Obama Clear Winner in Second Debate by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Updated Oct. 21
Posted Oct. 17, 2012

Obama Clear Winner in Second Debate
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

NEWS ANALYSIS

debate

PHOTO: Courtesy/Afro American Newspapers

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - When President Obama and Governor Romney squared off for their second debate at Hofstra University in New York, Mitt Romney was the same Mitt Romney seen in the first debate. He was aggressive, condescending, and continued to try try to pass off his stump speech goals as real plans and policy.

In this second debate President Obama was focused, engaged, assertive, and he refused to allow Governor Romney’s misstatements, miscalculations, and baseless assertions to go unchallenged. By challenging Romney at every turn and clearly presenting his perspective on issues such as job creation, taxes, and foreign policy, President Obama clearly won the second debate.

In the analysis of the past debates, the first presidential and VP, there was too much focus on style and very little attention to substance. The Newsday headline after the first presidential debate was “Mitt Romney wins the first debate by being smoother than Barack Obama.” In its analysis of the Biden/Ryan debate the Washington Post stated, “…Biden risked appearing rude and creating an unhelpful subplot with his constant interjections and scoffs. And it was grating at times.”

It’s analysis of Ryan was, “Ryan defined the term “steady.” He didn’t get flustered by Biden’s constant interjections, continuing to make his points and not allowing himself to be cut off. An analysus of the second presidential debate by an ABC affiliate called it a draw. According to ABC News 50, “most are speculative as to crowning anyone the “winner” for tonight. Both candidates defended their views with passion and ease…As experts review talking points, gestures, and body language we will have to see who won the debates tonight.

In all of this analysis it is important to remember that these are not a high school or college debates. Teams of students do not randomly pull issues out of hats and defend positions that do not necessarily represent who they are and what they stand for. The issues being debated are real and have serious impacts on the lives of real people. The public needs to see passion from those who are vying for the highest offices in the land. When a candidate materially misrepresents the facts he should be scoffed at and ridiculed. Lies have no place in the debate on the future of this country.

As pundits and commentators discuss who was smoother, who was steady, and who did or did not get flustered; how about spending more time focusing on who told the truth? How about examining whether or not the arithmetic actually adds up and is Iran really a nuclear threat?

In this second presidential debate the President did play fast-and-loose with some of the facts. According to FactCheck.org:

Obama claimed Romney once called Arizona’s “papers, please” immigration law a “model” for the nation. He didn’t. Romney said that of an earlier Arizona law requiring employers to check the immigration status of employees.
Obama falsely claimed Romney once referred to wind-power jobs as “imaginary.” Not true. Romney actually spoke of “an imaginary world” where “windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”

The President’s statements were not nearly as egregious as Romney’s. Romney went well beyond exaggeration into substantive mispresentation of the facts and changed previously stated positions. According to FactCheck.org:

Romney questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror” the day after the slaying of four Americans in Libya. The president indeed referred to “acts of terror” that day…

Romney said repeatedly he won’t cut taxes for the wealthy, a switch from his position during the GOP primaries, when he said the top 1 percent would be among those to benefit.
Romney said “a recent study has shown” that taxes “will” rise on the middle class by $4,000 as a result of federal debt increases since Obama took office. Not true. That’s just one possible way debt service could be financed.
Romney claimed 580,000 women have lost jobs under Obama. The true figure is closer to 93,000.
Romney claimed the automakers’ bankruptcy that Obama implemented was “precisely what I recommend.” Romney did favor a bankruptcy followed by federal loan guarantees, but not the direct federal aid that Obama insists was essential.
Romney said he would keep Pell Grants for low-income college students “growing.” That’s a change. Both Romney and his running mate, Ryan, have previously said they’d limit eligibility.

As a side note, it is important to recognize that for all of the issues that were covered in the first three debates, “poverty” has not been addressed by either side. Romney mentioned the word “poverty” once in the first debate and twice in his second debate. Many believe that the President is intentionally ignoring the term because of its racial stereotype and he’s running a de-racialized campaign. Talking about unemployment outside of the context of poverty is ignoring the real problem and avoiding the real solution.

