Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 July 2002 — Page 11

FRIDAY, JULY 19,2002

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

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A sister will be Ohio's next lieutenant governor

By RON WALTERS A fascinating election is brewing in the state of Ohio that features two sisters, one Democrat and one Republican, each as candidates for lieutenant governor. The 47-year-old Democrat, Charleta B. Tavares, and Republican Jennette B. Bradley, 49, are members of the Columbus City Council and, therefore, have the substantial task of helping to run a major city, as well as run for a high-profile office. This elevation of a Black woman to the level of lieutenant governor is historic in that there has never been a Black female to hold this post and as such, it builds on the growing strength of Black women in electoral politics. One must remember that the 104 increase in the number Black elected officials this year over last year, was attributed entirely to Black women. Moreover, because Joe Rogers, the sitting Black Republican lieutenant governor of Colorado is running for a seat in the state’s newly created U. S. House of Representative district, the winner of the Ohio race will be the only Black lieutenant governor in the

nation.

The bottom-line politics of this is the attempt, beginning with Tim Hagan, the Democratic candidate for governor, to lock down the Columbus vote and to offset the considerable war chest of $7.5 million held by the Republican candidate, Gov. Bob Taft. When Lt. Gov. Maureen O’Connor decided to run for a state Supreme Court position, Taft, the great grandson of a former U.S. president, chose Bradley in order to neutralize whatever advantage Hagan would achieve from his selection of

Tavares.

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Charleta Tavares Democratic candidate

Taft took a considerable risk because Ohio is a rather conservative state with a preponderance of Republicans in office, and consequently, the right-wing of the state party was upset with his choice. The reason was that Bradley supports abortion rights and care benefits for same-sex partners. In fact, a Christian coalition-type group, the Pro-Family Network, referred to her as a “pro-homosexual, proabortion radical.” Taft has stood behind her in an attempt to moderate right-wing influence and appeal to the broadest spectrum of the electorate. In this case, Bradley has provided him with a foil to achieve this political goal. The fascination will come in the campaigning in the Black communities of Columbus. Since there is little issue difference between the two candidates, the choice will probably rest on the political character of the governor. This means that Hagan will have an initial advantage in Columbus, but will have to work hard to overcome the advantage of Taft in money and in votes. In the May primary, whereas Democrats cast 450,000 votes for

Jeanette Bradley Republican candidate

Hagan, Republicans cast more than 540.000 for the Taft-Bradley ticket for a difference of just under 100.000 votes. In any case, when the dust settles, the outcome ensures that Ohio’s lieutenant governor will be a Black woman. This is important for two reasons: It will be an historic role for a Black woman and being lieutenant governor is an important credential that could lead to the U.S. House or preferably the Sen-

ate.

This is a banner year of Blacks running for statewide office. Although many, perhaps all, will lose, this one is in the can. The good thing for the Black community is because the candidates’ issues and constituencies are both focused toward resolving urban problems, it doesn’t matter which one wins. Ronald Walters is a Distinguished Leadership Scholar, director of the African American Leadership Institute, and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is coauthor of the book, African

American Leadership.

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1 ’ ' tll “ ^ ; ^ —J s . yfe; Life on a Black planet

By GEORGE CURRY I’ve always wondered what life would be like on a Black planet. After attending the latest Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, now I know. I have seen a lot of Black people in my life, but never as many concentrated ip one place at one time. It all started with the flight from the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, where there were quite a few of us boarding. When I changed planes-in Nashville, it was clear that almost everyone was headed to New Orleans. There were about five white people on the plane — and they were either pilots or flight attendants. Judging by people in the New Orleans airport, every other inbound plane had about the same racial composition. Every bus and taxi line headed downtown was filled with African Americans, from the Black blue bloods to the ghettofabulous. Especially the ghettofabulous. There are some women who should not try to squeeze into tight pants. Let’s be up front. Or behind. On every street there was someone who, if they were told to haul butt, they would have to make two trips. And many of the guys were dressed as though they were about to appear on “Let’s Make a Deal.” Fortunately, most of the brothas and sistahs were appropriately attired and were in a festive mood. I attended the festival as a guest of my friend, Ingrid Saunders Jones, the senior vice president of corporate external affairs of the CocaCola Co. Not only do “things go better with Coke,” as the slogan says, going to the Essence Music Festival definitely goes better when you’re a guest of Coke. Of course, there are the private dinners, choice seats, invitation-only skyboxes, goodie bags and special after parties.

