The State of the Black Union

[malaise]

I'm watching on CSpan 1. Tavis said only Hillary accepted their invitation. Bad move Obama.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/23/obama.sobu/index.html

corrected

[Windy]

1. This is ridiculous. Obama is running for president and fighthing for his life. Michelle was offered

Tavis declined. Sorry, but black america doens't agree with you. Look around on the blogs.

this is a non-issue

[malaise]

3. Hillary could have sent Bill

She accepted the invitation.

[Windy]

4. Hillary has made lousy decisions in her campaign from "day one" Obama is fighting to win.

Tavis Smiley's request that he attend a conference and leave the campaign trail when every delegate counts is just ridicluous. His narcissim has not gone unnoticed by the african american community.

[ncdem1975]

12. Obama and Clinton made ther right decision

I've followed Obama's decision not to attend for the past week, including reading the articles, listening to audio clips and reading African-American blogs & chats. Most African-Americans agree with Obama's decision. The State of the Black Union has been going on for eight years. Black leaders, pundits, activists get together and discuss the issues and debate how to solve problems. No change has come out of it except a good discussion. Except for Tavis, who's Covenant with Black America book hit the top ten list and he got a tv show out of it. But how much change has happened? What problems have been solved? That's one of the main reasons I'm not spending my day today watching these leaders debate about what the problem is and how to solve them. (The day of service they had yesterday was good, though). Most African-Americans know what the problems are in our community and are working individually, with our churches, with our families, and with other organizations to help solve them. And the desire to work didn't come from watching these leaders, pundits, etc. debate on tv, listening to their radio shows, or reading their books.

Obama went to the State of the Black Union last year. He's given numerous interviews to black media sources (i.e. magazines) and has appeared on numerous tv and radio shows that have a largely black audience. He's worked in the community as an organizer and civil rights lawyer (for all races and ethnicities). At this moment, he needs to be in Texas, Ohio & other states campaigning. If he wins the nomination and wins the general election, he'll be in better position to help all Americans. He can have all the meaningful discussions he wants to have then with all Americans. And, guess what, he'll be in a better position to do something about the problems than just simply sitting on a stage debating about how to solve the problem.

And, he doesn't need another debate with Clinton or other black leaders right now. He needs to be doing exactly what he's doing. On the other hand, Clinton has lost the African-American vote. She's trying to cut into that base of voters. She's also probably trying to "woo" Edwards for an endorsement (although I don't know how much difference that'll make right now). As we know, one of Edwards' main concerns is New Orleans. So, of course Clinton went to the State of the Black Union.

Obama made the right decision for his campaign. As for the black community, the majority of us support his decision. As for Tavis' outrage, is it more about the fact that Obama's not there or that he want get the increased ratings & potentially more money. And as an African-American dem, I agree with Obama's decision (along with many others) and I also agree with Clinton's decision to go. Both made the right decisions for their campaign.

[psychmommy]

13. although i respect obamas decision not to go

i disagree with your statement that nothing comes of the state of the black union conferences. i will watch later today. i am so proud when i see all of those great black minds and talents on display for blacks and the world to see. all people are exposed to are criminals, musicians and sports stars. there are Dr's, lawyers, educators. i am always blown away when i watch it. the covenant with black america was born through these state of the unions. this isn't tavis covenant but black americas. we all took part in making that and we want our issues dealt with. i have learned that our issues mirror that of most people, barak is already talking about them. hillary needs to heal some riffs that she has created with the black community and i am glad that she cares enough to heal them. please take some time to see black america at its best. i am proud of tavis and tom. tavis isn't out to get obama, he is out to see our agenda in the forefront. our votes count and so should our issues.

[journalist3072]

6. Fighting for his life? I didn't realize he was in the hospital!! What an idiot you are.

Your comment to Tavis Smiley about "Black America doesn't agree with you...just look around on the blogs" has got to be one of the most stupidest comments I've read. I'm an African-American, and I agree wit Tavis Smiley on this.

I happen to think that Obama, McCain and Huckabee should have accepted, right along with Sen. Clinton.

Now, on to your comment about Michelle Obama.

Tavis Smiley said he NEVER received anything from the Obama camp, offering up Michelle Obama. But he said even if he had received something from them offering Michelle up, he would have declined it, just like he would have declined if Sen. Clinton offered up Bill; if McCain offered up Cindy; if Huckabee offered up Janet.

During one of his commentaries, Tavis made the analogy with the Presidential debates he held last year,and he was saying that none of the spouses subbed for the candidates at the debates. And it was the same priniciple here.

In this case, he doesn't want to hear from any of the candidate's spouses, he wants to hear from them.

Get a clue.

[journalist3072]

2. I just woke up....I'm listening on C-span Radio.

[qanda]

5. His name is Tavis and if this is a rehash of Obama not showing up

Then it should probably be posted in GDP with the other 20 or so posts about it.

[malaise]

7. Corrected n/t

[papau]

8. post Obama playing the race card via claiming the Clinton's were OK with racist supporters, the AA

vote is in a "he walks on water" mode and will not accept anything critical of Obama - not even from Travis or about a snub of Travis.

[rocktivity]

9. Barack Obama IS the state of the black union.

:headbang:
rocknation

[journalist3072]

10. Umm....no, he's not.

[Kahuna]

11. Let me tell you something. 99.5% of black voters ARE NOT watching

this annual Smiley ego trip and could care less about his demands.

[stillcool]

14. Here is an older article regarding...

this situation. I thought this was old news by now...

February 11, 2008
Why Obama should skip Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union
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Here is my analysis of the situation, and hopefully it will put this presidential campaign and the delicate task of navigating the waters of black politics in perspective.

1. Clinton MUST attend. She led Obama in all of 2007 among black voters by huge margins. But that trend has shifted -dramatically. At best, she's polling at 25% among African Americans. Her acceptance is critical because she needs to capture 30% to 40% of the black to really stop Obama.

The perceived racial slights toward Obama by Clinton campaign surrogates, as well as her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has done significant damage in the black community. His attempts to explain the comments haven't mollified African Americans. Her appearance at the event can help her restore her standing among a vital Democratic constituency, which she will need to turn out en masse if she wins the nomination.
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2. Obama must look forward, not in the past. The Louisiana primary, which he won handily, was on Saturday. Why go back to Louisiana for an event on Feb. 23? That is not to dismiss the needs of people along the Gulf Coast. But the only way he can truly help them is if he wins the nomination and the White House.

Obama needs to be solely focused on Texas and Ohio. Those two mega-states offer a huge bounty of delegates, and he needs to win a large state to move ahead of Clinton. She polls strongly in both states, and they are a huge part of her winning strategy; so much of her time will be spent there in the coming weeks.

All his time must be on the ground. In Texas, he must blanket South Texas because of the Hispanic influence. He didn't do well among Hispanics in California, and he must change that.
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If Tavis wanted to have an impact, he should have held his event before Louisiana or before the Mississippi primary. As the saying goes, bad planning on your part doesn't constitute a sense of urgency on mine.
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Spending the day with Tavis and his panelists is vital for Clinton. For Obama, time spent courting Latinos in Texas is more
http://essence.typepad.com/news/2008/02/roland-s-mart-6.html