With that being said, this past Tuesday night at Hofstra, President Obama was assertive, commanding, focused, engaged, in control, and most importantly right on most of the facts. If facts still matter (and I believe they do) President Obama was the clear winner of the second debate.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "Inside the Issues with WilmerLeon," and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.wilmerleon.com , email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..orwww.twitter.com/drwleon

Congressman Challenges Group Planning Voter Intimidation on Election Day

Oct. 21, 2012

Congressman Challenges Group Planning Voter Intimidation

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - U. S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) has demanded that a group planning to challenge voter access to voting polls around the country on Election Day provide him with details of its planned operations.

Cummings targeted the organization, called True the Vote, saying the group planned to deploy hundreds of thousands of personnel to challenge the status of citizens who they believe may be ineligible to vote.

“There have been reports from multiple states during the past two years that your organization is targeting predominantly minority communities and coordinating with the Republican Party in an attempt to intimidate legitimate voters,” Cummings wrote in his letter to Catherine Engelbrecht, True the Vote’s president and founder.

Cummings first contacted the group in early October seeking specifics of its plans. In his most recent letter, he set a deadline of Oct. 31 for the group to turn over its plans.

The congressman pointed to a recent report documenting True the Vote’s plans to deploy personnel to predominantly African-American and Hispanic communities in North Carolina. Following the report’s release, Cummings said True the Vote shut down access to its Web site which detailed where its workers will be located on Election Day.

Cummings also said the group had been connected to voter suppression allegations in Texas in 2010. According to Cummings, officials in Harris County, Texas told his staff that “King Street Patriots and True the Vote volunteers were not fully exonerated for acts of intimidation while serving as poll watchers in 2010,” saying that True the Vote members were the subject of complaints from voters who said the members stood too close while the citizens voted.

Cumming said “mounting evidence” shows the group is coordinating with Republican political interests to further that party’s agenda.

Cummings wrote in the letter: “If you are truly committed to transparency in our nation’s voting process—and if you continue to deny that your organization is challenging thousands of legitimate voters across the country for partisan political purposes—then you should have no reason to withhold documents from Congress about your activities.”

Sharpton in Virginia: Defend Our Gains By Joey Matthews

Oct. 14, 2012

Sharpton in Virginia: Defend Our Gains
By Joey Matthews

sharpton in richmond

The Rev. Al Sharpton pumps his get-out-the-vote message this week from the pulpit of Cedar Street Baptist Church of God. Those standing to demonstrate their support of his views include, from left: Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-3rd; the Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III, leader of Pastors United Around Richmond that sponsored the rally; and Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who invited Rev. Sharpton to keynote the event. PHOTO: Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The overflow audience rose as one. They enthusiastically cheered the Rev. Al Sharpton. His electrifying, passionate message: Don’t let the gains of the Civil Rights Movement and the historic election of President Obama be taken away.

“People died to get us the right to vote,” Rev. Sharpton powerfully reminded an audience of more than 1,500 people Oct. 9. “People lost their careers. Children were bombed in churches. People were mowed down with their eyes open.

“There was too much bloodshed, too many nights in jail, too many miles marched. We are not going to turn around now.”

The 58-year-old founder of the National Action Network delivered his rousing message at a spirited get-out-the-vote rally at the Cedar Street Baptist Church of God in Church Hill, where Dr. Anthony M. Chandler Sr. is pastor.

At stake in this election is “all that was achieved in the ’60s and ’70s,” Rev. Sharpton told the predominately African-American audience that responded with high emotion to his message. “If you are sitting at home and not voting with all of this at stake, then you’re not worth the sacrifices that were made.”

The rally was organized by a newly formed clergy group called Pastors United Around Richmond. The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III, president of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity, helped organize the group. He moderated the rally that included spirited music.

The rally was designed to boost voter turnout in the pivotal Nov. 6 elections. Strong emphasis was placed on getting as many people to register to vote before the deadline on Monday, Oct. 15. Rev. Sharpton drew loud applause when he said the issues are too important for eligible voters to sit out this election.

“When you have folks that have come out and said, ‘We’re going to change voting rights, we’re going to change health care, we’re going to de-fund education, give a tax cut to the rich, and we’re going to balance it by having poor people and working people and programs that serve them cut,’ we’re not talking about who you like, we’re talking about whether you like yourself,” he said to loud applause.

