Bloody Sunday comemmoration: Obama and Clinton

A few moments ago I watched addresses given by Senator Barak Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton using the commemoration of Bloody Sunday (the Selma Alabama bridge crossing, not the Irish one) to garner support from the critical African American portion of Democratic primary voters. While it is a grave political error to assume that American Blacks vote as a block, there is a powerful, if aging, demographic made up of the veterans of the civil rights movement of the mid 20th Century who play a critical role in the Democratic primary.

Neither Clinton nor Obama can simply assume the mantle of leadership for this critical voting block. They do not have time to earn it from their deeds - neither was old enough or geographically positioned to play a major role in that movement. They will have to earn it not with words, but rather with their ability to move people to action and inspire a belief in social justice.

Senator Obama based his address around a metaphor of Moses and Joshua. Dr. King deliberately compared himself to Moses - and the comparison is very clear. Obama called himself a member of the "Joshua generation" - a generation charged with completing the work of bringing the faithful to the promised land (an uncomfortable analogy if you read the account of the slaughter of Jericho closely.) It was a good address - not as comfortable and powerful as his announcement - but reasonably rousing. The most important point, in my mind, was a deliberate echo of JFK’s inauguration speech. "We must ask not only what government can do for us, but what we can do to help ourselves." Like many African American leaders, Obama was calling for positive change to start within the community.

Senator Clinton did far better than I expected. Her tone and presentation were more relaxed and friendly than I have seen before. Obama set forth his claim to Selma by talking about growing up black in America - "Don’t tell me I’m not coming home when I come to Selma..." Clinton’s approach was more oblique. She claimed the civil rights movement provided the opportunity to run for President to Senator Obama, Governor Richardson, "and yes, for me too." Clinton pointed out that as the civil rights movement was underway, it was still against the law in Alabama for women to serve on a jury: "I know where my chance came from and I am grateful to all of you."

For these senators, the commemoration ceremonies were not a time to talk about policy, but rather to court the old-guard civil rights warriors by demonstrating their commitment to equal rights and their passion to fight for the underprivileged in America. In this, I felt that Clinton was a bit more convincing. Both did quite well, bringing their respective audiences to their feet.

Some wag on one of the news channels said that this would be a win for both candidates. I think he was right.

rbs