Posted on 02/03/2012 9:18:28 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Sam Fulwood III explains why Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's disrespectful gesture last week will motivate black voters to support the president in the November election.
With a waggle of her right index finger last Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer erased the question of whether black voters will be enthusiastic about going to the polls in support of President Barack Obama. Now, you can count on it.
Gov. Brewer almost guaranteed that large numbers of black voters will turn out on Election Day because they will march to the polls, still angry about Brewer's one-finger salute of the commander-in-chief. Nothing motivates voters like anger. So I envision their collective disgust to register in a wave of ballots, striking back at what so many perceive as the ultimate disrespect of the nation's first black president.
This isn't a bold prediction. Rather, it's more of a reasonable assessment of what I'm hearing and reading about the durability of the anger over the now-infamous tarmac photo. As if the picture didn't convey an outrageous message greater than 1,000 words uttered by a campaign opponent, Gov. Brewer doubled down on the prickly image to say that she poked her finger in the president's face because she f"elt threatened":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/jan-brewer-felt-a-little-threatened-by-president-obama.php by the audacity of that black man dressing her down over comments she wrote about him.
Indeed, I'm willing to be charitable on Gov. Brewer's behalf. For sure, she could never have envisioned how that split-second of her life under an Arizona sun, captured on pixels and set loose into the blogosphere, would reverberate in communities of color across the land. She probably (and accurately) expected it would help with sales of her book among conservatives who hate President Obama, but it also made her a subject of derisions, jokes, and ridicule among progressives in general and the black community in particular. And once a politician becomes the enduring butt of jokes, it's nearly impossible to repair the damage. Just ask Sarah Palin, who remains a force only among the far right.
Clearly, Gov. Brewer didn't know at that fateful moment how so many black Americans react to such gestures. No doubt she didn't know or care that many of us would decipher hidden meanings in her gesture or comments. Maybe she meant no malice. But whatever crossed Gov. Brewer's mind, she came off as disrespectful and clueless to black voters who are proud and protective of the president. And they will make her pay for being ignorant of their concerns and cavalier of their fears.
The White House, however, tried to downplay the entire incident. The president called it "no big deal." But of course he would say that and take the high road, while his political operatives made sure the real message was heard in black barbershops, beauty parlors, and churches. That's where the real political conversations among black voters are vetted, charged, and sustained.
I'm hearing an earful, nearly all of it anger at the perception of unfairness in the way the president (and his wife) are publicly portrayed. The Brewer photo only exacerbated the already-simmering feelings that started with Tea Party activists' racist signs, were perpetuated by South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe 'You Lie' Wilson's outburst, and continued with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's rude comments about the callipygian attributes of the First Lady's figure.
Lots of chatter circulates in media accounts of whether President Obama can motivate black voters this November as he did in 2008. He probably can't. The drama and enthusiasm surrounding the election of the nation's first black president can never be replicated. But it won't have to be this time around. Pride has been displaced by anger. Any lingering doubts about commitment and energy for President Obama's re-election among black voters is now moot.
Jan Brewer, thank you very much.
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Sam Fulwood III is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Director of the CAP Leadership Institute. His work with the Center's Progress 2050 project examines the impact of policies on the nation when there will be no clear racial or ethnic majority by the year 2050.
Countervaling to black anger is all the cheering the rest of us have been doing to see someone--as opposed to wimpy Congress-types--standing up to Zero and seeing him back down. That's probably the more significant reaction and would work to deepen Barry's negatives.
HF
a black lefty thinks somethings good for Obama...I’m shocked.
that’s waysist!
They all ready have a motivator, it’s called race. Another one would be redundant.
He,s touching her,!!!
He,s touching her,!!!
He’s putting his hand on her and THAT is disrespect. He deserves at best no more respect than the democrats gave to Bush. He’s a worthless POS who daily disgraces the office and the Constitution; he deserves no respect.
As a voting block (Black Conservatives excluded), black people are brainwashed...no big loss.
I don’t think it will be as much a motivator as Democrats hope.
Blacks are hurting because of super high employment. They know that it’s not whities fault on this.
Will someone PLEASE point out where Brewer was “disrespectful”? I have seen the images of the note she gave him - nothing disrespectful there. So what else did she do that “dissed” The One?
Not unless someone can unify Republicans - because the party right now is as fragmented as I have ever seen it - and I'm not sure either of the "frontrunners" can garner enough support from the base to win - much less the idiot independents who are swayed by sweet talk as Obama likes to dish out.
“Disrespect”? I believe it was the little kenyan kid that started the pie fight. Too bad we don’t have a president man enough to apologize.
Puleeze, Brewer did that in January and the election is still over 8 month’s away. Like anyone is going to remember this.
LOL, exactly!
I think Gov. Brewer got played. He’s much, much better at weasel games than she ever will be.
>>>With a waggle of her right index finger last Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer erased the question of whether black voters will be enthusiastic about going to the polls in support of President Barack Obama.<<<
Someone should wave a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in their faces.
According to Sam Fullwadd III they’d presumably all run out and get jobs.
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