Chris Jones is amazing, but also an example of continuing bias against Black candidates

[StarfishSaver]

The fact that a man of his talent, experience, background and - well, everything - will be expected to run against the likes of Sarah Huckabee and will likely be treated with less respect and consideration is a perfect example of the uphill battle people of color have, not just in politics, but in many other areas of our society.

For example, look at this NBC Headline:

Chris Jones, a nuclear engineer and political newcomer, enters Arkansas governor's race

Candidates like Jones could ride a recent wave of people of color with limited political experience running for and getting elected to higher office.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/chris-jones-nuclear-engineer-political-newcomer-enters-arkansas-governor-s-n1270869

So, Jones represents "a recent wave of people of color with limited political experience"? Seriously? This man is running against a woman whose only claim to fame is nepotism and lying - who has never run for or held political office whose only political experience was running her father's campaign, and whose only government job was standing at a White House podium and lying and attacking the press and her boss' adversaries.

And yet it is JONES who is characterized as having "limited political experience" - something that NBC suggests is unique to people of color. Because there hasn't been a recent wave of white people with limited political experience running for and getting elected to higher office.

This race is going to be very interesting

[WhiteTara]

1. Voter registration is going to be part of my

summer. I'm also collecting names to overturn some terrible terrible laws that passed this year.

I'm not optimistic, but I'm not sitting home.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Good points, and great example of why I hate the M$M in general

"Political observers say Jones, who is Black, could ride a wave of recent years in which people of color and from historically disenfranchised groups with limited political experience are getting elected to higher office."

You see, they have backup for the content of the byline there ... on accounta there's 'political observers' saying that very thing

When they do address Sanders, it's to promulgate her talking points mainly

Early polling and name recognition have given Sanders an edge, and Trump quickly endorsed her in January through his political action committee. Sanders has already raised nearly $5 million as she runs a campaign vowing to fight the "radical left" and federal government overreach.

Most obnoxiously is the implication that IF he wins, it's cause he's 'riding a wave' rather than because of his own intellect, skills and talent.

With you on this article being fucking bullshit

[brooklynite]

4. The African American population of. GA (where Warnock won) is 32%

Want to guess what the AA population of Arkansas is?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. No I don't want to guess ...

But perhaps you could tell me, and then elaborate as to what the point of introducing that statistic is?

[StarfishSaver]

39. Whoops

[brooklynite]

3. I'm sorry, what are you complaining about?

How will be be treated with less respect and consideration than the LAST Democratic candidate for Governor of Arkansas? The guy who got 32% of the vote? I’m sure you remember who that was and did everything you could for his campaign?

I’ll be skipping this race because the data says its less winnable than, say, Arizona and Georgia, and because my money can be better applied holding on to the House and building up our majority in the Senate.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. The point is the obvious propaganda promulgated in the article

If you don't pick up on it, then you have a huge blind spot.

I see it plainly w/o even being AA myself.

[sheshe2]

8. Oh brother.

I’ll be skipping this race because the data says its less winnable than, say, Arizona and Georgia, and because my money can be better applied holding on to the House and building up our majority in the Senate.

Arkansas will be heart broken without your support.

[brooklynite]

10. If it makes you feel better, DSCC will likely be skipping the race as well...

…absent a clear sign of fundraising and electoral ability.

[sheshe2]

12. You are and they will likely follow your lead.

Aaah. So it is done.

He has been abandoned and now toast.

I like Stacey's approach better.

[brooklynite]

13. Will Stacey be getting involved in the Arkansas race? I'm guessing not.

[sheshe2]

15. Guess, yet not a fact.

My guess, Stacey and team will be everywhere...just a guess.

[brooklynite]

19. If Stacey is running for Governor of GA, that'll be her sole focus.

[sheshe2]

23. You really don't know much about her.

She won't be doing it alone. She built a team. Fair Fight.

After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels. In 2019, she launched Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and greater participation in civic engagement, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South.

https://fairfight.com/about-stacey-abrams/

Sad that you dismiss her and Chris Jones. She is a force to be reckoned with and so is he.

Fact is, it is the black vote that wins us the seats.

[brooklynite]

27. I've MET with Stacey and supported Fair Fight.

The point is that her efforts in the 2020 cycle were when she wasn't running for office.

I think she'd be a strong candidate in GA, because of the Democratic (and AA) vote pool, and her organizational skills. Neither of those points apply to Chris Jones.

[sheshe2]

30. Aaah.

You met with her.

Got it.

What official position is it that you hold with the Democratic Party? Are you a paid consultant? A headhunter of sorts? You have said you have met with many candidates in various elections. What is your official title?