When I told people at the CocaCola hospitality suite in the Le Meridien Hotel that this was my first trip to the festival, a large smile came across the face of one of the greeters as she warned, “Just pace yourself.” That’s exactly what I didn’t do. After finding my way through the fabulous and ghetto-fabulous at the airport, there was barely time to check in (Coke even has private arrangements for that) and head to the Louisiana SuperDome to catch Luther Vandross, Alicia Keys, Cederic the Entertainer, India Arie and Gerald Levert on the main stage. The Ohio Players, Denise LaSalle and others, known and not-so-known, were appearing on smaller stages simultaneously in the super lounges. The talk of the night was about how Alicia Keys had bombed. She’s a very talented, but on this night, she stunk. As is the case with a lot of young Black artists who attain success quickly, she seemed over-managed. She cursed, apparently in a futile effort to seem like one of the girls. With that much talent, there was no need for vulgarity. What stuck out even more was her selection of songs. Someone forgot to tell her this was the “Essence” music festival, not one produced by “Good Housekeeping.” Her songs were not tailored to her audience and, consequently, she was tuned out. Fortunately, Luther made up for all of that. This was clearly a Luther Vandross crowd and Big Luther, as opposed to the slim version, was the quintessential star. As many times as I’ve seen Luther over the years. I’ve never seen him give a bad performance or misconnect with his audience. Alicia Keys could learn a thing or two — or three — from him. And I could learn something from the Coca-Cola greeter who

told me to pace myself. I had invitations to the after party at the House of Blues and the after party after the after party. By the time I returned to my hotel, it was 5 a.m. I didn’t get up until the crack of noon. Over the next two days, I did indeed pace myself as I rocked with Faith Evans, Mary J Blige, Babyface, the Isley Brothers and Frankie Beverly & Maze, among others. I disciplined myself and managed to get to bed by 2 or 3 a.m. each morning. Ingrid Saunders Jones provided a New Orleans-style supper at Harrah’s for several hundred of her closest friends. The star of that show was not Ingrid—sorry about that Ingrid—but her mother, Mrs. Georgia Saunders. She was Miss Knoxville College in 1936 and was seated with her longtime friend and another former Miss Knoxville College, Blanche Solomon. I want to age like them. They are so full of vitality and energy. I usually see Ingrid’s mother at homecoming at Knoxville College, which is also my alma mater, and I am always impressed by how classy she is. It’s old school class, charm and graciousness. It’s something I wish that the ghetto-fabulous women had been exposed to before they were, well, ghetto. Instead of letting everything hang out that’s not supposed to hang out, perhaps they would have modeled themselves after Ingrid’s mother. I am not saying women of today should not have their own style and personality. I am saying that class and grace has no age limit and it never goes out of style. That’s fabulous and it beats being ghetto-fabulous on the Black planet any day of the week. George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA.com.

Readers Respond

Corporate a«ountability President Bush’s corporate accountability agenda is welcome and a good framework for much needed reform. But, it leaves plenty of room for interpretation. As Congress takes up efforts to address pension, accounting and white collar crime issues, several goals and objectives should guide the debate. First, we ought to work hard to return corporate America to accounting practices that any college business major — and most any Wall Street analyst — can understand. Let’s take this opportunity to bring back common sense, simple, transparent accounting rules. Let’s encourage balance sheets and income statements where profits are profits, expenses are expenses and income is income, and where finance guidelines frown on, not encourage financial paper tigers. Simple, common sense accounting rules will discourage fraud, favor investors and reward solid companies who actually create something for a profit. Second, let’s enact pension protections based on the idea that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. When companies decide to match employee contributions with stock, the stock becomes the employees, with which she can do what she wants, including sell it! Employees and stockholders need timely and accurate information, and they need to live by the same rules as management. Let’s avoid lock-out policies that restrict employees ability to sell, especially if the same limits don’t apply to management. Most of my corporate friends will call me naive for these views. But, a little simplicity and common sense would go a long way to place emphasis back on good management, good products and services, and away from creative and reckless finance. »< Fiiu^, Confess Mdtake a close look at merger and acquisition guidelines as they apply to publicly regulated utilities. We may need to revisit the standards and litmus tests we apply to mergers like the AES purchase of IPL. I’m not calling for burdensome.

