Kirk accuses rival Cornyn of 'racial politics'
Posted on 10/18/2002 3:05:46 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Kirk accuses rival Cornyn of 'racial politics'
As contest heats up, AG denies charge, says foe embraces violent music
10/18/2002
FORT WORTH - Democratic Senate candidate Ron Kirk on Thursday accused GOP rival John Cornyn of trying to frighten voters with "racial politics" by criticizing his appearance at a rap music summit.
Mr. Cornyn denied the charge and countered that his opponent had embraced music that glorifies cop-killing.
The exchange, the campaign's most contentious yet, came on the eve of their first debate. They also argued about who had done less to earn a full-time salary, with Mr. Kirk calling his opponent an "absentee attorney general" and Mr. Cornyn questioning the quarter-million-dollar annual pay Mr. Kirk gets from a Dallas law firm.
But what seemed to get Mr. Kirk riled enough to lash out at Mr. Cornyn was an e-mail the Republican's aides circulated to reporters Wednesday. The e-mail contained a photo of Mr. Kirk shaking hands with Def Jam Records CEO Russell Simmons, and above the photo was an expletive-filled remark from Mr. Simmons defending gangsta rap.
"This is nothing more than another political ploy between Mr. Cornyn's communications team and someone else to try to interject a divisive issue into this campaign, and it's not going to work," Mr. Kirk said after an appearance at the Texas Municipal League convention in Fort Worth.
"They are doing everything they can to very subtly try to frighten people away from looking at my background and my credentials, and trying to interject racial politics in a negative way in this campaign. I think it's distasteful."
Mr. Cornyn, who also addressed the convention, was traveling when his opponent made the remarks, but he denied the accusation through his spokesman, Dave Beckwith.
"Did we mention race? I don't think so," Mr. Beckwith said. "The only person who is raising race is, once again, Mr. Kirk."
Mr. Beckwith stood by the criticism of Mr. Kirk.
"Many rappers, including Eminem, are white," Mr. Beckwith said. "This is entirely about violence against women and advocating cop-killing. It has nothing to do with race."
Each side has accused the other of using race as a weapon before, but Thursday's exchange was by far the most acrimonious. And experts said both sides could stand to benefit - Mr. Kirk by getting his supporters worked up over the idea of a racist attack, Mr. Cornyn by heightening anxiety about his opponent's values, especially among suburban and rural voters.
"The places where race is a hot-button issue, they will seize upon it. It will be like preaching to the choir," said University of Texas political scientist Bruce Buchanan. "The centrist voters, where the election will be decided, will look at it as politics as usual and look for other evidence to see if the candidate is in bed with a bad guy."
Mr. Kirk hopes to become the first black senator from Texas. The former Dallas mayor has pitched himself as a moderate Democrat who can reach across racial lines.
The event that triggered the bickering was his appearance Saturday at the Hip-Hop Summit in Dallas, where he was joined at a get-out-the-vote rally by Mr. Simmons, Def Jam Records' founder, and by West Dallas-bred rapper D.O.C.
D.O.C. had a hand in writing N.W.A.'s groundbreaking album Straight Outta Compton, which helped popularize so-called gangsta rap and featured the controversial hit "[Expletive] tha Police."
The Cornyn campaign said nothing Saturday about Mr. Kirk's appearance. But on Tuesday, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas - which is backing Mr. Cornyn - called on Mr. Kirk to "disavow" the endorsement he received at the rally from D.O.C., whose given name is Tracy Curry.
The Cornyn campaign then issued a statement Wednesday demanding: "Does Kirk embrace the gangsta rap endorsement?"
Mr. Kirk said Thursday that his appearance at the Hip-Hop Summit had nothing to do with collecting endorsements or embracing any particular music or lyrics.
"Our only message was 'get out the vote.' There was no association between us and any rap star or anyone else," he said. "The whole purpose of this rap summit is to move rap away from its more violent image of the past. ... The only thing they were doing was encouraging people to go vote.
"I would hope, whether in an overt or nonsubtle way, that John Cornyn isn't suggesting that these young people don't have a right to be interested in the political life of our community."
Thursday marked the second time Mr. Kirk has charged his rival with race-baiting. In July, he said Mr. Cornyn was a silent partner in a "nasty" e-mail campaign by Republican groups to derail his candidacy, but Mr. Kirk provided no proof.
"The Cornyn campaign is hiding behind other groups and other people," Mr. Kirk said at the time. "But their hands are in it."
