{"id":7163,"date":"2017-12-15T13:20:05","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T21:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=7163"},"modified":"2017-12-15T13:20:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T21:20:05","slug":"wake-call-charles-barkleys-wise-words-democrats-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/wake-call-charles-barkleys-wise-words-democrats-alabama\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Wake Up Call&#8217;: Charles Barkley\u2019s Wise Words to Democrats on Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"field-wrapper-attribution\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-date field--type-datestamp field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\"><span class=\"pb-timestamp\"><span class=\"date-display-single\">December 14, 2017\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by <a href=\"https:\/\/ourfuture.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Campaign for America&#8217;s Future<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-subtitle field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<h3>How long can Democrats count on being rescued by the very people our government is failing?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-authors\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"grouping-prefix\">by\u00a0<span class=\"pb-byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/richard-eskow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Richard Eskow<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shr_canvas2\" class=\"shareaholic-canvas shareaholic-ui shareaholic-resolved-canvas ng-scope\" data-app-id=\"6840209\" data-app=\"share_buttons\" data-title=\"'Wake Up Call': Charles Barkley\u2019s Wise Words to Democrats on Alabama\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2017\/12\/14\/wake-call-charles-barkleys-wise-words-democrats-alabama\" data-summary=\"\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-container shareaholic-ui no-print  flat mini\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper shareaholic-ui\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-animation-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-heading custom\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ng-binding ng-scope\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-button-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"discourse-comments-link\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_large\/public\/views-article\/jones.jpg?itok=MdRApq07\" alt=\"&quot;Without black voters, an accused pedophile would be preparing to assume one of the highest offices in the land.&quot; \" width=\"955\" height=\"500\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-main-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Without black voters, an accused pedophile would be preparing to assume one of the highest offices in the land.&#8221; (Photo: Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p>Before he became one of the great basketball players of his time, Charles Barkley was a son of the Alabama soil.\u00a0 He went home to help Doug Jones pull off his upset victory against Roy Moore in this week\u2019s special Senate election. Here\u2019s what he had to say on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/1712\/12\/bn.01.html\">CNN<\/a>\u00a0after Jones was declared the winner:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This is a wake-up call for Democrats. Democrats, I told Mr. Jones this, and I love Doug, they\u2019ve taken the black vote and the poor vote for granted for a long time. It\u2019s time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor. They\u2019ve always had our votes and they have abused our votes .. This is a wake-up call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Professional Democrats were not nearly as insightful. They overlook some of the most critical lessons of this election, including this one: They might not have won this election at all if Alabama Republicans like Richard Shelby had not encouraged voters to write in other names rather than vote for Roy Moore. As of this writing, the number of write-in votes is greater than Jones\u2019 margin of victory.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Democrats were rescued by a conservative Republican politician. How often is that likely to happen?<\/p>\n<p>And instead of acknowledging this vote as a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for their party after a decade plagued by losses, however, centrist insiders are seizing on it as an opportunity to fortify their hold on an institution they\u2019re slowly strangling \u2013 and to take cheap shots at the left.<\/p>\n<h2>The Cornerstone<\/h2>\n<p>Charles Barkley is right: Black voters did play a critical role in Jones\u2019 victory. Without them, an accused pedophile would be preparing to assume one of the highest offices in the land. But this begs the question: Why did African American voters turn out in such heavy numbers, despite the barriers thrown in their way by Republicans eager to thwart democracy?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is not yet entirely clear, but a clue can be found in an observation by Washington Post reporter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-fix\/wp\/2017\/12\/13\/many-black-voters-supported-doug-jones-to-keep-roy-moores-alabama-values-out-of-washington\/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_fix-blackvoters-1023am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&amp;utm_term=.df29a81a143d\">Eugene Scott<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>More than two dozen black voters here said they did not feel inspired to show up for a candidate who they felt did not aggressively pursue their vote. They were moved to wait in line \u2014 some people for hours \u2014 with the goal of keeping Moore from winning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Their antipathy for Moore certainly understandable.