[brooklynite]

32. My official title is "Democrat"

Do I need something else?

I meet with candidates, PACs, Party leaders etc. because they ask me to. I financially support the candidates and organizations (to the tune of about $75,000 a year) that show me they have a winning strategy and a path to victory. To make that determination, I collect and crunch a lot of voter, financial, polling and endorsement data and make cold-hearted, objective decisions. And I informally advise other Democrats looking for guidance on who to support.

My goal is to beat as many Republicans as possible. That means finding the Republicans that are beatable (Ducey, Kemp, Johnson) not the ones that I viscerally dislike. As detestable as SHS is, until someone can show me how to win against her, I'll pass.

[gratuitous]

7. It's been the standard for political reporting for decades

Any shortcomings of a Republican candidate can be glossed over with minimal effort. A Democrat is saddled with whatever baggage the media can hang on him or her. Hillary Clinton was unforgivably female with years of experience in the political arena. Her opponent was a political neophyte who had a tenuous grasp on reality. But he was a man, so his opponent had to establish credentials and bona fides he never had to meet (tax returns, financial statements, multi-million dollar payouts to settle fraud claims, etc.).

Chris Jones has a formidable resume, but he's not . . . well, he has limited political experience! Yeah, that's the ticket. Because, see, getting a doctorate and being a pastor doesn't expose a person to anything political at all.

[Caliman73]

9. Not that comedians always have "the knowledge" but Chris Rock had a good take on this situation.

In one of his specials he was talking about how he had the good fortune of having "made it" and talked about the work he had done and all, but he said something to the effect of ... "My house costs millions of dollars... I live in a neighborhood with hundreds of houses, 4 Black people in my neighborhood. You know who those 4 Black people are...? Mary J Blige, Jay-Z, and Eddie Murphy." Rock goes on to explain to the audience who those 4 people are and what they represent. Then he says, "You know what the White guy that lives next door to me does for a living? He's a fucking dentist!! That's it, a dentist, not the greatest dentist in the world, he didn't invent teeth! Just a dentist!"

As a Black person, you have to be close to the best in your respective field to afford what a good White dentist can afford.

When I saw Jones' back story and accomplishments, I was moved and thought that he and his family are the quintessential ideal of the American ideal. Then, as you say StarfishSaver, knowing that this race is going to be an uphill battle for him and how they are already portraying it, brought me back down to earth.

Sanders has done absolutely NOTHING to earn any kind of reputation. She was the press secretary who lied for the lyingest man ever in politics. Her daddy was governor. And she is the insider against a "neophyte". The man has a DOCTORATE in URBAN PLANNING a degree well suited to leadership. That degree is literally designed to help people learn how to both technically and politically work to make things better for regions, towns, Cities, rural areas, etc... You learn what is needed to serve population centers, sanitation, ecological wellbeing, etc...

This man, a physicist, urban planner, business owner, spiritual leader versus Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and she is the favorite?

I don't even know what to say anymore...

[StarfishSaver]

16. Exactly!

I've hear that Chris Rock routine and he is so right.

Just look at recent history. A Black man had to be BARACK DAMNED OBAMA a person second only to Mary Poppins in
being perfect in practically every way in order to be elected president. And he was sandwiched between a mediocre white man who would have had trouble getting a job selling siding if his father hadn't been president and a morally bankrupt, unqualified white man so completely unfit for the presidency it will take decades for the country to recover from his term.

We are still living in two Americas.

[mcar]

11. You are so right, SS

No-one should treat Sarah Huck as a person to be respected or taken seriously.

But you know she'll scream sexism if she's not.

[brooklynite]

14. Nobody is...they're treating her as a person certain to win the Governorship if nominated...

[StarfishSaver]

17. And you just made my point

[brooklynite]

18. By being blunt and realistic?

The Democratic candidate for Arkansas Governor in 2018 was a White guy. He got 32%. Was he treated with any more "resepct"?

[StarfishSaver]

20. No. That's not how.

But carry on ...

[JI7]

21. Also dismissive of knowledge in Science

that's something we need a lot more of among people in public office. Especially seen with all the lies about covid.

The article should be about how white racism leads to support for such horrible people with horrible history over someone whose impressive background would stand out anywhere.

[Patterson]

22. The Huckabee woman is guaranteed to win Arkansas.

[StarfishSaver]

24. Like Purdue and Loeffler were "guaranteed" to win in Georgia

There are no "guarantees" in politics. That's why we have campaigns ...

