"not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" Dr. MLK Jr.

[Omaha Steve]

Marta voted for Jesse Jackson in 1984. Four years later I joined her in 1988. We put up a yard sign. Was the broken back window of our car two weeks later retaliation from some KKK types? We took our three young kids to see him in Downtown Omaha before the primary. I remember being moved by his "a woman doesn't get a 30% discount at the bakery just because she makes 30 cents less on the dollar than a man". Our two daughters had their picture on the front page the next morning standing next to him on the podium. Yes they had huge smiles. But there was a back lash in the party to stop Jesse. It was based on race. Pure and simple. Small consolation we put a female on the ticket at the convention. I don't think that will be the case in 08. Have we come this far in just 20 years? Stay tuned.

OS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson

Presidential candidate

1984 election

In 1984, Jackson became the second African American (after Shirley Chisholm) to mount a nationwide campaign for President of the United States, running as a Democrat.

In the primaries, Jackson, who had been written off by pundits as a fringe candidate with little chance at winning the nomination, surprised many when he took third place behind Senator Gary Hart and former Vice President Walter Mondale, who eventually won the nomination. Jackson garnered 3,282,431 primary votes, or 18.2 percent of the total, in 1984,<11> and won five primaries and caucuses, including Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia and one of two separate contests in Mississippi.<12>

As he had gained 21% of the popular vote but only 8% of delegates, he afterwards complained that he had been handicapped by party rules. While Mondale (in the words of his aides) was determined to establish a precedent with his vice presidential candidate by picking a woman or visible minority, Jackson criticized the screening process as a "p.r. parade of personalities". He also mocked Mondale, saying that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul–Minneapolis" area. <13>

1988 election

Four years later, in 1988, Jackson once again offered himself as a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. This time, his successes in the past made him a more credible candidate, and he was both better financed and better organized. Although most people did not seem to believe he had a serious chance at winning, Jackson once again exceeded expectations as he more than doubled his previous results, prompting R.W. Apple of the New York Times to call 1988 "the Year of Jackson". <14>

He captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests; seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont).<15>. Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary.<1> <2> Some news accounts credit him with 13 wins. <3> Briefly, after he won 55% of the vote in the Michigan Democratic caucus, he was considered the frontrunner for the nomination, as he surpassed all the other candidates in total number of pledged delegates.

In early 1988, Jackson organized a rally at the former American Motors assembly plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin, approximately two weeks after new owner Chrysler announced it would close the plant by the end of the year. In his speech, Jackson spoke out against Chrysler's decision, stating "We have to put the focus on Kenosha, Wisconsin, as the place, here and now, where we draw the line to end economic violence!" and compared the workers' fight to that of the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama. As a result, the UAW Local 72 union voted to endorse his candidacy, even against the rules of the UAW. (Dudley 1994) However, Jackson's campaign suffered a significant setback less than two weeks later when he was defeated handily in the Wisconsin primary by Michael Dukakis. Jackson's showing among white voters in Wisconsin was significantly higher than in his 1984 run, but was also noticeably lower than pre-primary polling had indicated it would be. The discrepancy has been cited as an example of the so-called "Bradley effect".<16>

Jackson's campaign had also been interrupted by allegations regarding his half-brother Noah Robinson, Jr.'s criminal activity.<17> Jackson had to answer frequent questions about his brother, who was often referred to as "the Billy Carter of the Jackson campaign". <18>

On the heels of Jackson's narrow loss to Dukakis the day before in Colorado, Dukakis' comfortable win in Wisconsin terminated Jackson's momentum. The victory established Dukakis as the clear Democratic frontrunner, and he went on to claim the party's nomination, but lose the general election in November.<19>

http://www.afn.org/~dks/history/dream.html

"I Have A Dream," by Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Omaha Steve]

1. self limit

Not a single post on a charged subject?

Kick.