Black Backers For Clinton Face Threats
This story was written by Josephine Hearn.
African-American superdelegates said Thursday that they'll stand up against threats, intimidation and "Uncle Tom" smears rather than switch their support from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama.
"African-American superdelegates are being targeted, harassed and threatened," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), a superdelegate who has supported Clinton since August. Cleaver said black superdelegates are receiving "nasty letters, phone calls, threats they'll get an opponent, being called an Uncle Tom.
"This is the politics of the 1950s," he complained. "A lot of members are experiencing a lot of ugly stuff. They're not going to talk about it, but it's happening."
After civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) switched his support from Clinton to Obama earlier this week, other black superdelegates have come under renewed pressure to do a similar about-face. A handful have bowed to the entreaties in recent weeks, including Georgia Rep. David Scott, but many say they are steadfast in their support for Clinton and resent strong-arm tactics to make them change.
Rep. Diane E. Watson (D-Calif.), a black lawmaker and Clinton backer, said the intense lobbying for Obama would not alter her vote.
"I've gotten threatening mail," Watson said. "They say, 'Your district went 61-29 Obama and you need to change.' But I don't intimidate. I can hold the ground. … I would lose my seat over my principles."
Neither Watson nor Cleaver faces a strong reelection threat at this time. Cleaver's Kansas City-area district narrowly supported Obama in Missouri's Feb. 5 primary.
Black superdelegates are getting heavy pressure from such groups as ColorOfChange.org, a grass-roots organization backing Obama.
"Some [Congressional Black Caucus] members are threatening to vote against their constituents, and perhaps against the will of the American people, by casting their superdelegate vote for Sen. Clinton," the ColorOfChange.org website reads. "We can prevent this from happen by letting black leadership know we're watching."
But Watson said that she could not see switching her vote simply because Obama is black.
"I don't support one type of person above all others. How would that message resonate with Koreatown?" she asked. Watson's Central Los Angeles district is 35 percent Latino, 30 percent black and 12 percent Asian-American, including many Korean-Americans.
The Clinton campaign, for its part, has been working hard to keep its superdelegates on board. On a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon, Clinton adviser Harold Ickes said he and campaign manager Maggie Williams had "spent a lot of time talking to our superdelegates over the past week," and that they are "holding fast."
The Clinton camp released a statement Thursday touting the defection of Obama supporter Veronica Escobar after polls in Texas, Escobar's home state, showed Clinton leading among registered Hispanic voters by 62 to 21 percent.
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Black Caucus member, said he is still "very strong" for Clinton even in the wake of Lewis's turnaround. He was unmoved by discord in his Queens district, which backed Obama in the New York primary.
"Some people threw out flyers. That doesn't faze me at all. If someone wants to run against me, that's democracy," he said. "Sen. Obama is a very inspirational person. People in the district are proud. I'm proud. You can't not be proud being an African-American… But I have to do overall what's in the best interests of my district."
Cleaver questioned why white superdelegates such as Massachusetts Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry weren't being targeted to support Clinton after she carried their state.
"If white people were being harassed and threatened because they were not supporting a white candidate, we'd see headlines," he said.
Cleaver said he did not believe the Obama campaign was behind the disturbing e-mails and phone calls he has received.
"I refuse to believe that Sen. Obama gave orders for something like this to happen. This is a contradiction of the new politics that Sen. Obama is running on," he said. "My fear is with all of the nastiness, we're going to have a whole lot of kissing and making up to do as a party."
By Josephine Hearn
