Ken Blackwell: The anti-Obama (Chicago Trib profile)

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

The anti-Obama

Ohio's Bible-quoting secretary of state tests the GOP with his ultraconservative, unpredictable style

By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
Published February 11, 2005

*snip*

Blackwell, a Bible-quoting child of Cincinnati's West End poverty pit, may be less well known beyond the borders of Ohio, but he is emerging as a national spokesman for black conservatism. Like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Ohio's Blackwell is one of a new generation of black leaders who have risen to national prominence by virtue of powerful government offices.

But in personality and politics, Ken Blackwell is the anti-Obama, a loud and persistent advocate for tax cuts, smaller government and a greater role for religion in daily life. With the cranky fiscal conservatism of H. Ross Perot, the saber-rattling chutzpah of Newt Gingrich and the volatile verbosity of Alan Keyes, Blackwell has already been elected statewide three times in Ohio. Now he is running for governor, aiming to be only the nation's second elected African-American governor.

In the ever-expanding warehouse of impatient politicians who fervidly believe their time is now, the 56-year-old Blackwell is notable because he is black, he is Republican and the tilt of his conservatism often exceeds that of a GOP that has been tacking to starboard for more than two decades. And one more thing -- Blackwell has proved to be an equal opportunity offender, angering Democrats and Republicans alike.

*snip*

There always has been incentive to succeed. Blackwell's uncle won the gold medal in the long jump in the 1924 Olympic Games. His grandfather played baseball in the Negro League. In 1965 Blackwell won a football scholarship to Xavier University, a Jesuit school in Cincinnati with an overwhelmingly white student body. Amid nationwide campus turmoil over the Vietnam War, civil rights and the 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Blackwell was noted for his dashiki and 12-inch Afro. As president of the school's nascent Afro-American Association, he persuaded university administrators to send him and two other students to King's funeral in Atlanta.

Lots more in this long profile:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0502110043feb11,1,1467002.story

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[sabra]

1. "I'm Jesse Jackson's worst nightmare"

This guy makes me ill. So he did the job for the 04 election, and now his reward is Governor of OH. Way to go!

[Withywindle]

2. Well, he certainly is!

But I don't think it's something to brag about.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

3. You can tell it's one of his signature sayings

I was going to snip it in my post but opted instead for the biographical info. The image of him in dashiki and 12" Afro...power to the people indeed.

[oasis]

4. Biblical quote "thou shalt not steal". No elections during Moses' time.

I guess Blackwell's off the hook on that one.