Mr. Kirk also charged then that Mr. Cornyn should have repudiated Sen. Phil Gramm in June, when the retiring Republican accused the Democrats of using a divisive tactic in creating their ethnically diverse "dream ticket."
Mr. Beckwith responded with a question: "Is Mr. Kirk attributing criticism of his numerous positions outside of the Texas mainstream ... to some vast right-wing conspiracy? Can he name these mysterious groups?"
On Thursday, using the Texas Municipal League convention as a backdrop, Mr. Kirk and Mr. Cornyn also clashed about who is doing less on the job.
Mr. Kirk called his opponent an "absentee attorney general" who spends most of his taxpayer-paid time campaigning. Mr. Cornyn, who earns about $90,000 annually, shot back that his opponent collects more than twice as much from a Dallas law firm for doing nothing - raising the specter of paybacks once in office.
"Absentee AG, it kind of rhymes," said Kirk spokesman Robert Gibbs. "I think the people will be interested to know how the tax money is being spent by John Cornyn. They seem to be financing his campaign, and I have to believe that if John Cornyn were really working 24/7, the state would have begun to recoup some of the tens of millions the state lost on Enron and some of the $253 million the state lost on WorldCom."
Mr. Beckwith said he was puzzled by that, because there was no way for the attorney general to recover the millions lost in state pension funds when those companies went broke.
Mr. Beckwith said that even when Mr. Cornyn is traveling the state to campaign, he keeps in constant touch with his official state office by cellphone and e-mail.
"He takes responsibility for everything that happens there, and he has closely supervised the office this year," Mr. Beckwith said.
He questioned the accuracy of a KTVT-TV (Channel 11) report that raised the issue, saying it was based on a schedule that shows only official meetings - not the time he spends in the office reviewing paperwork or employee performance, or talking with deputies.
"He's constantly overseeing the OAG [office of attorney general] because he takes full responsibility for everything. For every decision of the agency," Mr. Beckwith said.
As for Mr. Kirk, he said, "He's taking law firm money. Kirk is taking a $250,000 annual salary from a law firm for doing no work. What is he doing to justify that income? Or is it in effect a payment by a corporate law firm, the bill for which will be called in later?"
In Mr. Kirk's last year as mayor, the law firm Gardere Wynne Sewell, in which he is a partner, paid him $227,634 for doing a few hours of work a week. The arrangement was designed to allow him to be at City Hall full time, and the firm said it would continue during his run for the Senate.
Mr. Beckwith called it "strange" for Mr. Kirk to broach the issue. "This is a wonderful opportunity for us to compare the ethics of John Cornyn and Ron Kirk, who has gotten wealthy while in public office," he said.
Mr. Kirk said Mr. Beckwith's charges are off base.
"I'm paid by a law firm. The people of Texas are not subsidizing me. That's a pretty sorry excuse for someone who is drawing a full-time salary from the people of Texas and not representing them," Mr. Kirk said. "If there was ever a time the state needed a watchdog, it was this past year, and what they got was a lapdog for Enron and WorldCom."
E-mail tgillman@dallasnews.com
At Hip-Hop Summit, Kirk pleads for generation to
vote - John Wiley Price attends Kirk campaign event
Mr. Kirk hopes to become the first black senator from Texas. The former Dallas mayor has pitched himself as a moderate Democrat who can reach across racial lines.
Kirk a centrist? Hardly. Kirk is a Democrat in the same mold as the Divide Amerika Gang - Tom Daschle, Terry McAuliffe, Bill Clinton and Dick Gephardt, to name a few. Note:
[Kirk]: "They are doing everything they can to very subtly try to frighten people away from looking at my background and my credentials, and trying to interject racial politics in a negative way in this campaign. I think it's distasteful."
Mr. Cornyn, who also addressed the convention, was traveling when his opponent made the remarks, but he denied the accusation through his spokesman, Dave Beckwith.
"Did we mention race? I don't think so," Mr. Beckwith said. "The only person who is raising race is, once again, Mr. Kirk."
Mr. Beckwith stood by the criticism of Mr. Kirk.
"Many rappers, including Eminem, are white," Mr. Beckwith said. "This is entirely about violence against women and advocating cop-killing. It has nothing to do with race."
Even the DMN account shows that Kirk is the one that brought the issue of Race up.
Thursday marked the second time Mr. Kirk has charged his rival with race-baiting. In July, he said Mr. Cornyn was a silent partner in a "nasty" e-mail campaign by Republican groups to derail his candidacy, but Mr. Kirk provided no proof.
"The Cornyn campaign is hiding behind other groups and other people," Mr. Kirk said at the time. "But their hands are in it."
