ONCE AGAIN A WHITE GUY  BAILS OUT OBAMA

First it was Bill Clinton, the oddly not disgraced, former president. He held court on stage at the Democratic National Convention, movin' and shakin' and stickin' and movin' until he pounded his points home. 

Muhammad Ali would have been proud.

Had the election been held that night fired-up Democrats would've tried to vote twice and if you listened closely you would have heard Clint Eastwood's horse galloping him out of town, kicking over his "chair" in the process.

Yes the smooth, newly svelte Clinton took the stage as unscarred as Ali used to be. And Obama backstage could laugh -- even smile. For his henchman had done his heavy lifting. I'm sure that he clapped and clutched Michelle's waist a little tighter each time the former president made his case for the current one much like a highly skilled, highly paid, defense attorney does in final summation.

Perry Mason would have been proud.

Last night its was VP Joe Biden's turn to enter the fray as Obama held his jacket on the sidelines. This was even more important as the big, bad, Republicans had kicked his ass just two weeks before. His lackluster performance over a supposed lightweight opponent reminded me of the Leon Spinks v. Muhammad Ali fight where Ali lost his crown to a toothless wonder.

Now enter Biden, every bit as skilled a back-up tough guy, and designated hitter as Clinton. No surprise he came out swinging at the preppie, snarky Paul Ryan without even taking time to hang his jacket on the fence. Biden is not afraid to get his clothes dirty -- or his hands. 

If you are following NY Yankee baseball look at it this way: Last night Biden was Raul Ibanez and Obama was A-Rod. Got it?

Biden made mistakes, but he kept coming -- he came to fight. 

Ryan fought back - and well. He showed much more polish and intelligence than Mitt Romney -- even though he stuck to his well-scripted talking points. But he was no match for Joe Biden.

Two white guys to the rescue of Obama. 

But this isn't about race!

It is about the fact that President (for now anyway) Obama must dig deep and recapture the spirit, the drive -- the balls if you will -- that enabled him to leave his ivy league clothes and demeanor, roll the dice, go bare-knuckle and take on a real bona-fide tough guy - former Black Panther -- Bobby Rush on the mean streets of Chicago, traditionally the nation's toughest political environment. 

He got his ass kicked -- welcome to Chicago! 

What did Obama do? He got up off the canvas, spit the blood out of his mouth and "got ready to rumble" again. This time winning even bigger fights like the Senate race and finally the biggest brass ring of all -- the presidency of the United States -- the whole United States. And leader of the free world.  

Where is that guy? 

Obama seems to have gone from rumbling to rallies in front of friendly crowds. Preaching to the converted who still cling to his famous "HOPE" campaign. Meanwhile he dismisses much of his core on the left (save for the Gay community and to some degree Latinos) over issues of concern to them. Blacks in particular. Baby boomer Blacks especially who believe (and rightfully so) that it is largely through their generation's efforts that Obama is where he is.

Still there are no meetings with the Congressional Black Caucus (something Clinton and even Bush did)  and not even a whisper about sky-high Black unemployment rates or a range of issues that impact Black people far more than the general population. It is similar to the attitude that many big city mayors have (including New York's Bloomberg and Obama-pal Emanuel in Chicago) about crime. They boast of how "safe" their cities have become while in many poorer, Black neighborhood you can't go the the corner store, sit on your stoop, or do your homework with the window open without the possibility getting shot (all of the aforementioned have occurred in NYC over the past summer).   But otherwise things are fine here, so let's not get to caught up in the worries of poor Blacks.

He has even gotten soft many environmental issues, much to the ire of many environmentalists who feel down right betrayed. And on.

A key aide to a powerful Congressional representative told me just two days ago that: "The energy level of voting for Obama in New York City is very low -- especially among Black people. There won't be lines around the block on this Election Day..."

I am not one of those who believes that if Obama wins his second term he will somehow morph into Bobby Seale, or Malcolm X or Martin Luther King. But in order to get that second chance, he will need to come out and hit harder and faster than ever before. He needs  to see this as a fight more a race. Biden called out Ryan last night on every falsehood he tried to pass off as truth. He cited the "47%" thing. Why Obama didn't, we'll never know. 

If he thinks that letting Biden or Bill Clinton make the case for his second term, he is not just mistaken -- he's delusional.    

If the President cannot convince enough people in his base that the Republicans are a threat to women, persons of color, the environment, health care, student loans, as well as the middle class, they will not come out and vote.

