Something did go right in 04

After logging off last night, I kept saying that I would find something positive from 04 to bring into 08.

I was googling up AA vote in 2004 was very interesting. Kerry won the TN primaries (I never ignored that :)), but in some of the western counties (i.e. Hardeman--he carried in the 04 election 55% to Bush's 45%; Fayette--small and rural), he won them by 50 percent or more, the rest of the state, he won earning percentages in the 50s (i.e. Bledsode County) 40s and high 30s.

Even though Bush carried TN :puke:, Kerry did carry some counties here like the urban ones Shelby and Davidson (Memphis and Nashville), but out in the county (as we call it here) of Grundy, Trousdale, Jackson, Benton, Haywood, Humphreys, Houston, and Lake. Some of them were light or heavy red, but East TN is GOP country.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/counties/TN/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/TN/P/00/map.html


And another article, I found very fair and debunking the spin that he had problems with AA voters (despite it repeated out here still). Kerry spoke highly of Obama also, and a favorable quote from Carol Moseley Braun, as well as something I didn't know about Gore and the AA vote.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/15/politics/main630060.shtml


After finding all this, it sheds some light on what the senator was up against in 04. He did pretty good considering he still gets dissed here and elsewhere for not "motivating people to vote." :sarcasm:

However, the article debunks that spin and also proves that even though he didn't have the support of the Congressional Black Caucus (Dean and Edwards did I think), or relating to the poor or growing up during Jim Crow like JE or BC did (though someone in GD noted the other day that Kerry had a better Civil Rights record), and Jesse and others were pissed over him conceding, he still got the AA vote.

And Kerry's story (though it is still the primaries) parallels to Obama in this election. People criticized Obama's campaign for not having minorities on his staff and the hideous "not black enough" charge. Though he supports Obama, Jesse has made some snarky comments about him and like Kerry, he hasn't had much support from the CBC or other black leaders (most of them are supporting HRC or JE). Obama is doing pretty good also (though it's very early). And the AA vote is also up for grabs in 08 (should be fun to watch also).




:patriot:

That is a really interesting article. Thanks for posting this. It does clarify a lot of what happened in 04 and set the record straight.

you look at the demographics of of elected leaders, people of color are not well represented.

But I do feel that the narrative "Kerry didn't connect with black voters" is not really any different than the narratives about how he didn't connect with any other demographic. I mean, he didn't win, or, rather, he's not in the WH right now, so it's possible to argue he didn't connect with anybody. And people will make that argument.

In every demographic, there were people who got to see the real JK, and people who didn't. There are also people who, like the article mentions, vote because they want a voice in policy, not because they are excited about giving some rich white guy a better job than he already has. (The media always presents such a skewed perspective on why people vote the way they do!)

So thanks for sharing this article. It was good to see somebody making an effort to match the numbers to what was actually happening in many AA communities.

People are still making that argument that he didn't connect or motivate anyone to vote for him in an effort to promote or lift up the 08 candidates. We have seen that with that "Kerry had the right notes, but.." article. Until this day, I am convinced my uncle was one of those people that never got to see, or get the real Kerry. He wasn't impressed, but what can you do? I think the media was one of the factors, though I don't know if they will ever see that the bias was in place.








edit word

to offset the whining and accusations out there. You rock!!

:yourock: :hi:

It really corrects a lot of false ideas that became CW after the election.

When you watch his speech giving Jackie Robinson the Congressional medal and getting a kiss from Rachel Robinson, who looked like she did not want to be anywhere near Bush, or the speech for Rosa Parks, or the march he went on with Lewis in Boston in 2005, I can't help but think that he would have been liked a lot by African Americans had he become President. It was just that his votes were right, it was that his heart was very obviously there.

Bill Clinton evoked a speech pattern and was able to make some blacks see him as one of their own, but HRC doesn't have that. I remember when we were here watching the CSPAN coverage of the Rosa Parks memorial. Bill Clinton was Bill Clinton and he really connected, but later, Kerry's wonderful speech about the meaning of Rosa Parks' efforts was well received as well. HRC gave a political speech that really was rather cold. It was interesting that her biggest applause was when she first came on.

such as the leaders, media etc.

but among just the regular people he continually won. he won in the south because of strong support from african americans women and union workers. he also did strongest among the lower income groups. those most struggling.