Democratic Primaries

DonViejo

(60,536 posts) Mon Jul 1, 2019, 09:20 AM Jul 2019

Jesse Jackson opens up on 2020 and the changing Democratic Party

The civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate defends Buttigieg, blasts Biden and praises Warren in a wide-ranging interview.

By ALEX THOMPSON 06/30/2019 06:30 PM EDT

CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson has lost a step.

The 77-year-old two-time presidential candidate’s roaring sermons have become more muted and mumbled. His walk has become slow, unsteady. At a news conference here over the weekend with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, she held up the microphone for him when he spoke. Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition event on Saturday at the 4,000-capacity Apostolic Faith Church drew only a few hundred people.

But when it comes to the Democratic Party and its 2020 presidential primary, Jackson and his progressive organization for social change are more relevant than ever as the party embraces the issues he ran on three decades ago.

“The ’84 campaign broke the sound barrier,” he said in an interview after the Rainbow PUSH event, which featured Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. “Part of the whole idea was to sow seeds that would germinate.”

That’s why, even though Jackson may not command a podium or draw crowds as he once did, at least six presidential candidates are joining him during the annual Rainbow PUSH International Convention, which ends Tuesday. It’s also why candidates emphasize their ties to his presidential campaigns.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/30/jesse-jackson-2020-democratic-party-1391027

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

4 replies

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Jesse Jackson opens up on 2020 and the changing Democratic Party (Original Post) DonViejo Jul 2019 OP

jesse jackson is a great leader, a great democrat, and a civil rights hero. rampartc Jul 2019 #1

Very happy to see him defending Buttigieg. femmedem Jul 2019 #2

Jackson's comments on Biden and Busing are interesting. Hoyt Jul 2019 #3

When the states won't enforce or uphold the rights of their citizens, shanny Jul 2019 #4

rampartc

(5,433 posts)

1. jesse jackson is a great leader, a great democrat, and a civil rights hero.

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Jul 1, 2019, 09:27 AM

Jul 2019

we are fortunate to still have him.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

femmedem

(8,206 posts)

2. Very happy to see him defending Buttigieg.

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Jul 1, 2019, 09:42 AM

Jul 2019

"In a wide-ranging interview about several of the 24 Democratic candidates and the most diverse presidential field in history, Jackson defended Buttigieg.

“What happened there is not his fault,” he said, blaming structural problems of longtime segregation in the city’s housing and the fact that most of the city’s police officers live outside the city, making them what he called an “occupying force” (Indiana law prohibits cities from requiring officers to live in city limits). “He handled it with humbleness — you know, ‘I failed,’” Jackson said, referring to Buttigieg’s remarks at the presidential debate last week. “But he failed not just because he wasn’t on it; he failed because of structural abnormality, and that’s why I think the press has some role to put issues in context.”

I voted for Jackson back in the day. I'm sad to hear he's getting frail, but thankful he's still here, still active.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)

3. Jackson's comments on Biden and Busing are interesting.

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Mon Jul 1, 2019, 11:09 AM

Jul 2019

". . . . . .Jackson was less forgiving of former Vice President Joe Biden, who joined Jackson at a convention event on Friday. Speaking about Biden’s record on busing — which has become a flashpoint after Sen. Kamala Harris of California confronted him at the debate — Jackson said that Harris “established Biden on the states’ rights side of history,” which “cannot stand the test of time.” He framed Biden’s opposition to federally mandated busing as part of a larger debate over the federal government’s trying to create racial equality.

"“He’s for voluntary busing, I’m for court-ordered busing — well, everyone’s for voluntary busing,” Jackson said. “[T]he federal government had to order the abolition of slavery, the federal government had to order the right to vote, they had to order the desegregation of schools and jobs and contracts. So ‘voluntary’ assumes that those who are oppressive have some will to move based on moral values, and that does not happen.”

"Jackson added that Biden had done “a lot of good things.”" . . . . . .

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

shanny

(6,709 posts)

4. When the states won't enforce or uphold the rights of their citizens,

Reply to Hoyt (Reply #3)

Mon Jul 1, 2019, 12:35 PM

Jul 2019

the federal government must step in. Jackson is absolutely right about that, as is Harris. Biden was wrong.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

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