Jul 11, 2004

Race and Politics

by Liberty and Power

Ralph Luker at Cliopatria disagrees with my criticism of top Democratic Party leaders in Mississippi, such as George Dale, to pick a white, and only a white, as party chair. Ralph notes that such ethnic balancing was once quite traditional in party politics in the North. In New York, and other states party leaders would set out to run an Irishman for one office and a Jew for another. He also states that while such ethnic quotas are not pretty, they might make sense for Southern Democratic parties which need to win white votes to survive.

I have several problems with this. While Ralph has a point in his historical analysis, I doubt that today any politician would openly, or even secretly, consider *only* a Jew, Irishman, or Italian for chair of the Democratic Party of New York or as a candidate for a particular office.

Now....it is true that politicians continue to consider ethnicity and religion as *factors* in picking candidates or party leaders. I have no objection to that, at least in moderation. However, I can't think of a single example in recent years when a particular religion or ethnic qualification was singled out as the only factor in such a selection e.g. a factor that could trump all the others.

In 2000, for example, Lieberman's Jewishness was probably a positive factor in his selection but nobody claimed that it was the only one. In fact, I think that had Gore begun his veep search by saying he was looking for"a Jewish candidate," and only a Jewish candidate, he would been roundly booed by both sides. Yet, Dale does it and few object. There is a double standard here, no matter how you cut it. The stategy of selecting party positions such as chair on the basis of race also fails on practical terms in my view. Recent (and not so recent) history indicates that party differences are increasingly determined by ideology than the skin color of party leaders or politicians who carry out policies.

It is probable that blacks in November will vote 90 percent Democratic. It will not make much difference to them that Dubya has appointed the first blacks to two major power positions: secretary of state and NSC head. It will also not make much difference to them that Kerry's top staff is lily white and his veep is an over forty white male.

Dubya might sway some black voters if he picked Powell (a moderate) as veep though he probably wouldn't if he picked Rice (a pro-war conservative). I used to think otherwise about Rice but no longer do.

I would even content that if the GOP in Mississippi picked a conservative Republican black as chair and the Democrats picked a liberal white, I don't think, voter alignments would change too much.

Moreover, of course, the quota mentality of Dale and others not only perpetuates something that is morally dubious but is rather insulting and patronizing (and will probably be seen as such) of the good sense and savy of both black and white voters.