There's a gulf opening between the black elected leadership and black voters over the question of whom to support in the Presidential sweepstakes; in a sense, this gulf parallels the rift between much of the larger official party and the party base. The question is, simply put, whether Hillary's home state advantage gives her a higher claim on the support of New York Democrats than what the other candidates might expect.
In normal times, and with a more conventional cast of candidates, there probably wouldn't be much debate. However, given that this race features the historical breakthrough of an African-American candidate with a real chance at winning the nomination, the deck has been reshuffled.
In evidence of this, Chris Owens emails over the announcement of Brooklyn for Barack [1], a grassroots online effort to organize the borough on behalf of the Illinois Senator.
Brooklyn needs a political shake-up and Barack Obama's candidacy for President of these United States is the perfect vehicle for pursuing an end to politics as usual. People have been joining Brooklyn for Barack and preparing for some fun and important upcoming events. If you want to be a part of changing Brooklyn and America, you don't need to wait for your local elected official to make the strategically safe decision. Go right now to http://brooklynforbarack.org [2] and join up! This Saturday there's a BBQ for Barack in Prospect Park and next week a petition drive to "Bring Barack to Brooklyn" will be launched - with your help! It's all on the website, so check it out!
He may very well be right about this campaign offering an opportunity to shake up the encrusted political structures that obtain especially in the black parts of the borough; I don't have any polling data to support this, but anecdotally it seems that Hillary's support comes mainly from the older, more established regulars, and Obama's from a younger, grassroots element. The former have power; the latter, not yet.
What's especially interesting about this is that some activists are also trying to bring Obama himself to Brooklyn. There's even a petition, here [3]. Now, that would really put some elected officials in a somewhat uncomfortable spot.
New York is in play, folks. If Obama takes his supporters up on their invite, some very interesting things could happen.
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