Thu. Aug 29, 2002
District Revisionism
District Revisionism – "McKinney was defeated by the extreme wing of the Jewish community; the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which sued the city of Atlanta over its affirmative action program; the Christian Coalition, which gave us right-wing ideologues in Congress; and the Republican Party, which took advantage of the opportunity to cross over in a Democratic primary."
This is from an ”equal time” piece in the Atlanta Consititution, from "Rev. Timothy McDonald [a] pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church and president of Concerned Black Clergy". The Reverend entirely blames the defeat on ”conservative whites”, ”the radical religious right”, ”ultraconservative Democrats and Republicans”, and, of course, ”Jews”.
I’m struggling to squeeze myself into one of those categories, Rev, but I just don’t fit. I’m one of those people you completely fail to mention in your article: the constituents of the 4th District. I’m sure it will surprise you to find out, we’re not all black, and those of us that aren’t are not all Republicans (or even conservative, nevermind ”ultraconservative”).
McKinney carried the majority of the black vote in south DeKalb."
That’s very nice for her. Perhaps she can get someone to create a Congressional district from it. But in the one for which McKinney was running for reelection, the entire county, she failed to collect much more than 40% of the vote, in a county that is 54% African American, 37% Caucasian, and 9% Hispanic, Asian, or ”other” (according to the 2000 census).
How do you explain that math, Rev?
Oh, I know, you and your ilk don’t like to talk about the statistics, because then it’s harder to portray the 4th District as almost entirely African American, as so many seem to do in this post primary world. That false impression makes it easier for Rev. McDonald to call "for the Jewish community to apologize ’for what it has done in the 4th District.’ " It makes it easier to imply that a few Jews and right wing whites bought an election in a district that is almost all black.
That’s a lie, and Rev. McDonald should be ashamed for spreading it. It was a true rainbow coalition that defeated McKinney, as ironic as that sounds. I speak as a non-Jew non-Republican non-member of the Christian Coalition who worked what little butt I have off on the behalf of Denise Majette. Why? Because she’s the better candidate.
If Rev. McDonald thinks I should be ashamed of that, then he is saying I should be ashamed of exercising my Consitituional right as a citizen of District 4. And that statement would indeed be an offense that calls for an apology.
I’m not holding my breath.
Published 11:21AM, Thu, Aug 29 2002
Category: Politics
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Peanut Gallery
Sounds like the Rev has his e-mail account in good working order. Here's the press release the American Muslim Council sent out on Tuesday. They must be happy at least one Christian cleric takes his orders -- or at the very least his talking points -- from Muslims: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful -0- MEDIA RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Faiz Rehman, Communications Director August 27, 2002 Tel: 202-789-2262. Fax: 202-789-2550 media@amconline.org -0- McKinney Won the Democratic Vote! McKinney's opponent, Denise Majette, received 49,103 votes from traditionally Republican voting precincts in North DeKalb and 2,145 votes from Republican leaning precincts in Gwinnett County, totaling 51,248 votes. She received a total of 68,612 votes. Therefore 74.69 or 75 percent of the opposition’svotes came from the northern and Republican part of McKinney's district. South DeKalb is the base of the traditional Democratic vote in the 4th District. Denise Majette received 17,364 votes from South DeKalb, which totaled 25.3 percent of her total vote. Majette carried only one precinct in South DeKalb by a margin of 24 votes (North Hairston). Of the 76 precincts in North DeKalb, 54 were carried in the November 2000 election by the Republican opposition and therefore can be classified as Republican precincts. The opposition carried all 54 precincts. Twenty-two of the 76 precincts in North DeKalb were carried by Cynthia McKinney in the 2000 general election. However, in the 2002 Democratic primary, they were carried by the opposition suggesting Republican crossover. In the 2002 Democratic primary election in DeKalb County, there were 116,54 Democratic ballots cast while there were only 6,886 Republican ballots cast suggesting that Democrats voted approximately 17 times more often than Republicans which is unlikely. In the 2000 Democratic Primary, there were 54,861 ballots cast while there were 116,544 ballots cast in the 2002 Democratic Primary, which is a 47 percent increase. Republicans telegraphed via the media their intentions to intervene in the Democratic primary with no response from the State or National Democratic leadership. It is clear that Congresswoman McKinney won the Democratic vote. Republicans do not have the right to determine the outcome of a Democratic Primary as they did in Congresswoman McKinney's race. Therefore, the outcome of this election is not only a travesty of justice and a perversion of the democratic process, but stands alongside the Florida 2000 debacle as just as illegitimate. ************************************************************************** The American Muslim Council (AMC) 1212 New York Ave, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005 Join AMC today...online https://opaline.site-secure.net/halfpricedomain/memform.htm Our efforts depend on your support. Please donate to AMC *************************************************************************** -0-
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I just made the mistake of reading the rev's editorial. Yeesh, what a load of bull. The fact that McKinney aired some looney and offensive opinions and lost her office is a lot of things, but it's not a civil-rights or free-speech crisis. It's how the system works.