Crashing The Gates By Clearing The Field?
Posted on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 12:37:26 PM EST
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At daily kos, there seems to be a new approach to Crashing the Gates. It involves clearing the field. DavidNYC writes:
Earlier this week, Markos also took note of fears that a primary could be unnecessarily divisive. There's no question that to have a shot at beating Sessions, Alabama Dems will have to be completely united. Primaries can often be a good thing, but not always, and this race might fall into the latter category. And if Ron Sparks says so, I'm inclined to believe him.
To be fair to Markos, he really did not say that:
[M]oney isn't wasted in contested primaries if it keeps the eventual victor's name in the news and interest in the race high. It gives candidates a chance to hone their message and forces them to test their field operation before the November contest. In fact, primary victors often get a bump as a bandwagon effect takes hold. Our two most dramatic victories in 2008 -- in Red states Virginia and Montana -- featured Democrats who first had to make it through primaries. Primaries shouldn't be feared.
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But both Markos and DavidNYC discuss primaries that involve minority candidates as necessarily creating racial divisions. Markos wrote:
But in this racially charged state, at what cost? No Democrat would have a prayer of winning the general without massive African American support. So the racial issues could be fierce. Hence I suspect there's a strong effort to talk Figures out of the race before Sparks commits.
Um, Markos, every state is racially charged to some extent or other. Will we be asking Barack Obama to withdraw his candidacy to avoid "a racially charged primary?" This really smacks of asking all minority candidates to avoid contested primaries, by not running in them.
DavidNYC, in a comment, raises the issue of the 2001 NYC Mayoral primary:
Would mean that primaries are always a good thing. Sadly, this isn't the case. A vicious and nasty Democratic primary in 2001 in NYC gave us Republican Mayor Bloomberg.
Well, unless Sparks plans to use the type of racist campaign techniques that marked the Mark Green runoff campaign, I doubt there would be a repeat.But more importantly, what is DavidNYC's solution here? Should Ferrer have not run for Mayor? Is that DavidNYC's solution? And now his solution is for the African-American candidate not to run in Alabama?
Let me be clear, I don't think either Sparks or Figures has a snowball's chance of winning this race. But Sparks would have the better chance. But what I think and what DavidNYC thinks or what Markos thinks means nothing. the Democratic voters of Alabama get to decide.
It shocks me to see Daily Kos endorsing a clear the field approach to politcs. It is especially shocking to see it endorse a clear the field of MINORITY candidates approach. So much for Crashing the Gates. Especially if you are not white.
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