Oh Oh, Kerry blew off Jesse Jackson. . .big mistake. . .

[wndycty]

I still think we should not bash the Kerry campaign. . .but when he blows off Jesse then he is really making bad decisions. Jesse on with Judy Woodruff now, talking about how Kerry blew off a rally in West Virginia that he organized. Oh oh!

[fishface]

1. Jesse needs to co-ordinate with Kerry's campaign,

not the other way around.

[lil-petunia]

2. no problem

70% of the blacks in Chicago are tired of Jesse and his games. 90% of the hispanics and whites here are too.

by blowing him off, Kerry gains credibility with the vast majority of people of all races and backgrounds who understand exactly who and what Jesse is. An opportunist, in it for himself, and a threat only if you take him seriously. If he sees that you don't care and won't ever back down, he ALWAYS does. If there is anything that Jesse knows, anything at all, he knows where his bread is buttered, hidden, stuffed and taken off the table.

[chiburb]

7. On the other hand...

Why bite a hand that continually feeds you with columns like this in today's Chicago Sun-Times:

Snip:

Across America, working people are not faring well under the Bush policies. They worry that their kids may not fare as well. They are unsettled by an economy in which the jobs that are disappearing offer better pay and benefits than the jobs that are being created.

Is a retired steelworker whose health insurance has just been eliminated a ''girlie man''? Is a mineworker who wants better schools for his kids a ''girlie man''?

Bush is cutting taxes on the rich while we're laying off teachers. He pushed through a prescription drug bill that prohibits Medicare from negotiating a better price for seniors. He sent the sons and daughters of these working people into Iraq without a plan for victory and, in too many cases, without the body armor or training for an occupation that was no cakewalk. The cost in lives and expense for what he now admits was a ''miscalculation'' is borne mostly by the same working men and women that Schwarzenegger scorns as ''girlie men.''


The Bible warns about how difficult it is for a rich man to get into the Kingdom. They see the world from the top down. They mistake their wealth for virtue. So it is with Schwarzenegger's scorn for working people struggling in this economy. But neither Schwarzenegger's bluster nor the vice president's venom nor the president's swagger can evade the blackberry pie test. The facts are in on the failure of this president's policies.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse07.html

Seems stupid on the campaign's part to me...

[lil-petunia]

14. Simple, a matter of power politics.

If Kerry bows to this kind of blatant pressure, just how will he act facing Putie Poot? or Hu Jintao? or worse?

Clinton had Jesse eating out of his hand. Why? without insulting, he let it be known that he would not be forced into some compromising position.

Kerry is doing it perfectly. Jesse will come around, because not only is there no other game in town, he knows that he just tested the mettle of this man, and Kerry won.

good for John Kerry, the next president of these united states.

[ArkDem]

19. Pretty good one

>Why? without insulting, he let it be known that he would not be forced into some compromising position.<

[kerry-is-my-prez]

3. He's kind of ripping on Kerry. This is not good.

Yes - we know that Kerry is running a crappy campaign - but why don't you contact the campaign instead of joining the chorus of people criticizing Kerry?

[speedoo]

4. Way to go, Jesse.

When your candidate is trying to re-focus his campaign (succesfully, IMO) the last thing he needs is a democrat whining about not being included.

It's called piling on.

Jesse needs to prove he is still relevant. Hasn't Al Sharpton become the leading voice of black voters?

[maine_raptor]

5. I just listened to him

and quite frankly it was a "Kerry needs to reach out to Jessie" discussion. Judy did nothing to stop it. Oh he included "peace groups, activists, enviromentalists", but the gist was "Jessie".

I like Jessie, but he needs to get on board, otherwise he risks becoming the Dem's Nader.

[belle]

8. I can't stand Jesse Jackson. I think he's opportunistic and cold.

[lil-petunia]

10. ever read that expose on Jesse, esp. his early days?

pictures, affidavits, and much much more.

Jesse tried to pull one of his infamous shakedowns against a pretty decent corporation that had just spent 20 mill fixing its standing with women and minorities. And it did it rather well, by all accounts. Then Jesse, smelling blood, caused a ruckus and tried to "in" himself on the goodies.

Well, the company, which will remain nameless, brought one lawyer, two corporate midlevel people (Jesse demanded the chairman of the board and the CEO) and they sat down.

From what I heard, they let Jesse spew and rant for 15 minutes, then they pulled out the book, and gave jesse an action plan of how they would name names, where (in specific southside churches and meeting halls) call for meetings and explain how Jesse's blackmail was going to cause them to pull out of the midwest and how everything would be orchestrated to point to Jesse as the problem. He shook their hands, left the room and never raised another voice against them.

[JI7]

6. it was because of the rally scheduled for Ohio that he had afterwards

many times the campaign schedules a bunch of rallies in more than one state in a day . so they have to stay on schedule to make all of them. even then he is late many times.

but this isn't too big a deal. jackson should just work with the kerry campaign next time since there isn't going to be much time now to get off the schedule.

[John_H]

9. I think we just saw the percieved arrogance

of some in the campaign, which was discussed at some length here yesterday, come home to roost.

[Lex]

11. The arrogance is with Jesse Jackson. n/t

[JI7]

13. he had a scheduled appearance in Ohio in one of the poorest minority areas

in the country. it's arrogant to blow off an unscheduled thing set up by jackson so he can be at a place that was already scheduled and happens to also be one of the poorest areas in the country?

[Lex]

15. Sounds like Jesse is trying to grandstand here. Not cool.

.
Kerry should at least give him a phone call.

Jesse can be such a pain if he feels ignored. What a juvenile thing for him to do (setting up a rally without coordinating with Kerry's camp).

[John_H]

17. Maybe so. But he's a powerful force to have the week before the election.

[yellowcanine]

12. No, not a big mistake - Jesse is out for Jesse and everyone knows that.

The failure to coordinate isn't necessarly the campaign's fault - Jesse Jackson can't expect Kerry to run his campaign according to Jesse's schedule.

[sundancekid]

16. get over it, Jesse, this one AIN'T about YOU ... tail wagging yellow dog?

[Lefty48197]

18. Sista Souljah:

There are plenty of African Americans who aren't as controversial as Jesse who Kerry can campaign with. How much appeal does Jesse Jackson have in West Virginia anyway? Unless he has a close relationship with the coal miners or something.

[ISUGRADIA]

20. It's kind of sd looking at Jesse now

he's lost his relevance and seems to do whatever he can to get a little press. After his affair and the payoff became public his political capital went down considerably.

[0rganism]

21. Hrrrmm, he should at least have sent a surrogate, maybe even Edwards

We can't afford a splintering of the base at this point. This sets Kerry up for the "taking black votes for granted" attack. Not smart.

Does John Kerry want to win? He's going to need solid support from every angle of his base, including Jackson's bunch.