Barack Obama's announcement of John Kerry's endorsement in South Carolina, where 50 percent of Democratic voters are African American, begs the question: Why?
Why would Obama want to be burdened with having to explain why Kerry conceded before all the votes were counted in Ohio? Also, Kerry didn't reach out to African American elected officials and community leaders until two months before the 2004 election.
On Sept. 11, 2004, the Kerry campaign convened an "African American Voters Briefing" to share the results of a poll of black voters in battleground states. For what it's worth, Kerry's favorability rating was 80 percent, but only 67 percent were strong supporters.
The briefing was timed to take advantage of the high number of elected officials and political influentials in town for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 34th annual legislative conference. The black political elite were pulled away from receptions, luncheons and other meal functions to attend a midday briefing in a hot, cramped conference room. The Kerry campaign showed so little respect that they didn't provide a single bottle of water or have any campaign materials available.
And with the exception of Massachusetts state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, no senior campaign advisers bothered to show up. The reason: They were off somewhere taking a group photo. Needless to say, the conversation was heated. One senior elected official fumed:
Black communities have nothing. There is no literature, no signs. There's no presence in the community.
Off the record, a campaign official said:
Nothing's been happening. But it's beginning to happen in a fulsome, major way.
After the meeting, I saw Kerry's top strategist Bob Shrum waiting for the elevator. As it turns out, Shrum was in the building as the briefing was taking place. With a won-lost record of 0-7 (soon to be 0-8), Shrum didn't think it was worth his time to speak to the folks that Kerry was counting on to mobilize black voters.
Kerry's endorsement of Obama brings to mind B.B. King's lament about "some outside help that I don't think I really need."
