Left Feels Left Out

President-elect Barack Obama met with the nation's governors today at Independence Hall in the City of Brotherly Love.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden basked in the presence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

Since the race is over, no one pays attention to me at all. So maybe you will walk outside with me or something later and say hello to me.

Obama is showing his former rivals lots of love. He named Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. Earlier, he extended a hand of bipartisanship to Sen. John McCain and pardoned the backstabbing Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Now, some are wondering when Obama will show Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. some love.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women, wrote:

Meanwhile, Rev. Jesse Jackson made some ugly comments when he was off-mike at Fox News back in July. He was roundly, and justifiably, criticized for his remarks by an array of people, including his son, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

From all outward appearances, Rev. Jackson seems to be persona non grata to the Obama team. So while Clinton, Lieberman and even McCain have been forgiven for their campaign behavior, there appears to be no forgiveness for Jackson.

Malveaux continued:

While the president-elect is meeting with this group and that, hearing from this or that leader, it is important for him to maintain an open door to the civil rights community.

And it is important for him to be open to meeting with, among others, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Such a meeting would signal respect, magnanimity, and the open spirit that has welcomed Clinton and Lieberman to the Obama team. While the success of the Obama administration does not depend on a meeting with Jackson, it sends an important signal to a sector of our nation that supported this president-elect. Why not reach out to Rev. Jackson and, by extension, to the Black left?

The “Black left” is not alone. Latinos and progressives are also grumbling. Investigative journalist and author Jeremy Scahill told the hosts of “Law and Disorder”:

Yes, it’s good that John McCain and Sarah Palin are not in power in this country but Obama is not a saint. He is a center Democrat, closely tied to the Democratic policy elite.

Obama supporter and campaign surrogate Cornel West, author of “Hope on a Tightrope,” recently observed:

However, I do want to give him time. If he really does aspire to what I believe and hope he aspires to, namely, to be a progressive Lincoln, then we have to be like Frederick Douglass to help push him. If he has his own vision, then he could use these folks to push it through. But he has to be bold enough, strong enough and visionary enough to step into his own Age.

The whispers are getting louder.