Every chance Steve Cohen gets, he reminds people that he supported President Obama for president when the cool thing to do among Mid-South Democratic politicians was to jump aboard the Hillary Clinton train (like, for instance, both of Memphis's black mayors).
So we're wondering when you'll be seeing this photo, taken from Cohen's campaign website, of Cohen with First Lady Michelle Obama at a recent White House barbecue.
There may not be a more potent message for him among those black voters in the 9th District that Willie Herenton (who supported Hillary AND Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander) than his unstinting support for President Obama during the campaign and now as an increasingly important member of Congress. A voter on Tuesday questioned why Herenton touts his alliance with Alexander, whose leadership role in the Senate has made him one of President Obama's harshest critics. Because make no mistake -- whatever loyalty black voters in Memphis may or may not still feel toward Herenton, there is no questioning their strong support of President Obama. There is also no small amount of resentment among black voters for anti-Obama sentiment, when they believe Obama was handed a huge mess to clean up. That point of view was predicted by the clever and sometimes insightful rapper Mos Def during the 2008 campaign, appearing on Bill Maher's provocative HBO talk-show. I included his comment in a story we ran the weekend before Obama's inauguration in 2009 that I think gets at what many black and liberal voters feel about backlash among many voters about President Obama:
"I know he's going to be president, because the country is in worse shape than it's ever been. And you know what happens when that goes on. When there's any institution, on any(thing) going down, they're finding the black dude: 'It's your account. You are head of the department.' "
Every chance Steve Cohen gets, he reminds people that he supported President Obama for president when the cool thing to do among Mid-South Democratic politicians was to jump aboard the Hillary Clinton train (like, for instance, both of Memphis's black mayors). So we're wondering when you'll be seeing this photo, taken from Cohen's campaign website, of Cohen with First Lady Michelle Obama at a recent White House barbecue.
There may not be a more potent message for him among those black voters in the 9th District that Willie Herenton (who supported Hillary AND Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander) than his unstinting support for President Obama during the campaign and now as an increasingly important member of Congress. A voter on Tuesday questioned why Herenton touts his alliance with Alexander, whose leadership role in the Senate has made him one of President Obama's harshest critics. Because make no mistake -- whatever loyalty black voters in Memphis may or may not still feel toward Herenton, there is no questioning their strong support of President Obama. There is also no small amount of resentment among black voters for anti-Obama sentiment, when they believe Obama was handed a huge mess to clean up. That point of view was predicted by the clever and sometimes insightful rapper Mos Def during the 2008 campaign, appearing on Bill Maher's provocative HBO talk-show. I included his comment in a story we ran the weekend before Obama's inauguration in 2009 that I think gets at what many black and liberal voters feel about backlash among many voters about President Obama:
"I know he's going to be president, because the country is in worse shape than it's ever been. And you know what happens when that goes on. When there's any institution, on any(thing) going down, they're finding the black dude: 'It's your account. You are head of the department.' "
Truly, it isn't about skin. Both Obama and Cohen have betrayed their anti-war constituency.