[sheshe2]

25. Kamala and Biden weren't suppose to win either.

[StarfishSaver]

26. Nope ... Neither was Barack Obama or Bill Clinton ... Until they did

We can't ever look at the present moment in time and assume that, based on current circumstances, it's impossible to prevail. With that attitude, what's the point of campaigning or lobbying or taking any action intended to change things?

[sheshe2]

28. I wasn't on DU for Obama's first win.

I will tell you I was reading everything, listening and watching.

Fact? I knew he was going to win. I didn't say it, didn't want to jinx it, yet I knew. There was a ground swell. I heard feet hitting the pavement. Something was coming. You could feel it. I did. I believed.

Same with Stacey, she lost hers for 'reasons' yet I knew she pulled off Georgia's win. She can do this again because she built a team Fair Fight. They can do this.

Fair Fight
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215552117#post23

[brooklynite]

29. The electoral dynamics of Georgia were completely different...

Arkansas has about half the African American voters that Georgia has.

[StarfishSaver]

31. White voters vote for Black candidates, just like Black voters vote for white candidates

That's what the campaign is for.

Or do you believe that, regardless how strong a campaign he or she runs, a Black candidate has no chance of attracting enough white voters to win an election?

And if you do believe that, do you think that the political field in states with large white populations should be limited to white candidates since Black candidates can't ever win, regardless what they do?

[brooklynite]

33. Not the point

Warnock and Ossoff won by banking large pools of White and African American Democratic votes and reaching out to moderate suburban Independents and Republicans. That formula is a lot harder to achieve in Arkansas, especially if you don't have Donald Trump showing up at the last minute to say the vote can't be trusted.

Simple equation. I think Jones will do as poorly as the White candidate we ran for Governor in 2018.

[StarfishSaver]

34. Exactly the point

Your unwillingness to answer the question is noted - and very telling.

Fortunately, Black candidates don't listen to "experts" who tell them Black candidates can't win.

(Yes, I know you tried to clean it up by mentioning the white candidate from 2018 - but if Jones' race wasn't a factor in your assessment of his chances, you wouldn't have referred to the percentage of Black voters ...)

[brooklynite]

36. When did I say Black candidates can't win?

I said they can't win in Arkansas; just like white candidates can't win.

Question to you. How much of your support is because you really like Jones (who has Primary opponents) vs you really hate Sanders?

[StarfishSaver]

37. Your reference to the percentage of Black voters in Arkansas was the tell

If race wasn't an issue for you, there would have been no need to mention it - you could have just referred to the percentage of Democratic voters.

[brooklynite]

40. Sigh...

The reason I mentioned the AA population in Arkanasas is that some people were claiming it was just the same a GA.

I DO recognize the AA vote as a major component of Democratic Statewide victories in the South. That situation doesn't exist in Arkansas.

[StarfishSaver]

42. Too late to try to clean it up now

You said what you said and we all saw it.

And we all know that if we were talking about a race between a white Democrat and a white Republican, you would not have jumped in to insist that the proportion of Black voters in the state was relevant to the outcome.

[BGBD]

35. I don't see why

being pragmatic is such a bad thing

Chris Jones is a great candidate that is probably going to lose to an awful candidate because Arkansas has developed a heavy partisan lean in statewide races over the past 15 years. I don't think Mike Beebe would win now either. Put Jones in GA, NC, VA, FL, or TX and it's a lot more interesting.

[StarfishSaver]

38. There's nothing "pragmatic" about proclaiming a candidate can't win 18 months before the election

[brooklynite]

41. Perhaps take that up with Larry Sabato or Charlie Cook

Idaho
Wyoming
South Dakota
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Tennessee
South Carolina
Alabama

"Safe R" Governorships.

Can some significant dynamic change? Sure. Until it does I'l be focusing attention on States that have some measure of competitiveness. So will the Democratic Governor's Association.

[StarfishSaver]

43. Lol

I don't need to "take up" anything with two political pundits who make their livings by convincing people that they have a magic crystal ball that enables them to predict the outcome of a race months and even years before the election and who depend on people forgetting how often they're wrong.

Of course, you are free to "focus" on whatever races you like. Just don't expect everyone to assume your predictions mean anything.

[brooklynite]

44. Let's be honest; we'll both be ignoring some races

Unless your definition of political engagement is cheering from the safety of your keyboard you have finite time and money to invest; therefore, you'll be skipping some races in favor of others. So will I. The difference is that I have an objective, data- driven process to identify which races my support can be most beneficial.

[StarfishSaver]

45. You do you

But when you justify not supporting a Black candidate in a statewide race based on your assessment that he cannot win because there aren't enough Black voters in his state, don't expect anyone to believe your process is either "objective" or "data driven."