Much is made about how Barack Obama is a different kind of black candidate than Jesse Jackson Sr. The whole connection to the Reverend [sic] Jeremiah Wright was an effort to link Obama to that old-style Alinskyite Chicago pol that he actually is. I have my doubts about Obama being a new kind of black candidate,
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theory nut, I happen to think that the whole "off mic" moment was deliberate on the part of Jesse Jackson. If it weren't, why did Jesse Jackson Sr. cry when Obama was elected and why does his support for the Obamas exist long before Barack Obama ran for president?
The Obamas were very well connected to the Jacksons, going back to his U.S. Senate run. On page 185, of Obama: From Promise to Power, author David Mendell describes it thus [my emphasis is in bold]:
Still think the Obamas are a new face in politics? Think again.
As he officially set out on the campaign trail, Obama charted a course to shore up his two core constituencies, African Americans and liberals. Among key liberals, he won the support of Representative Jan Schakowsky, who represented a lakefront district on Chicago's North Side . . . Also officially coming on board was the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., the best-known black leader in the country. Jackson, whose Rainbow/PUSH organization was headquartered in Hyde Park, had been an informal adviser to Obama for several years. This was an example of Michelle helping to ingratiate her husband with Chicago's African-American network; she had been friends with Jackson's daughter, Jacquelien, while they grew up on Chicago's South Side. As a teenager, Michelle had even babysat young Jesse Jr.
0 comments:
Post a Comment