Apparently choosing Sheila Simon is a slap in the face to black voters:
Green Party leaders sharply criticized Governor Pat Quinn and the Democratic State Central Committee for bypassing State Rep. Art Turner and other more qualified candidates in nominating Sheila Simon for Lieutenant Governor.
“Pat Quinn’s message is that he can take the black vote for granted,” said Phil Huckelberry, Illinois Green Party Chair. “Our message is that those days are over. Many of our core issues – especially education funding reform and the lack of economic development in the most struggling areas – are at the top of the list across black communities throughout the state. It’s clearer than ever that those issues are not going to be meaningfully addressed by Pat Quinn and the Democrats. But they’re going to be addressed by the Green Party.”
Simon, a former city council member in Carbondale, is from the same relatively small community as Green gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney.
“Targeting Rich Whitney’s geographical base is a little short-sighted. There are a lot of black voters very upset right now, and Pat Quinn just gave them all even more reason to look to Whitney and the Green Party as a positive alternative,” said Huckelberry.
Statewide Green African-American candidates: 1
Statewide Democratic African-American Candidates: 3
Number of African Americans in the US Senate since Reconstruction: 4
Number of those African American US Senators who were Illinois Democrats: 3
I just like to include the last one to remind out of state twits who bemoan the loss of the only African-American seat in the US Senate. While I’d love to see another African-American from Illinois in the US Senate, the other states might want to join us someday.
None of this means Illinois Democrats can or should stop pressing for inclusion of African Americans and other underrepresented minorities. However, lecturing a party on racial inclusion from a party that is fielding fewer African-American candidate and have never elected a candidate to major office is bloviating nonsense.
Did you beat me to this?
“Targeting Rich Whitney’s geographical base is a little short-sighted.”
Oh, lizard shit! Targeting whose what??
Does this guy actually think Quinn chose a running mate according to where some nobody single-digits third-party candidate comes from? He’s either extremely full of himself or just plain idiotic.
Bitter Scribe –
Rich Whitney got over 25% of the vote in Jackson County in 2006. He also got over 15% of the vote in Champaign, McLean, Peoria, and Winnebago Counties, among others. Those numbers can add up. We’ve heard a lot of feedback from people who thought the Simon pick had a lot to do with Rich’s base. You’re free to disagree on that, but to answer your rhetorical question, yeah, I absolutely do think what I said, and I have numbers to back it up.
Arch Pundit –
You make excellent points – yours is perhaps the best criticism of this release that I’ve seen. But racial inclusion per se wasn’t the main thing we were talking about. We were talking about political dynamics, and how Quinn and the Democrats chose to go one direction instead of another, and what we think that says about where they’re coming from. Our point is that black voters _do_ have a positive choice, and we’ve been getting much better feedback and interaction in black neighborhoods than we have in years past. We think that’s a relevant point here.
I appreciate that you read the release and commented on it.
Phil, Thanks for your comment as well. I think the second part about taking on issues to the black community is good and very relevant. It’s a legitimate issue and one I think Illinois Democrats are easily and justly criticized for…
My criticism comes in the way it’s framed around racial inclusion and especially the notion that one candidate in Art Turner. It struck me as similar to comments from some Republicans (who will get plenty of Daily Dolt’s) who were trying to sell this as a betrayal to black voters because an African-American wasn’t selected.
I’d just say frame it differently next time and you have a good point.
That said, going to the point about how well you will do downstate this year, I have no idea. I tend to think the 2006 performance was somewhat of a fluke because the two major candidates were flawed. However, we seem to be back to a similar situation this year with many reservations about Quinn and Brady. My guess though is this is the year you might do better in the suburbs, but drop downstate. This cycle is weird enough I wouldn’t bet on any of this, but it’ll be interesting to see.
Here’s a number for you, amigo: 51%. That’s what it takes to win an election, and you’ll never get there.
Bitter Scribe, I don’t know where you live; but in Illinois it does NOT take 51% to win an election. Only a plurality is required to win–not a majority. That can be as little as 34% with three candidates in the race.