Keith Boykin, Former Clinton Acolyte, Flips the Script

Keith Boykin, longtime blogger, recently suspended his blog to edit the Daily Voice, another site aimed at providing news and opinion to middle- and upper-class African-Americans online. It's actually a good site though it could use a little more Web 2.0 flava. There's a lot going on over there though and I recommend it, including this article on How the Clintons Lost The Black Vote by Kia Gregory.

What caught my attention this morning was Boykin's piece called simply Clinton Owes Obama An Apology. As a former Clinton loyalist, I can imagine this was difficult to write. Like many black people, I too went on a journey at the beginning of the campaign. I started out fond of the Clintons and their strong relationship with the black community and suspicious of the newcomer Barack Obama, whom I'd scarcely heard of. Hillary Clinton's "strategy" succeeded in repulsing/alienating me at the same time Obama's audacity began to surprise and inspire me.

When I talk to Clinton supporters now, they wince when her name is mentioned. They almost apologize for their support. They talk about "experience" and when I say "which experience -- running a racist campaign, being wrong on Iraq, being weak on illegal wiretapping -- which appeals most to you"? -- they either backpedal nervously or come out swinging with defensive, illogical bluster.

Even my moms after the Geraldine Ferraro flap was exhausted and dispirited at the effort to keep defending Clinton to herself and to me. She's still behind her girl, but one more Ferraro-like episode from Clinton or a surrogate and it will be "game over", I know. Even Howard Dean has stepped forward to call publicly for the Clintons to back down and STFU. Though the message is directed at both, we all know whose behavior he's really addressing.

Boykin stops short of endorsing Obama. He does however have some carefully chosen words for his former boss's um, wife. His disappointment and pained anger reflects the feelings of many African-Americans (emphasis mine):

I've had it with the Clintons.

The past few months I've tried to defend Bill and Hillary Clinton against some of the more unreasonable attacks from their critics. Just last weekend on CNN's Ballot Bowl, I defended Bill Clinton when critics accused of him of questioning Barack Obama's patriotism. The critics may have misinterpreted Clinton's remarks, I said, giving the former president the benefit of the doubt.

I've also defended Barack Obama in recent weeks against unreasonable charges directed at him because of his association with his church and his pastor. It seems obvious to me that Barack Obama loves his country and is not an anti-white bigot.

Maybe I'm too close to the two Democrats to be against either one. I went to law school with Barack Obama and worked in the Clinton White House, so I have connections and allegiances to both candidates. That's why I've never understood the rabid Hillary haters or the angry Obama opponents. To me, all three candidates -- including John McCain -- are good and decent Americans who have served their country with distinction.

I wish Hillary Clinton would acknowledge that fact too.

[...insert tragic list of Hillary's recent sins against black people...]

She ought to be ashamed. A month ago she stoked the fears that Obama might be a Muslim and now she plays on the fears of Pennsylvanians that the Illinois senator is a radical black Christian. I would expect that kind of nonsensical fear mongering from a Republican, but I'm disappointed when it comes from a fellow Democrat.

Even John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has acknowledged that Clinton and Obama are both honorable Americans. When a conservative radio host attacked Obama at a Cincinnati McCain rally last month, the Arizona senator stood up for his Democratic opponents and apologized for the attack. "I have repeatedly stated my respect for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton," he said and promised to "treat them with respect." That was much classier than Hillary Clinton's comments on Jeremiah Wright.

As a New Yorker, I have been proud of Hillary Clinton's service in the Senate, and I harbor no ill will toward her. If she somehow manages to wrangle the nomination from Obama, I will actively support her general election campaign. But I cannot remain silent any longer while my own senator destroys the Democratic Party, and her own reputation, in a desperate and degrading effort to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

It's time for Senator Clinton to act like a leader that I know she can be. Hilary Clinton not only needs to defend Barack Obama, she needs to apologize to him.

I'll go further. It's time for Hillary Clinton to step down and concede if not for the sake of the nation and the Democratic party -- then if nothing else, to preserve what's left of her family's reputation.

That's why I just now signed the Afrosphere's Petition to Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee urging Clinton to concede defeat based on the grounds that she cannot win and that her candidacy of vanity and ego threatens democracy in America. I am the 1121th signer. Please join me. Here's the text of the petition.

To: Senator Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee

Senator Hillary Clinton Must Concede Defeat and Support the Democratic Presidential Ticket

The signatories to this statement urge that Senator Hillary Clinton must concede defeat in her quest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and must support the Democratic ticket.

Wherefore:

(1) The Democratic Party base has spoken. The delegate count shows that Senator Hillary Clinton cannot win the nomination on the strength of earned delegates, based on the will of the voters.

(2) Mrs. Clinton's political attacks upon Senator Barack Obama have increasingly appealed to and sought to increase resentment against others based on the color of their skin.

(3) This divisiveness is regrettable because, via the presidential candidacy of Senator Obama, the vast majority of African-Americans stand united with millions of white Americans and Americans of all colors, genders, ethnicities and religious backgrounds, erasing divisions to implement a program of Democratic change.

(4) It appears that Mrs. Clinton is about to shatter this historic unity.

(5) We therefore call on Mrs. Clinton to face the reality of the earned delegates count, concede defeat, and thereby contribute to healing a wound which is opening and continues to widen.

(6) Mrs. Clinton must wholeheartedly support the winner of the nomination, who has earned the most delegates, and devote herself honestly and enthusiastically to defeating Republican electoral hopes in 2008, not attacking Democratic politicians and Democratic constituencies.