Rev. Sharpton was introduced to the rally audience by Mayor Dwight C. Jones. He called Rev. Sharpton “the pre-eminent civil rights leader in our country today.”

Mayor Jones, a longtime Richmond minister, serves on the National Action Network’s board. Rev. Sharpton called him “a dear friend.” The mayor said he invited Rev. Sharpton to lead the voter rally because he wanted “to do something to turn up the volume in the city of Richmond” after returning from the Democratic National Convention in early September.

Rev. Sharpton’s resumé reads in part: Founder and president of the National Action Network, presidential candidate in 2004 and host of the MSNBC evening TV talk show “PoliticsNation” and the “Keepin’ It Real” radio show. He hosted his radio show on the afternoon of the rally in the church fellowship hall prior to the rally. He was joined in the pulpit by Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Virginia’s lone black member of Congress. The 3rd District representative did not speak. Other elected officials present included state Sen. Henry L. Marsh III and Delegate Delores L. McQuinn, both of Richmond.

Virginia's Kemba Smith Wins Battle for Voting Rights By Joey Matthews

Oct. 21, 2012

Virginia's Kemba Smith Wins Battle for Voting Rights
By Joey Matthews

Richmond native Kemba Smith Pradia wipes away tears of joy. She was telling supporters at an NAACP press conference last Friday that she learned a day earlier that her voting rights had been restored. PHOTO: Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Kemba Smith Pradia tried to fight back the tears.

“I found out that my (voting) rights have been restored, and I will be able to have my voice in this year’s election on all of the issues that I have advocated for across this country,” the Richmond native and voting rights advocate said.

Pradia’s voice broke, and tears flowed down her cheeks as she told how Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office had notified her that her right to vote in Virginia had been restored. Because of a past felony conviction, she had been banned from voting.

“Receiving this right to vote is a part of my healing process and me being able to forgive myself,” Pradia said. She spoke at a recent press conference to kick off the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP’s “They Deserve to Vote” campaign to restore voting rights to former felons.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, national NAACP president and CEO, joined state NAACP Executive Director King Salim Khalfani and Pradia to announce the campaign at the Virginia headquarters on North Side. The ACLU of Virginia and other voting rights groups joined in supporting the campaign.

The coalition vowed to keep the issue front and center beyond the Nov. 6 elections.

“We’re a country that believes in the right to vote,” Jealous said. “It is time to remove the final product of the Jim Crow era.”

Virginia joins Florida, Iowa and Kentucky as the only states that continue to disenfranchise persons convicted of felonies even after they have completed their sentence. An ex-inmate must petition the Virginia governor to have his or her voting rights restored. As part of its campaign, the state NAACP plans to vigorously lobby Gov. McDonnell and Virginia’s General Assembly to change the state constitution to allow felons who have served their time to vote.

The state NAACP estimates that more than half of the 450,000 people disenfranchised from voting in Virginia because of felony convictions are African-American. Nationwide, data show more than 5 million ex-offenders are denied the right to vote because of felony convictions, the NAACP stated in a release. That figure includes 1.5 million Black men who are disenfranchised from voting.

Khalfani called Pradia “the poster woman of this campaign.”

Her background: She was pardoned, principally in response to coverage by the Black press, by President Bill Clinton in December 2000 after serving nearly seven years in prison. She was then serving a 24-year term on a crack cocaine conviction. Her conviction stemmed from her relationship with a drug dealer while she was a student at Hampton University.

Federal sentencing rules, since changed, then required the lengthy sentence, though she was a first-time, nonviolent offender.

Pradia was joined at the event by her parents — Gus and Odessa Smith — and her 2-year-old daughter. She thanked her parents for their support throughout her journey from inmate to advocate.

Now married with two children and living in Norfolk, she started The Kemba Smith Foundation that advocates for voting rights. She spoke late last month to the United Nations Human Rights Council on disenfranchisement laws.

Pradia described the process she went through to have her voting rights restored as “humiliating”
and said no one else should have to experience those feelings.

“I feel that I represent the more than 5 million people across the country that haven’t been afforded this right back and I feel as if they need to have this feeling, too,” Pradia said.

Jealous praised the efforts of Gov. McDonnell, whom Jealous said has “done more than previous governors to make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to get their (voting) rights back.”