new regulations, but a common sense look at the differences between dot-com mergers and those affecting public utilities with very different, and much higher, public obligations. Brose McVey Candidate for Congress Indiana’s 7th District What's his viow? I am disappointed that, in his July 5 letter on the ruling against the Pledge of Allegiance, Libertarian congressional candidate Andrew Homing failed to state his position on the issue. As a candidate seeking the support of voters, it is his responsibility to explain and clarify his beliefs. But Homing dodged the task to write about the Constitution and freedom in the abstract. Many candidates claim to be for these things in the abstract but oppose them in practice. If Homing really cares about freedom, he should defend it on specific issues such as this, instead of hiding behind vague statements that tell us nothing about his views. Karl Born It's time for Modhore proscription drug bonofit We have just concluded the annual celebration of our nation’s hard-won and dearly held freedoms. Now it’s time for our nation’s elderly to be granted freedom from the financial min or lack of proper medical care that all-too-often accompanies the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. AARP’s message to our U.S. senators is: The time for talk is over. The time has come to get prescription medications in the hands of the people who need them at prices they can afford. The time has come for you to act now to put a permanent prescription drug benefit in Medicare. v •. Indiana’s Medicare beneficiaries need this coverage now. They cannot wait any longer for protection against the increasing cost of prescription drugs. The passage of prescription drug legislation by the House of Representatives on June

28 is a start but requires improvements. Now it’s time for the Sen- j ate to act and improve upon the House bill. A number of bills are pending in the Senate, including a j bill sponsored by Sens. Graham | (FL) and Miller (GA) that AARPI believes would offer real value, j Americans age 65 and older! account for 42 percent of drag | spending, but represent about 13 ; percent of the population. The av-1 erage Medicare beneficiary fills a prescription 18 times a year. A recent AARP survey of members found that one in five said that they have had a prescription from their doctor overthe past two years that they did not fill. Cost was the number one reason people said they did not have a prescription filled. Prices for brand name drags rose nearly four times as fast as the rate of inflation from 1998-2000, while prices for all prescription drags, including generics, rose at more than triple the inflation rate. Indiana AARP members want a prescription drag benefit signed into law this year. The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to make a voluntary prescription drag benefit a permanent part of coverage for Medicare beneficiaries is a step towards that goal. But there needs to be more substantial funding, better structure, and greater sustainability of benefits. The blueprint for a successful prescription drag benefit in Medicare is affordability and value. AARP research shows that beneficiaries assess the value of a prescription drag benefit by adding up the premium, coinsurance and deductible to determine if it is a good buy. The large gap in coverage that exists in the House bill will discourage enrollment. More funds are needed to close this gap and ensure the program’s survival. A Medicare prescription drag benefit must be permanent, and offer real value at an affordable price — a premium of no more than $35. It must contain no gaps in coverage—no one should have to pay 100 percent of high opt-of-, pocket costs. It must help low-, income beneficiaries and help bring down soaring drag costs. And it must be voluntary, and be available to everyone, regardless of where they live. Clifford L. Willis AARP Indiana

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Your Voire

Would you vote for Rev. Al Sharpton if he ran for President of the United State in 2004?

“It all depends on who’s running against him. I would have to see what the opposing candidate has to offer first. I’m not going to vote for Rev. Sharpton just because of who he is. I don’t want to be negative, but I see Rev. Sharpton as some kind of demagogue. For instance, he was on CNN a couple

A

Alan Ml

of days ago saying that clemency should be granted to the man who filmed those police officers hitting the young Black man in Inglewood, Calif. I do believe it’s conspicuous that the man was arrested soon after the videotaping. But still, Rev. Sharpton must realize that if the brother is guilty of past crimes, then he is guilty and shouldn’t be let go just because he filmed a tape helpful to the victim.” — Alan Bdl “Rev. Al Sharpton has done a good job standing up for our community, and has a strong legacy as a civil rights activist But to be honest. I’m not familiar with too many of his beliefs outside the civil rights realm. Therefore, I would have to take a hard look at his actual platform for the 2004

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Michael Montgomery election before I’d ran out and vole for him. But let me remind you that as a people, we (Blacks) should avoid casting all of our good fortune and hope behind one man, as we did with Jesse Jackson, litis approach limits our

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