Jesse Jackson, Jr. stumps for Obama, history, in South Carolina

[jefferson_dem]

Jackson stumps for Obama, history
by Christi Parsons

SUMTER, S.C. — Jesse Jackson Jr. was bound and determined to get some unregistered voters on the rolls. If only he could find them.

But the first door the young congressman knocked on belonged to an elderly man who already had a valid voter card.

Next door lived a retiree who had done better than simply register herself. She had a sheaf of her own registration forms handy in case there were any stragglers among her holiday visitors.

Eventually, Jackson just decided to give a rousing pep talk for his fellow canvassers, fifteen volunteers who paused on a street curb to listen.

“This is God’s work in the vineyard,” Jackson said. “You are on the winning side.”

A high rate of registration on his call list was good political news for Jackson, in town over the weekend to promote his friend and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Most of those he visited were fully registered, Obama-friendly voters.

But as he worked his way around the state in the final days before the Wednesday registration deadline, Jackson — son of the civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, who twice sought the presidency — couldn’t help but see things in more sweeping terms.

In a region with a history of disenfranchising its black voters, African-Americans are poised to play a critical role in the selection of the Democratic nominee.

“People on the South Side of Chicago are waiting to hear from the state of South Carolina,” Jackson told one gathering in Columbia. “People in Harlem are waiting to hear from the state of South Carolina . . . They are waiting for you to write a new chapter.”

<SNIP>

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/jackson_stumps_for_obama_histo.html

[WCGreen]

1. I'm sorry....

If we criticize Huckleberry and the other wing nuts for claiming they are doing god's work...

I don't think that we should over look the other side of the coin...

We aren't doing god's work as we sign people up to vote...

That's just bull shit...

Jesus never canvassed for votes...

In fact he wanted all the secular shit out of the temple...

And you can't get any more secular than politics...

[BeyondGeography]

2. If Martin Luther King had taken your advice

he would have just stayed home and written essays about Niebuhr.

[WCGreen]

15. He didn't run for office....

He was an ordained minister who was trying to get people, all people, full civil rights...

Jesse Jr. collecting signatures is not God's work...

[silverweb]

16. Are civil rights & social justice "God's work" ?

Follow that line of thought for yourself with regard to voting rights and maybe you'll see Jesse's POV as I see it.

[WCGreen]

17. If he's shilling for a particular candidate...

Then it ain't god's work it's politics...

MLK stood up for all people, not just democrats running in primaries...

I see social justice coming from the expansion of civil rights which, includes voting, as the good fight...

Not necessarily God's work...

Doing it while implying that god's work includes getting a certain political personality elected is as onerous as Huckleberry implying that god is on his side...

It's crap...

Faith based activism is all about empowering people who don't now have a voice...

And then working to educate...

[silverweb]

19. I wasn't including campaigning in that comment...

...just the voter registration part.

If someone answered the door who said, "Sure, I do need to register, but I'm planning to vote for _____, not Obama" -- and Jesse therefore refused to give that person a registration form -- your point would be a good one.

[Didereaux]

3. Is there ANYONE at all who thinks Jesse the Leeech won't make this race a race issue?

[ClarkUSA]

5. Wow... how liberal are you NOT?

Racist.

[silverweb]

7. It already is, in a way.

Systematic disenfranchisement of African-American and other minority voters has been a standard modus operandi for the reTHUGs.

Getting out the vote and standing up to that history is a matter of civil rights and social justice -- and that includes the obvious racial aspect.

[alteredstate]

13. What's wrong with Jesse Jackson, Jr.?

Please enlighten us.

[silverweb]

4. Good news!

"In a region with a history of disenfranchising its black voters, African-Americans are poised to play a critical role in the selection of the Democratic nominee."

And something tells me that since the shenanigans of 2000 and 2004 have been exposed, and the oppressive costs of those election hijackings have been felt, no amount of reTHUGgery, disinformation, and/or attempted disenfranchisement will keep African-American voters at home in 2008!

:bounce:

On Edit: When more people vote, Democrats win!

[AtomicKitten]

6. Glad to hear it.

Obama has been rather reticent to use "outside help." I still can hardly believe he declined having Clooney and Pitt campaign for him. Damn that would have been a lovely visual.

[ClarkUSA]

8. lol!

'Fess up now! You just wanted to be able to "help" George and Brad canvass in California leading up to Feb. 5. ;-)

[AtomicKitten]

9. just like in my dreams ...

;-)

[silverweb]

10. I've wondered about that.

I'm sure Barack has a very good rationale for that decision, but I have to admit I have no clue what it is.

Maybe he's saving them for the GE... I hope, I hope, I hope?

[AtomicKitten]

11. No clue, but they worked together on Darfur.

And now with Pitt's housing project in NOLA, the Oceans boys are exactly the type of endorsement that resonates with me and I think would to many, many others.

Me thinks Barack is preparing for the GE. Oh yeah!

[silverweb]

12. Methinks you're right.

On call for Barack in the GE?



Ooooh, yeah!!


GObama!

[AtomicKitten]

14. yummy

[silverweb]

20. Long-term strategery...?

:rofl:

[WCGreen]

18. He certainly didn't turn down the Big O from Chitown now did he...