However, Jealous wants voting rights restored nationwide to people with felony records. Gov. McDonnell had restored 3,839 applications as of Sept. 27, according to a spokesman. That puts him on a pace to exceed the restoration numbers of all former Virginia governors.

Decade After D.C. Sniper: Father, Black Economics Champion Remembered By Kiah Alexandria Clingman

Decade After D.C. Sniper: Father, Black Economics Champion Remembered
By Kiah Alexandria Clingman

Ken Bridges

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As she looked back, it was the simple things in life that she missed the most about her father. And all she can do now is remember.

“I turned on the news and saw the car. The license plate was blurred but deep down I knew it was my father‘s car. I knew before they even said anything.”

April Bridges was 22 years old when she heard the news that her father had been killed. Her borderline disbelief 10 years later continues to resonate as she thinks of him.

“What stands out most are the long walks we had as a family, the nature hikes, and the lunches where we just sat and talked. Those are my fondest memories of him,” April said.

On that fateful day, she had planned to meet with her father at his office. “I could not begin to imagine that we would never see each other again.”

With Ken Bridges being such a family man, his absence as a father and husband took an extraordinary toll on his six children and his wife, Jocelyn. But, Bridges was not just a loss to his family but to the community. In addition to his family, Ken was dedicated to his work for the MATAH Network, an organization dedicated to the economic, spiritual and social progress of Black people. He’d co-founded in MATAH in 1997 with his longtime business partner, Al Wellington.

MATAH dealt with three fundamental aspects of sales: production, marketing, and distribution. The “Black Channel,” as it was called, was supported by a foundation of cooperative economics, consciousness-raising, education, and a healthy dose of race esteem.

Comprising thousands of members nationwide, MATAH was brought to a screeching halt on Oct. 11, 2002, when Bridges became the eighth of 10 people killed by the “DC Snipers,” John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, who terrorized the Washington, D.C. area for three weeks in the fall of 2002. Muhammad was executed on Nov. 10, 2009 and Malvo was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences in prison without parole.

According to Finalcall.com news, Ken Bridges was “returning home at 9:30 a.m., when a single bullet killed him as he filled his tank at a Fredericksburg, Va. gas station. Fox News Fact Sheet said, “Bridges’ wife was concerned because he was traveling through the Washington area for this trip.”

Although Ken Bridges was only 53 when he was killed, he left a legacy that remains with his children. The lessons he taught his children will continue to ring in their hearts for a lifetime.

April’s most important lesson from her father was “staying passionate and consistent” no matter the circumstances. “He smiled a lot and always said he was doing great even if things weren’t going so great,” she recalled.

The optimism helped Ken when it came to starting and maintaining his “marketing and distribution organization.”

“Some of our last days together were spent working to expand the MATAH Network and starting what he called the ‘Youth Movement,’” April said.

Not only did Ken Bridges’ work have a positive impact on his family; his influence moved black people to practice cooperative economics.

“Ken’s legacy continues to be one of helping people pursue their dreams. Although he was killed 10 years ago, the work he did is still producing fruit,” said Ashiki Taylor, an Atlanta businessman and friend of Ken Bridges. “My company and product, Ice Supreme, would not exist today if it were not for Ken Bridges. Not only his inspiration but his insight, his business acumen, and his friendship moved me to start my business. His words keep me going even now. And if he were here today he would still be working on his beloved MATAH Network.”

Reflecting on the trial of the two men, April said, “It was hard to know the truth from fiction. When I saw the two men accused of the shooting, it was even harder because what happened to my father just didn’t make sense. After it was all over, it wouldn’t change the fact that dad was already gone.”

April and her family are still cautious when it comes to discussing the incident with the news media, but she is sure now that she does not “want to hide [Ken’s] accomplishments from the community.”

She reflected, “It’s very humbling to know that he was my father and I was his daughter. I know that I have the same potential, the same drive, and the same spirit inside of me that my father displayed when he was alive. I miss him so much.”

Kiah Alexandria Clingman is a journalism student at Howard University School of Communications. She currently serves as student vice-president of the School of Communications. To contact Kiah, visit her website at www.kiahclingman.com or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information, visit the Brookside Memorial dedicated to the victims of the DC snipers located in Wheaton, Md.