GRAY:Political fatigue aside, duty calls us one last time
If McCain somehow beats Obama on Tuesday, the credibility of pollsters and pundits of all persuasionswill take a historic beating. That’s likely not the history that will occur; instead we will probably have the first black president in American history.
It’s an intriguing proposition that this occurrence could well be the pivotal point of getting us beyond race in our politics.
Sure, there’s an element of racial pride in the legions of new black voters who have registered and in the enormous excitement about Obama in the African-American community. But why not? If Obama’s election – or even his simply having achieved what he already has – convinces otherwise skeptical black citizens that there are no longer barriers to their full participation in every phase of American life and leadership, and that the American promise is just as true for them as anyone else, isn’t that a welcome development?
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Speaking of polls, the latest ones showed Roger Wicker widening what had, for a little while, been a slim lead over Ronnie Musgrove in the Senate race. The volatility and unpredictability of this election year make it impossible to call the race definitively, but a Musgrove win at this stage would be a huge upset.
Haley Barbour created a narrative of Musgrove’s administration in Barbour’s 2003 campaign against the incumbent that set at Musgrove’s feet job losses, excessive spending, lawsuits gone wild, and for good measure, the state flag controversy. None of these were of Musgrove’s primary making, but context and balance almost never appear in campaigns and, of course, the narrative worked. It’s no surprise, then, that Wicker picked it up as a central theme of his campaign.
It’s sad, seven and a half years after it was decided in favor of the status quo, that the divisive state flag issue is still exploited for votes. Republican strategists know, of course, that while some black legislators pushed the issue, the primary organized forces in Mississippi for changing the flag were Republican-oriented business and economic development organizations. You’ll find no acknowledgment of that in any Republican TV ads or fliers.
Lloyd Gray
NE MS Daily Journal
11/2/8
Magnolia Tribune