(7) Should the Democratic Party leadership nullify the people's votes by giving Mrs. Clinton the nomination, despite the popular will as represented by earned delegates, we would then call upon African-American voters and all Democratic Party constituencies and supporters to withhold their support from a Hillary Clinton candidacy in November. We have survived eight years under President Bush and, if compelled to do so, we will survive four years under a President McCain. However, we cannot and will NOT survive the nullification of our most hard-won right - our votes.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

WaPo on Color of Change vs Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and the CBC

Shailagh Murray over at the Washington Post wrote a smarter version of this Politico story on Color of Change's petition to ask superdelegates to vote with their constituents called For Black Superdelegates, Pressure to Back Obama.

Here's an excerpt:

Tubbs Jones is pushing back hard against the kind of pressure that has come down on Rep. John Lewis (Ga.) and other black Democratic superdelegates who are being pressed to back Obama's candidacy.

"I say shame on anyone who's engaged in that conduct, to put that kind of pressure on John Lewis," Tubbs Jones said. "I'm not trying to be a martyr. I think Senator Clinton is the best candidate. And the beauty of the United States of America is you have the right to have your opinion, and I have the right to my opinion."

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones's district is in the Cleveland area. So she hasn't had to choose yet between her own personal preference and those of her district. It will be interesting to see what she has to say after March 4.

Frankly, I find the paternalism/maternalism of certain Congressional Black Caucus members such as Tubbs Jones to be astonishing. Going back to the Politico article (emphasis mine):

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Black Caucus member, said he is still “very strong” for Clinton even in the wake of Lewis’s turnaround. He was unmoved by discord in his Queens district, which backed Obama in the New York primary.

“Some people threw out flyers. That doesn’t faze me at all. If someone wants to run against me, that’s democracy,” he said. “Sen. Obama is a very inspirational person. People in the district are proud. I’m proud. You can’t not be proud being an African-American… But I have to do overall what’s in the best interests of my district.”

So in essence what we are being told is that Mother or Father Knows Best and that even if the majority of their district supports one candidate, your CBC Member Knows Best and will Vote For You. The Way You Should Have Voted. If You Simple Negroes Whose Heads Got Turned by That Slick-Talking Barack Obama Exercised The Good Sense That God Gave Ya.

Or somesuch crotchety old nonsense like that. That's not leadership and that's not democracy. What Color of Change and over 18,000 of their supporters who have signed their petition are saying is -- please represent your constituents. They are not the only ones with a petition either. If your constituents mostly backed Clinton, then by all means, vote for Clinton. All CBC members will have had a chance to vote for their preferred candidate privately in their home states at the very same time the rest of us voted in the primaries. To assert that they plan to use their privileged second opportunity to vote in Denver over the wishes of their districts, the people who made that privilege possible? That's arrogance of the highest order. And very disappointing given what we saw during the 2000 election when the popular vote failed to hold sway. Or have we all forgotten about that?

If you'd like to keep track of how your CBC Member is planning to vote, take a look here at the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch Superdelegate List.

Politico Article Attacks Color of Change

The Politico released this rather slanted article called Black backers steadfast for Clinton which singles out Color of Change's petition calling on Black superdelegates to vote with their district at the 2008 Democratic Convention. As a member of Color of Change, I am concerned.

Here's an excerpt:

African-American superdelegates said Thursday that they’ll stand up against threats, intimidation and “Uncle Tom” smears rather than switch their support from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama.

“African-American superdelegates are being targeted, harassed and threatened,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), a superdelegate who has supported Clinton since August. Cleaver said black superdelegates are receiving “nasty letters, phone calls, threats they’ll get an opponent, being called an Uncle Tom.

[...]

Black superdelegates are getting heavy pressure from such groups as ColorOfChange.org, a grass-roots organization whose members overwhelmingly support Obama.

“Some [Congressional Black Caucus] members are threatening to vote against their constituents, and perhaps against the will of the American people, by casting their superdelegate vote for Sen. Clinton,” the ColorOfChange.org website reads. “We can prevent this from happen by letting black leadership know we're watching.”

Mervyn Mercano, Communications Director over at CoC shared with me the letter that Color of Change sent to the article's author, Josephine Hearn. Emphasis mine.

Josephine,

We here at ColorOfChange.org just came across your story "Black Backers Steadfast for Clinton" on Politico.com. After a careful read of the story, we think there are some serious problems that need to be addressed.

First and foremost, this organization is not "backing" Barack Obama. We did poll our membership on the presidential campaign and an overwhelming number of people were voting for Senator Obama. That, however, did not result in any endorsement of Senator Obama.

In fact, our campaign is not about generating support for any candidate. Our position has been clear from the start: we respect members of Congress supporting whoever they wish, endorsing whoever they wish. The issue at hand is using their superdelegate privilege to undermine the will of voters. We have been clear about this in our email outreaches to members and other materials. The links to those materials, available on our website, are pasted below.

Second, providing an avenue for our members to speak up and contact representatives about this issue, or any other, is advocacy, not intimidation. The fact that your article groups our campaign with others focused on intimidation and threats to CBC members misrepresents our organization and our members. I'm providing a link below to the letter that we sent to Congressional Black Caucus members, which includes a sampling of the thousands of comments written by individuals as part of this campaign, so you get a sense of their level of engagement on what they see as a clear voting rights issue. You may view it online or download the attachment.

It's important to note that neither you nor any reporter associated with Politico ever contacted us about this story. We think it is unfortunate and results in misinformation and misrepresentation to quote and highlight a subject without giving them an opportunity to comment or respond.

We would ask that you print a strong and prominent retraction, making clear the e