A
few weeks after last year’s November elections, a gaggle of black elected
officials and political operatives met at the Harvard Community Center in
Cleveland’s Ward 1 to assess the aftermath of the statewide Republican sweep
and the uncertain landscape of local politics following the election of
Cuyahoga County’s first-ever county executive and county council.
The
meeting was the bright idea of State Senator Nina Turner and State
Representative Sandra Williams, two of the area’s more diligent state
legislators. They invited virtually every
local black elected official they could identify, including every black Democratic
precinct committee they knew about.
The
meeting drew plenty of suburban council people, as well as old political
heads-without-portfolio like Lang Dunbar, and Bill Crockett;
up-and-comers like Ward 11 Dem leader Anthony Hairston and Euclid councilman
David Gilliham, and seasoned operatives such as Lynnie Powell, Kenn Dowell, Michael Taylor,
and Bob Render.
The
stated agenda was to analyze the 2010 election returns, to try and divine the
reasons behind low and unenthusiastic voter turnout in black communities, and
to craft a forward-looking strategy.
The
approach was thoughtful. There was promise in the air when the meeting began
with perhaps sixty-five attendees arranged in a semi-circle. People were
initially respectful as Turner called the meeting to order, stated the agenda
and offered the podium to Arnold Pinkney, dean of local black politics.
That
was the high point of the meeting.
Mr. Pinkney’s
account of the election was distressingly feeble, astonishingly devoid of
insight, and absurdly self-serving in its assessment of the strategic and
tactical errors of the Ted Strickland/Ohio Democratic Party-led statewide
campaign. The essential takeaway from his presentation was that the state party
should have hired him to get out the vote instead of some out-of-state crew.
No
one challenged his eminence regarding this assessment so Sen. Turner then
attempted to move to the agenda’s next item: abysmal turnout by black voters.
It
serves no point to offer a blow-by-blow account of how the meeting quickly degenerated
into a verbal free-for-all. Suffice it to say there were destructive efforts to
derail if not highjack the agenda. These efforts had been primed if not planned
and led to silly and distressing assertions of political primacy and potency. The
leading protagonists were eventually restrained and the shouting match ended with
desultory attempts to restore a semblance of stability.
This
was such a depressing turn of events that I have been reluctant if not unable
to write about it.
• • •
There
was an elephant in the room that day whose gigantic shadow caused many of the attending
elected officials to become discombobulated. They behaved as if they were
playing musical chairs on quicksand. The music was cacophonous, and nobody knew
which of the too few chairs were safe to sit in.
The
cause of this erratic and discomfiting behavior was a radical realignment of
political forces on many levels. New networks were being empowered and you
couldn’t tell the players even with a scorecard.
On
the state level — Democrats had been thoroughly ousted. Republicans were in,
led by a combative governor who would soon demonstrate that black people had no
rights the GOP was bound to respect.
On
the county level, there reigned a new county executive, an Irish former G-man,
Ed FitzGerald. He owed much of his electoral victory to support rounded up by
newer black political leaders who were not in attendance: East Cleveland mayor
Gary Norton Jr., Cleveland councilmen T. J. Dow and Kevin Conwell, and suburban
leaders like Joe Fouche of Oakwood Village.
There
appeared to be not a single person in the room with an inkling of how FitzGerald
would deal with the black community and its established political leadership.
Moreover,
the uprooting of the corrupted county government structure had facilitated the
emergence of new leadership for the county Democratic Party. New party chairman
Stuart Garson had been selected, courted, and ratified by Congresswoman Marcia
Fudge as new party chair six months earlier, but his connections to the
rank-and-file were even more a mystery than FitzGerald’s.
To
cap it off, in two years on the job Fudge had yet to consolidate the mantle of
leadership that had flowed so long from the 11th District
Congressional seat, first from the dynastic authority and political skill of
Lou Stokes, and then from the dynamism and infectious indefatigability of Stephanie
Tubbs Jones.
So,
with every traditional political lighthouse either adrift or under uncertain or
foreign control, there should have been no surprise when the captain-less crew
engaged in unseemly jousting for control of the helm, shouted mutual accusations
of mutiny, and wanted to throw shipmates overboard.
This
sorry state of affairs has continued for much of the last year, as evidenced by
infighting among the leaders of the
Ohio Legislative Black Caucus over state legislative redistricting.
We
will look at that on Thursday.
5 comments:
THis sounds like a bunch of people looking for ways to hang onto the old way of thinking and doing. Alas, it's old-school thinking from top (Forest City,Fred Nance et al) to the bottom (the brainless cynics who post at cleveland.com) who hold the region back.
Also, I think it's a plus that Marcia Fudge does not wear her mantle in the old way. I have found her to be thoughtful, informed, responsive, and a strong advocate for all the people in the district, even if she does lack Stephanie's unique ebullient personality. I know some are pushing the rumors that Nina Turner intends to challenge her next year. That would certainly be destructive to progressives and to getting Democrats elected in Ohio next year. I am assuming Nina is smart enough to see that. She's nobody's fool.
This sounds disappointing...however I think this past weekends Ohio Legislative Black Caucus convention this weekend was centered totally around forward movement and action and I thought it to be highly productive and will set some things in motion. Rev. Sharpton gave a powerful message. I was surprised to not see you there.
@ Anonymous:
The rumors about a potential NT challenge to MF are not rumors. Sources tell me that if NT can raise the $$ for a credible run, she is in. But time is tight. The primary campaign must begin immediately after next month's election. We will have more to say on this in the next couple of weeks.
@ creative genius: I appreciate your perspective and I applaud your decision to weigh in affirmatively not only under with your creative moniker but also in such a pulchritudinous manner!! Bravo and thanks!
I had planned to attend but was advised that only the dinner was open to the media. So I stayed home. But I have received reports from my vast army of monitors and will write about the event shortly.
But not before I call you!
If Turner chooses to do this, she is demonstrated how self-centered she is. A resource-sucking, energy-sapping primary in this safe Democratic district would be a real anchor for Democrats in the presidential year. I also do not see how she can claim that Marcia Fudge has done such a terrible job of representing us that she needs to be replaced, no matter what it costs in the larger picture. And if her $$ come from the corporate community to try to represent my district, I will fight her with every ounce of my being. With OccupyWallStreet exploding in every city because of people's frustration with not having a voice, the last thing one of the country's most progressive districts needs is a more corporate-friendly representative.
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