\u00a0 The defrocked judge\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/12\/08\/politics\/roy-moore-slavery\/index.html\">commented<\/a>\u00a0in the runup to the election that the last time America was great was \u201cat the time when families were united \u2013 even though we had slavery \u2013 they cared for one another. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went on to say he thought all constitutional amendments except the first ten should be repealed \u2013 including the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, and the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and equal rights to former slaves. And Moore\u00a0 said he\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/08\/22\/politics\/kfile-roy-moore-birther-comments\/index.html\">had doubts<\/a>\u00a0about President Obama\u2019s citizenship, echoing Donald Trump\u2019s racist \u201cbirther\u201d theory.<\/p>\n<p>African-American voters were also aware of the well-documented claims that Roy Moore sexually abused teenage girls, and they undoubtedly heard his bigoted remarks against Muslims and Jews. Black Alabamians turned out in impressive numbers to save the country from the scourge of a Sen. Roy Moore, and they undoubtedly did so for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<h2>The Poor Vote<\/h2>\n<p>Barkley is also right when he says this vote is a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for Democrats.\u00a0 They will not always have the good fortune to run against a candidate who reaches Moore\u2019s staggering levels of venality, ineptitude, and moral perversion.<\/p>\n<p>Barkley\u2019s meaning couldn\u2019t have been clearer:\u00a0 Democrats can\u2019t take\u00a0black voters, or poor voters of any race, for granted. They must offer concrete policies to improve their lives.\u00a0 There\u2019s not much time to waste, either, either in Alabama or nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/publications\/2017\/demo\/p60-259.html\">Census Bureau<\/a>. The U.S. has a<a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/879092\/the-us-doesnt-look-like-a-developed-country\/\">\u00a0higher rate of poverty<\/a>\u00a0than any other Western, developed country. And Philip Alston, the UN\u2019s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, recently told a reporter that Alabama\u2019s sewage disposal conditions were the worst he\u2019d seen in a developed country.\u00a0 As\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/index.ssf\/2017\/12\/un_poverty_official_touring_al.html\">AL.com<\/a>\u00a0reported:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On Thursday, Alston visited communities in the Black Belt\u2019s Butler and Lowndes counties, where residents often fall ill with ailments like E. Coli and hookworm \u2013 a disease of extreme poverty long eradicated in most parts of the U.S. \u2013 in part because they do not have consistently reliable access to clean drinking water that has not been tainted by raw sewage and other contaminants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Jones carried that part of the state decisively. But how long can Democrats count on being rescued by the very people our government is failing?<\/p>\n<h2>Suburban Surprise<\/h2>\n<p>Interestingly, Alabama\u2019s GOP-friendly suburbs also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/13\/us\/politics\/doug-jones-democrats-alabama.html?_r=0\">went for Jones<\/a>. Is that a sign of their growing discontent with Donald Trump, or was it a one-time effect \u2014 the result of Moore\u2019s views, which are extreme even by Republican standards, and the impact of the stories of his sexual predation on family voters in these areas?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s too early to know for sure, but Democrats shouldn\u2019t rush to assume this is a sign of victories to come. Some of them did anyway.<\/p>\n<h2>Throwing an Elbow<\/h2>\n<p>And yet, despite Barkley\u2019s clarity, a few short minutes later Democratic politician\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/1712\/12\/bn.01.html\">Bakari Sellers<\/a>\u00a0offered a completely different interpretation of his words. Sellers insisted that he and Barkley were friends, affirmed the former athlete \u201cspoke the gospel,\u201d and added that he wanted to shout \u201camen\u201d as Barkley spoke. But then Sellers said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You have, you know, the Bernie Sanders, the Elizabeth Warrens, Joe Biden who are focusing specifically on the Trump-Obama voters and white working class voters, saying bring them back into the fold. There\u2019s a group of us who think we need to make sure that we\u2019re speaking to the base and giving them a reason to come out, because the country\u2019s getting browner and the way to electoral victories is through that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s a gross mischaracterization of Sanders, Warren, and Biden. None of them are \u201cfocusing specifically\u201d on Trump-Obama voters or white working-class voters. \u00a0 Quite the opposite, in fact. The Democratic Party\u2019s progressive wing has taken the lead in addressing the social issues that plague black and brown Americans,\u00a0as well as the economic issues that are hurting middle-and lower-income people of all races.<\/p>\n<p>If any faction of the party places too much emphasis on Trump-Obama voters, it\u2019s the so-called Blue Dog Democrats who lean right on economic issues ranging from the minimum wage to Wall Street reform. They consider the Sanders\/Warren wing of the party their nemesis \u2013 and they\u2019re right.<\/p>\n<h2>The Left Side of the Road<\/h2>\n<p>Sellers had already taken a swipe at the party\u2019s progressive faction\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/1712\/12\/bn.02.html\">earlier<\/a>\u00a0in the CNN broadcast, when he said, \u201cWhat Doug Jones showed tonight is that there\u2019s a wing in the party that wants a litmus test. And Doug Jones doesn\u2019t fit anybody\u2019s litmus test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not entirely accurate. Jones did say that he won because he was \u201ccenter of the road,\u201d but that\u2019s a ritual disclaimer for any red state politician. While he wouldn\u2019t represent the leftmost wing of the party in Vermont or California, Doug Jones is quite progressive for a Southern Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>His website includes this declaration, for example, which comes straight out of Bernie Sanders\u2019 platform: \u201cHealth care is a right, not a privilege limited to the wealthy and those with jobs that provide coverage.