s democratic candidate for Governor. Instead, Davis made Alabama history by becoming the first black candidate in a statewide race to lose the black vote.
Side Note: The Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries??? Really Artur?? Really??
Davis said that he was done with running for office at his concession speech. No Duh!
You need to get out of politics when the following happens to you:
1. When you can’t get votes in your own Congressional District (Low).
2. When you can’t get votes in your own home county (Lower).
3. When you can’t get votes in your own voting precinct (Lowest).
All of this led up to Davis losing 61 of his state’s 67 counties. To say that this loss was stunning is an understatement. Excuse my Japanese but Davis got his ass kicked!!! He even got creamed in white majority counties!! And these were the same people he was trying to appeal to? If I was him, I would pack up a U-Haul and ride out on Interstate 20. The state of Alabama gave Congressman Artur Davis a vote of no confidence. I hope these black politicians learn to find their own voice. Stop chasing Obama and do your own thing!!! The Obama effect was a once and a life time event. If these politicians think it means anything else, they are kidding themselves.
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