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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (15137)	11/4/2003 3:14:56 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793626

If Jindal gets a small slice of the black vote, it's over. Bobby is really working the Black vote. The Bush visit next week will help energize his base. The "Bubbas" feel they can show they are not prejudiced by voting for him. It sure sounds like he is on the rise.

To: carranza2 who wrote (15137)	11/4/2003 4:07:51 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793626

Did Dean just get the "Bubba" vote in South Carolina? Yep! ________________________________________ Dean’s remark stirs up old issue Candidates race to weigh in S.C.’s political hot button, the rebel flag By LAUREN MARKOE The Carolina "State" Washington Bureau Howard Dean was nowhere near South Carolina when he said he wanted to be “the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks” — but this is where his remarks seem to have reverberated most loudly. Once again, it appears the flag will elbow its way into South Carolina presidential politics. The former Vermont governor and front-running Democrat made few friends this past weekend when he used the phrase to reach out to a group of conservative voters that other Democrats had written off. Rivals rebuked Dean for appearing to embrace the Confederate battle flag — beloved by some as a symbol of bravery and hated by others as a symbol of oppression. “I don’t know if it was a campaign issue, but Howard Dean might have just made it one,” said Joe Erwin, chairman of the Democratic Party of South Carolina. “It might be one of those things that just takes on a life of its own.” It raises an issue obviously sensitive in the South — a Republican stronghold the Democrats must crack if they hope to win the White House. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore lost every Southern state — including his home Tennessee — to Republican George W. Bush in a tight national race. A loaded symbol across the nation, the flag is more loaded in the Palmetto State than perhaps anywhere. In 2000, the Legislature, in a controversial compromise, moved the Confederate battle flag from the State House dome to a Conderate memorial on the north side of the capitol grounds. Asked about the flag, some presidential candidates in 2000 tried to skirt the issue, afraid of offending Southerners who see the flag as an emblem of their ancestors’ bravery. But they were also afraid of insulting those who see it as a remnant of slavery. The S.C. chapter of the NAACP continues its economic boycott of the state until the flag is removed from the State House grounds. Perhaps the rest of the country has heard enough about Dean and the flag flap, but in South Carolina, flag watchers expect the issue to once again assume a prominent place in the presidential race. “If it wasn’t Dean’s comment, it would have popped up sooner or later,” said the Rev. Joseph Darby, first vice chairman of the S.C. chapter of the NAACP. “I don’t think the issue ever went away. And I don’t think it will until it’s resolved.” Nobody expects Dean to resolve South Carolina’s flag quandary, Erwin said, but he can do more to explain his remarks about it. “It would be good for him to come to South Carolina and try to meet with some people around the state,” Erwin said. “Not just one locale; be presidential about it.” If Dean has confused some Democrats with his comments, he hasn’t helped himself with those who honor the flag, said Don Gordon of Lexington, commander of the largest S.C. chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Gordon considers Dean’s comments an attempt to pander to conservative white men that will not be appreciated. He points to Dean’s earlier comments on the Confederate battle flag, in February, when the candidate was asked if he thought it should fly above the S.C. State House. At the time Dean said: “I understand the Confederate flag is a symbol of heritage for some folks. ... But there are also a very significant number of folks in this state to whom it is a symbol of oppression and slavery. I don’t think you can have symbols like that be flown on the State House ... If someone wants to fly that from their house, that’s their private business. But I just don’t see how that fits into state government.” “Dean is really guilty of double-speak,” said Gordon. “He has denigrated our Southern ancestry.” Donna Brazile, a member of the Democratic National Committee, is one Democrat who doesn’t see the flag issue playing any greater role in the presidential race than it already has. “Last week it was affirmative action. This week it was the flag.” Next week, she said, something else will claim hot issue status. And voters, she said, should have expected the other Democrats in the race to make a big deal of Dean’s flag comments. “He’s in the driver’s seat. They’re just trying to push him out.” thestate.com