May 2, 2011
Exclusive: Donna Brazile Urges Black Voters to Support Obama, Protect Gains
By Cash Michaels
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Wilmington Journal
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The interim chairman of the Democratic National Committee says the nation, and specifically the African-American community, has to stick with President Barack Obama and the Democrats during these tough times to ''keep the country safe and secure.''
But in an exclusive recent interview with the weekly radio program ''Make it Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM/Power 750.com, top Washington insider and CNN/ABC commentator Donna Brazile also admitted that there have been times over the past two years when she didn't necessarily agree with some of the president's policies.
''Look, I haven't always been pleased with the president of the United States,'' the renowned Democratic Party strategist and interim DNC chair said in the late April interview. ''I've had times when I've had to differ with the president. Whether it's been the housing policies or the firing of [former USDA official] Shirley Sherrod, or just recently, giving the Republicans the opportunity [during the recent 2011 budget negotiations] to write their own narrowly-based social agenda on the [Washington] D.C. budget where I live, I'm not always in the cheerleading section.''
''Sometimes I'm on the sidelines, sometimes I like to be right there on the field getting a little dirty with the rest of them. But the bottomline is I'm proud to be a Democrat, I'm proud to be an American, [but] more importantly I'm proud to say that Barack Obama is my choice for president in 2012,'' Brazile said.
It's the kind of frank, pull-no-punches talk that Brazile, 51, is known for.
The first African-American ever to run a major political party's bid for president when she took the reins of then Vice President Al Gore's 2000 campaign, the Louisiana native has earned the title of Washington powerbroker, serving as DNC vice chair; managing her own DC consulting firm, hitting the talk and keynoter's circuit at colleges and universities across the nation; and now chairing the Democratic National Committee until Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, is officially voted in, which is expected to happen shortly.
But right now, Brazile's passion is supporting the president, and making sure that both he and the Democrats are successful when Obama runs for re-election in 2012.
''The country is still in the throes of a very critical economic downturn,'' Brazile told WAUG-AM. ''While we've seen 13 months of promising job growth, Pres. Obama is committed to see that every American who is looking for a job will be able to find work in his/her hometown.''
Balancing spending cuts with ''revenue attractions'' in the midst of a slow economic recovery has to be a ''balanced approach to getting our fiscal house in order,'' Brazile maintains, countering the popular Republican mantra that America as ''a spending problem, not a revenue problem.''
The poor and middle-class have definitely been hurt during the recovery, so government must do all it can to make them whole, as much as possible, Brazile says, particularly through job growth.
Brazile says the president ''is committed to make sure that the federal government lives within its means,'' and will make well thought-out cuts to the budget where needed.
But Republicans, per their plan to drastically cut the federal budget through Medicare/Medicaid, education, affordable housing and other vital programs, while simultaneously giving millionaires and billionaires generous tax cuts, threaten the government's social safety net where it's needed the most. The trend is already being seen in local and state governments across the nation, and Brazile says Americans must take note, and then take action.
Brazile also urges communities to support Pres. Obama's insistence on ''winning the future'' through investing more in education, and for individuals to improve their own educational opportunities to better prepare themselves for upcoming challenges and opportunities.
''If you're living on the margins; if you're living without the means to dip into your savings account, then the recession we've just experienced will have a devastating impact on communities of color,'' Brazile says, maintaining that communities should not be ''pitted against each other'' in times of great struggle.
Politically, recent polls show President Obama's support in the African-American community softening to 85 percent from the high nineties, and white voter support dropping to the mid-30s. Brazile believes if the economy and employment continue to improve going into 2012, Pres. Obama will win white voters back.
Don't expect Republicans to help the cause, however. Real estate tycoon Donald Trump, star of NBC's ''Celebrity Apprentice,'' has mounted a surprising strong pre-presidential campaign rooted in the highly-discredited, yet explosively divisive birther movement that President Obama isn't an American citizen.
Almost half of Republicans polled believe the ''Where's Obama's birth certificate?'' question has merit, and Trump has virtually to the top of the crowded 2012 GOP presidential potential candidate heap by pushing the cause everywhere and anywhere he can find a camera or microphone.
''Donald Trump is running for the Republican nomination by sing a divisive issue that most Republicans …believe is absolutely ludicrous,'' Brazile said, adding that, for now, he should be taken seriously, given his resources and ability to garner the press. Still, if Democrats are on their game, and not distracted by Trump or anyone else, they'll do well, she says.
Brazile urged black leaders throughout the community to either active, or get active to both educate and mobilize these during these difficult times. She also said that she's looking forward to the 2012 Democratic National Convention coming to Charlotte in September 2012, and says that North Carolina is key toward Pres. Barack Obama reclaiming the White House.But only if Democrats mobilize to vote in greater numbers than before.
''The United States of America is marching forward in the 21st Century,'' Brazile declared. ''We're not going back'' ''We're not going back.''