Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 December 2002 — Page 7

The Muncie Times, December 19,2002, page 7

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NEWS BRIEFS FROM PAGE 6 start looking a little bit more at what is becoming a kind of conscience class divide in the Black community." Sharpton hopes the middle- and upper class Black supporters he has already enlisted will provide a broad-based appeal. His exploratory committee and private supporters are comprised of big names in academia, political circles and the media. Among them are Cornell West, Princeton Black studies professor, and Charles Ogletree, Harvard law professor. Financial contributors to his exploratory campaign include Percy Sutton, a prominent New York civil rights lawyer; Cathy Hughes, owner and CEO of Radio One; Earl Graves Jr., founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine; and Robert L. Johnson, founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Television. Some observers say Sharpton's long-shot bid to become president is going against the tide of public opinion in Black America. "The problem is that African-American public opinion is moving closer to the mainstream and to the Right. The radicalism in the African-American community has waned considerably," says Katherine Tate, chair of the department of political science at the University of California at Irvine. "President Bush might even end up winning African-American support.

foot by selecting a new, diverse.leadership team in the. House. But they acted like the usual wimps by advancing two Right-wing judicial nominations out of committee in the lame duck session of Congress. Let's get the bad news out of the way first. Even before Republicans take control of the Senate in January, the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are already rolling over and playing dead. Actually, they don't have to play-they are dead. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) had

to retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), dismissed a lawsuit aimed at removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse dome, asserting that South Carolinians "don't care if the flags flies or not." He has ruled consistently against civil rights plaintiffs. McConnell, who has the backing of ultraconservative Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), is so hostile to civil rights that he opposes the concept of one person, one vote. He even objected to the Supreme Court decision denying tax-exempt status

6 6 It's almost like they've been joking so long about Clinton was a Black president, they started believing it } 9

He's certainly made toplevel appointments that are African-Americans. So, his administration is actually doing very well, all things considered." Only 9 percent of African-Americans voted for Bush in 2000. An October Gallup poll reported Bush with a 33 percent approval rating among African-Americans. It is not unusual for wartime presidents to have high approval ratings. The Black approval rating for George Bush's father

during

the Persian Gulf War was 48.6 percent in October 1990, according

to the

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. In early 1991, Gallup reported his approval rating as 91 percent overall. He lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. Whatever Sharpton adopts will have an impact on Democrats. "The DNC strategy for getting out the vote was Bill Clinton," he says. "It's almost like they've been joking so long about Clinton was a Black president, they started believing it. It's one thing to joke. It's another thing when they have a strategy like that for real."

A Mixed Start for Wandering Democrats In the wake of having their heads handed to them on a platter, the Democrats since Election Day have made two steps in the opposite direction. They got off on a good

held off considering the elevation of U.S. District Judge Dennis Shedd to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the appointment of Utah law professor Michael McConnell to the 10th Court of Appeals. Leahy said the two nominations were too contentious to bring before the committee prior to the Nov. 5 election. After the election, Leahy is being anything but contentious. Even though Democrats hold a 10-9 edge in committee, he guided the nominations through committee and reported them to the floor for a Senate vote. Shedd, a former aide

to Bob Jones University for racially discriminatory policies. After the Senate vote, Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a federation of 180 civil and human rights groups, said: "Regardless of the outcome of the election, there is no presidential mandate for a Right-wing judiciary." Not only did the Judiciary Committee send the nominations out of committee, they also sent a message to progressives, Henderson said. "Senators who voted' to confirm Dennis Shedd

and Michael McConnell send a clear signal to women, racial minorities, workers and consumers across America that their voices will not be heard," he said. "The message is that nominees who are hostile to civil rights, women's rights and Congress' authority to protect those rights, will get lifetime appointments where they can limit or even roll back progress on civil rights and civil liberties." That's the bad news. The good news is that Democrats elected a leadership team that reflects more than just White males. They elected Nancy Pelosi, an unapologetic liberal from San Francisco, as minority leader in the House. She voted against the Bush tax cuts and opposed authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Also elected were Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as whip, Robert Menendez, a Hispanic from New Jersey as caucus chairman and James E. Clyburn, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from South Carolina, as vice chairman of the Democratic caucus. Pelosi named John M. Spratt Jr., a fiscal conservative from South Carolina, as assistant to the leader. Pelosi, an experienced lawmaker, made it clear that her priority will be challenging Republicans on the economy. That's George

NEWS BRIEFS see page 9