Mr. Kirk also charged then that Mr. Cornyn should have repudiated Sen. Phil Gramm in June, when the retiring Republican accused the Democrats of using a divisive tactic in creating their ethnically diverse "dream ticket."
Mr. Beckwith responded with a question: "Is Mr. Kirk attributing criticism of his numerous positions outside of the Texas mainstream ... to some vast right-wing conspiracy? Can he name these mysterious groups?"
Sorry for the unusually long comment here folks, but I had to get that off my chest. I welcome reasoned responses and comments. Thanks!
Well, this seems to be getting interesting. Ron Kirk brings up race again, and accuses Cornyn of race-baiting. Another Divide Amerika attack by the Moderate, Centrist Mr. Kirk. It's okay to lie....."Everybody does it", right Mr. Kirk?
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
http://www.nbc5i.com/politics/1721236/detail.html
And here are the poll results in the Senate and Governor races:
Also, nearly half of those polled said they think both campaigns are using "unfair" campaign ads.
The poll was conducted from October 8 through October 13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.
"…who do you think you would vote for if the election were held today?"
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State |
North Texas | East Texas | South Texas | Central Texas | West Texas | |
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| Democrat Tony Sanchez, Jr. | 34% | 36% | 33% | 39% | 28% | 21% |
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| Republican Rick Perry | 48% | 46% | 51% | 41% | 50% | 64% |
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| Undecided | 17% | 17% | 16% | 20% | 20% | 13% |
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State |
Male | Female | White | Hisp | Afri-Amer | |
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| Democrat Tony Sanchez, Jr. | 34% | 32% | 35% | 21% | 52% | 64% |
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| Republican Rick Perry | 48% | 52% | 45% | 65% | 25% | 10% |
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| Undecided | 17% | 15% | 19% | 13% | 23% | 25% |
U.S. Senate
"…who do you think you would vote for if the election were held today?"
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State |
N. Texas | E. Texas | S. Texas | Central Texas | W. Texas | |
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| (D)Ron Kirk | 36% | 40% | 34% | 36% | 40% | 26% |
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| (R)John Cornyn | 46% | 47% | 46% | 43% | 42% | 60% |
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| Undecided | 16% | 11% | 19% | 21% | 15% | 13% |
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State |
Male | Female | White | Hispanic | Afri-Amer. | |
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| (D) Ron Kirk | 36% | 33% | 39% | 25% | 46% | 73% |
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| (R) John Cornyn | 46% | 51% | 43% | 60% | 33% | 6% |
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| Undecided | 16% | 14% | 17% | 14% | 18% | 19% |
Oh sure. You turn up at a rap summit and surround yourself with rap stars, hoping to bask in some of their reflected popularity. But you weren't seeking any association. What a pitiful, transparent lie.
Kirk brought race into the election from day one.
He brought Hillary into the race in day two.
He brought California into the race in day three.
Skrike three; he's out!
Not *rap* music, as its promoters and addicts prefer. It's *rape* music....
Fort Worth Democratic Senate candidate Ron Kirk on Thursday accused GOP rival John Cornyn of trying to frighten voters with "racial politics" by criticising his appearance at a rape music summit.
I find it impossible to call some bozo flapping his lips while some other clown is beating drums "music". To my mind music has a melody - a succession of musical notes. Some, like dissonant jazz or dissonant symphonic music, is not my cup of tea, but I can stll call it music.
Add a "c" to "rap" and you'll get what I call it - CRAP ! It is not music. "Rap music" is an oxymoron.
Yep, I think most Texans won't think much of someone that rubs elbows with the
gangsta rap(er). Who wants to send someone like that to DC as their Senator?
I wanna be yore Sinator Yep. I still wish he'd bring in the big guns to campaign for him. You know, the one's that are helping him raise campaign $$. Bill & Hill in NY, Barbara Lee, Dianne Feinstein et al in California, and tom da$$hole, etc., etc. Seems nobody in Texas wants to give him much $$ though, huh? 
Yep. It seems the last couple of weeks that he's becoming a bit desperate. Someone suggested on an early thread that the Texas DIMocRATS might bring in Annie Fannie (Richards) to take his place on the ballot. LOL! Can you imagine if they actually tried to do something like that here !? That might work in NJ, but I think they'd be howled out of the state if they tried that here.....
LOL !Not *rap* music, as its promoters and addicts prefer. It's *rape* music....
Fort Worth Democratic Senate candidate Ron Kirk on Thursday accused GOP rival John Cornyn of trying to frighten voters with "racial politics" by criticising his appearance at a rape music summit.
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