I am one who believes that there are many more people in this country who prefer Obama in the White House to Romney -- I don't care what the polls say. I believe just as strongly that they may go fishing on election Day because Obama has not energized them like before.

Poor, dumb Republicans! Had they not let their party get high jacked by the Tea Party and other mean-spirited crazies, they could have won this thing easily. They could have packaged a candidate -- even the "old" Romney -- two years ago to start building an economic recovery plan and taking it on the road. Lots of charts. graphs, web materials and hand-on town meetings starting in traditional Republican strong holds and moving more to the center. Then on to the big cities and talks with teachers and cops and firefighters, etc. Doesn't matter if it was all smoke and mirrors - people want to believe they will have their job and their house next month. 

The Republicans could have abandoned all the social faux morality issues around Gays and abortion, etc., skipped over the gun huggers and went right to where people's real concerns are.

And they could have all rallied around Romney (or his like) and avoided the ridiculous sideshow of piss-poor debate candidates like the toupee-wearing Texan, the Baptist pizza magnate, the re-tread paunchy former Congressional leader and of course the Minnesota woman who thinks maybe slavery wasn't the worst thing for Blacks.

They would have left enough doubt in Obama''s base that many if not most would have said: "You know, I kinda like this guy, Obama's not really working out, let's give him a shot. After all he was a successful businessman..."

Not that I'm sorry they didn't do this.

I don't know whether or not Obama will acknowledge that the next debate could really be the deal breaker - because vice presidents don't determine elections. So, Mr. President,  like the "A" student you are, study hard for every possible question and Romney response. Then take off your tie and roll up your sleeves.

The rap on President Obama (one of them!) has always been that he is either a) too nice b) too soft or c)  all of the above.

Mr. President, with but a few remaining seconds left on the clock and the game on the line, fouls don't matter.   

                  

   

ELECTION 2012: RACE OR THE ECONOMY -- DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK...

"It's race, stupid!"

Mike Lupica unabashedly proclaimed this at the top of his New York Daily News column, recently.

I agree with Mike and lots of others. Race is not the elephant in the room -- it is the room itself. The obvious analogy to the GOP is no coincidence. It is the stage that  America has set for itself by ignoring and exploiting race since the end of the 1970s. 

Since then the veiled messages and phrases: Welfare, immigration, "I want my country back," Obama is a Muslim, Obama is not a citizen, "You lie" said a Congressman. (afterwards his coffers were filled with tens of thousands of unsolicited contributions for his rude, crude, two words.)

Thank you, Ronald Reagan, with the benign, your-kindly-uncle demeanor., for putting the smiley face on the worst of the far right and its religious and racial demagoguery and their plans to "retake America." This the same Reagan who Republicans have since canonized into their own "Camelot."  Reagan got eight years, JFK? A thousand days. Don't let anyone ever tell you history is fair.  

This is the Reagan that kicked off his Presidential bid in Philadelphia, Mississippi. You know what else its known for? The place where three civil rights workers -- two black, one white -- were beaten, mutilated and dumped for helping people register to vote in those perilous times. 

That's right Reagan fans, Philadelphia, Mississippi,  where Reagan announced his candidacy and gave his first nod and wink to the racists of the far right. And  they took over the Republican party (and really the entire country) and have held it since. 

They have the Democrats so scared that a bunch of them call themselves "Blue Dogs" to escape the stigma of being a part of any traditional Democratic agenda. You know like reproductive rights, sane gun control laws, the right to marry who you wish, and -- oh yeah health care reform. Even with subsequent victories by Clinton and Obama in the post-Reagan era, the Democratic party has managed little more than field goals. 

How do the  Republicans do it? The social agenda and the virulent rhetoric that goes with it: Abortion - baby killing. Gay marriage - sodomy, perversion, and on. And all wrapped up in the "Christian" bible. Amen.

So the race messages were subtle last time in 2008. Not so now.

Ask Juan Williams. They almost ran the FOX-TV commentator out of the studio, and he is about as militant as Tiger Woods.  

      
But Juan stepped up to the plate during a recent Republican debate  between white men with money and asked some piercing questions about their comments and stances on race. About the disparages on wealth and poverty and unemployment between whites and blacks. About the "food stamp president" label and on.  He was snubbed, ignored or -- in Newt's case -- swatted down and patronized. 

Was Juan being too uppity? 