\u201d It celebrates the New Deal\u2019s impact on Alabama, while touting Jones\u2019s support for the Lily Ledbetter Act and a higher minimum wage.<\/p>\n<p>Sellers appears to be defending his own faction within the party, but he does a disservice to progressives \u2013 and to Charles Barkley \u2013 in the process.<\/p>\n<h2>Waving Goodbye<\/h2>\n<p>But Sellers isn\u2019t the only professional Democrat to read this election result incorrectly.\u00a0 \u201cThe recriminations have been tough and stupid,\u201d says longtime Democratic operative\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/powerpost\/democrats-are-jubilant--and-newly-confident-about-2018--as-alabama-delivers-win-on-trumps-turf\/2017\/12\/12\/81b45964-deb7-11e7-8679-a9728984779c_story.html?utm_term=.7b89b2a59552\">Robert Shrum<\/a>, \u201c(and) the Bernie Sanders people arguing with the Hillary people has been counterproductive. Jones sends a powerful signal not to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Does he? Jones\u2019 victory was by a far narrower margin than it should have been, because the national party has neglected states like Alabama for years.\u00a0 Part of the intraparty struggle that Shrum dismisses is a struggle to ensure that the party fights for all voters, in all states, with policies that will appeal to precisely the kind of white\/black alliance Charles Barkley describes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a wave election next year,\u201d says Shrum. But then, he has lost so many races that people sometimes talk about the Democrats\u2019 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2007\/08\/20\/the-shrum-curse\">Shrum curse<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, Shrum is far from the only party insider peddling bad advice to Democrats.<\/p>\n<h2>Double Negative<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/2017\/12\/13\/what-doug-jones-victory-over-roy-moore-really-means-for-washington-and-america-in-2018.html\">Writing for Fox News<\/a>\u00a0on the morning after Jones\u2019 victory, the serially incorrect Douglas Schoen asserts that if they want to win, \u201cDemocrats will need more than a message of resistance or opposition. They will need a centrist, pro-growth agenda of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schoen correctly notes on Alabama that \u201cearly indications from exit polling indicate deeply negative favorability and approval ratings for both major parties.\u201d This is also true at a national level, where Republicans are unpopular and support for Democrats recently fell to a 25-year low.<\/p>\n<p>A reasonable person might conclude that these low approval numbers reflect a lack of faith in either party\u2019s ability to improve people\u2019s lives. But Schoen, like other veterans of the party\u2019s failed leadership, has yet to learn this lesson.<\/p>\n<h2>Insanity<\/h2>\n<p>Instead, Schoen proclaims Democrats will only \u201csucceed in 2018\u2033 if they implement an alternative governing strategy that is fundamentally different from what the most progressive voices in Washington are advocating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s exactly what Democrats have been doing for the last ten years. In the process, they\u2019ve lost two thirds of state houses, two thirds of governorships, both houses of Congress, and the presidency.\u00a0 These failures\u00a0were produced by 25 years of \u201ccentrist\u201d leadership.\u00a0 They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.<\/p>\n<p>To hear these folks talk, you\u2019d think they\u2019ve been out of power for decades. But they\u2019ve been in charge, and\u00a0 they\u2019re the ones who got us into this mess. Sure, they might win the day in 2018 or 2020 \u2013 but only if Republicans cooperate by running a slate comprised entirely of proslavery advocates and accused child molesters.\u00a0 Otherwise, Democrats better be prepared to learn how to win.<\/p>\n<p>One thing\u2019s for sure: These aren\u2019t the people who can teach them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-copyright-cond\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-author-profile field--type-entityreference field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div id=\"cdreams-profile-7982\" class=\"cdreams-profile teaser author\">\n<div class=\"content clearfix grid-size-16\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-profile-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/richard-eskow\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_bio_small\/public\/authors\/richard_eskow_0.jpg?itok=45h6mpvN\" alt=\"\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-desc field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/richard-eskow\">Richard (RJ) Eskow<\/a><\/strong><span class=\"irc_su\">\u00a0is a senior fellow at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ourfuture.org\/\">Campaign for America&#8217;s Future.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 14, 2017\u00a0by Campaign for America&#8217;s Future How long can Democrats count on being rescued by the very people our government is failing? by\u00a0Richard Eskow &#8220;Without black voters, an accused pedophile would be preparing to assume one of the highest offices in the land.&#8221; (Photo: Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images) Before he&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/wake-call-charles-barkleys-wise-words-democrats-alabama\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7163"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7164,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7163\/revisions\/7164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}