Clarke and Towns Show No Signs of Following Peoples' Choice: Obama

                                    

    

After  the New York Times ran a story saying Civil Rights leader and Georgia Congressman John Lewis (middle photo) was drifting from Hillary Clinton and toward Barack Obama, the question arises:

Will Yvette Clarke or Edolphus (Ed) Towns also show signs of angst about having chosen Clinton, when their constituents voted so solidly for Obama?

For now there are no such signs.

Here's what Towns said in a Times blog posting by Jonathan Hicks:

"[My] district might have gone for Obama . . . But the state went for Hillary. And no matter what, she is the senator from our state."

Well, so much for that. Towns has never shown signs of being an iconoclast or even, really, very progressive.

As for Clarke, she has not been very out-front on this issue over the past day, as far as we know.

[Appropos of this, there are indications that she's preparing a fund-raiser, which might be a sign that she anticipates a challenge in her next election, a challenge that might well highlight community dissatisfaction with her choice of Clinton.]

Clarke, of course, represents the largely black/Caribbean middle Brooklyn district of former Congressman Major Owens, while Towns represents the older black part of north Central Brooklyn taking in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

(For the record, Southeast Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks, whose constitutents also went decisively for Obama, is quoted by the Times' Hicks as saying he's still with Clinton.)

By the way, there have been claims that Congressman Lewis is backing away from the front-page Times piece (of Friday, Feb. 15) saying he would choose Obama over Clinton, if the Democratic primary fight goes all the way to the August National Convention.

But we need to point out, for one thing, that those indications are coming from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, which was kind of embarrassed that an outside newspaper got a scoop on their home elected official.

And, for another, Lewis is probably in a painful quandry and moving back and forth within himself over how to deal with this. His Georgia voters have gone with Obama, and his Martin Luther King impulses must deeply appreciate this racial/cultural/Obama awakening that is sweeping the country.

Photos seems to show him in some internal division.

That's a very human thing, actually, and it would be nice to see such soul-searching in more of our elected officials. Wouldn't it?

The online Hill has a piece that says black Obama supporters are beginning to pressure blacks legislators who have stuck with Clinton despite constituent preferences for Obama.

[Pictured here are, left to right, Yvette Clarke, John Lewis and Edolphus (Ed) Towns.]

Comments

[Daisy]

Email Clarke and Towns here:

http://clarke.house.gov/contactform_zipcheck.shtml
http://www.house.gov/towns/contact_form.shtml

[Ron]

Thanks for the comments and, yes, I did see the article about the undercounts. It does make you wonder.

I'd love to hear more about the Latino vote in Texas, and what folks are saying.

Please keep checking in and letting us know your thoughts.

Take care.

Ron

[Richard Rodriguez]

I already sent my email to Mr. Towns this past Wednesday...not that it will do any good. But, perhaps he'll reconsider when Obama wins big in Texas or Ohio. My Latino sources say this may be the case, as they are tired of being used as firewalls and can think for themselves.

I'm sure you saw this today as well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/nyregion/16vote.html?hp

On an unrelated note: Mr. Howell, I just wanted to say that I found your blog a few days ago, and I think it's great.