The audience booed him relentlessly.  For being a journalist asking tough questions? Or for being Black and stepping out of line and daring to confront white power?

I'm certain Juan left with his personal integrity in tact -- but he was also as stunned by the reaction as I'll bet Obama was when he realized John Boenner really didn't want to play with him in the schoolyard.

Either way, with this awakening, Juan earns his "hangout card" in my book. He had also said that NPR (his previous employer before FOX-TV) was "too white." Liberals get no free pass from me on race. Maybe Juan gets it now.

It's time someone in the GOP says: "This race thing is not good for us or good for the country." Maybe they could show some ethical courage.

But the fact is that this race thing  has worked well for them. So well that people are willing to blame the economy on the Black, brown and poor more so than Reagan and Bushes I&II. Or Wall Street. Or the mortgage brokers, or the banks. 

So they feel safe putting a team on the field which is, as Lupica also said, "as white as the National Hockey League." The Republicans can so shamelessly parade a host of white millionaire men (minus a Palin-lite female and a buffoon Black) in front of people who have either lost or are in fear of losing their jobs and houses. The fat cats say: "You're hungry? Feed us more and we'll help you out -- just make sure we're full first."

These are perilous times. This time it is more than the rhetoric. It is voter suppression. Suppression of one of the most precious and fundamental of rights. According to the NAACP, there are over 40 states that require photo voter ID, request voter photo ID, or are proposing voter ID through current legislation.  And that's just one possible restriction. Many states have banned voter registration on Sundays -- when many Blacks, especially in the south, aer gathered in churches and often go together afterwards to register. Imagine!

The NAACP has been all over the voter repression issue. The civil rights giant that many had feared (or in some cases, hoped) was sleeping is up with a roar and chapters all over the country are fighting against these restrictions as well as registering and encourage people to vote.

At a recent NAACP "Civic Engagement Forum" that I moderated, an esteemed and experienced panel discussed the significance of the 2012 elections in its many aspects.

Daa'iya Sansusi, a radio commentator and journalist, spoke of how the voting rights laws that were enacted in the civil rights movement in the 1960s after fierce and bloody struggles, are being side stepped, ignored and in real danger of being overturned. Many find this hard to believe. But the evidence is clear. So clear that US Attorney General Eric Holder has been actively involved in following cases around the country seeking violations of federal law.

Another participant, Herb Boyd, veteran journalist, author, and Black Studies professor, said that "They are trying to run the clock back to 1950....We have to turn it back to the time of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement of the sixties as well as the Black Liberation struggle of the seventies. It will take that kind of effort in this environment to meet the Republican threat."

Widely-respected, sometimes controversial veteran journalist, Dominic Carter, said that it is "in the hands of the Black./Brown community to get active like that last election...If you don't Obama can lose -- don't get complacent..."

Bertha Lewis, former CEO of ACORN, an effective organization in organizing and advocacy,  that was wiped out after allegations of fraud of various types, spoke passionately. Lewis said this was all "part of an all-out war by the far right to stop any viable political social force opposed to them." She now runs her own organization, The Black Institute. Her take on 2012: "Listen, right now its 40% Democrats and 40% Republicans -- split down the middle. What's left is 20% of undecided. We have to get those votes. Last time Obama won North Carolina (first time for a Democrat since the early 60s) . They registered 300,000 new voters. He won the state by 14,000. He needed every vote!"  

She also warned about the Right going after Planned Parenthood -- this two weeks before the Susan G. Komen bungled attempt to stop funding it. So embarrassingly loud and hard was the reaction that Komen's "race for the cure" was a distant second to its race to cover their asses. They booted their top communications officer -- unbelievably hired despite her past in trying to destroy Planned Parenthood. Yet they may never quite recover. Too bad. A fine organization with a history of good works for women's health.

So is Planned Parenthood.   

Now the Right's front runner is Santorum, with eyes like a trooper who'll shoot you and plant a gun on your body. He leads the GOP pack ("pack" is a good word for them no?)

A Black woman on radio said that this would be the true election - Obama v. Santorum, the true culture war about abortion, gay marriage, contraception and race. Pick your order.

We'll see if this gets in the way of the economy.

We'll see if women, young people, independents and the Occupy folks realize what is at stake here.  

Not a time to be neutral folks -- you can't sit this one out. This could be as close to a "winner-take-all" brawl as this there has been in our lifetimes.