Black leaders split support among many candidates

NEW YORK -- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean came to Harlem's Mount Olivet Baptist Church seeking to win the faith of African-American politicians. Three weeks later, retired Army General Wesley K. Clark made his own pilgrimage to Harlem, scooping up endorsements. Then, last month, the Rev. Al Sharpton -- clearly unhappy that his competitors were snooping around his turf -- stood on the steps of City Hall surrounded by as many black officials as he could round up.

If black voters in New York City are confused about who their leaders are supporting for the Democratic nomination for president, they are not alone. As the race heats up, nine candidates are traveling the nation picking up endorsements from black elected officials like "I love NY" T-shirts.

Harlem's own US Representative Charles Rangel endorsed Clark. US Representative James Clyburn, South Carolina's leading black politician, chose former House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt. Harold Ford Jr., a charismatic young representative from Tennessee, tossed his support to Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the civil rights leader, went with Dean. And the list goes on and on.

Each of these black Democrats said they are interested in finding the best person to defeat President Bush, just as white Democrats are. But others in the African-American community wonder whether the scattered endorsements are reducing the collective power of their voting bloc, when a unified show of black support could swing the election, particularly in the crucial South Carolina primary, where blacks probably will make up 40 percent of the electorate.

"It's more than incredible; it's disastrous for the black community," said Ron Walters, a professor at the University of Maryland and former adviser to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "What they are doing is giving away their collective power because if they had made a collective endorsement, it would have said something different to black voters."

Walters, who was deputy campaign manager for Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign, thinks now is the time for black leaders to collectively articulate what they want for their constituents and for African-Americans as a whole. With the expectation that a big increase in black turnout could win the presidency for the Democrats, African-American leadership can play a decisive role in choosing the party's nominee and platform, he said.

By splitting their support among so many candidates, Walters said, only those officials who fall behind the eventual nominee will gain clout, not the whole community.

Many black leaders agree that the split in endorsements is unusual, perhaps unprecedented. But not everyone feels that this signifies a missed opportunity. Some see the split as a sign of maturity, that leaders of the black community are forging alliances using the same criteria as white politicians.

Others say it reflects a larger phenomenon -- the willingness of many Democratic constituencies to look beyond special-interest politics and devote themselves to defeating Bush.

"What is going to be on black voters' minds is the defeat of George Bush, not what is your position on welfare reform and what is your position on this or that," said David Bositis, senior analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington.

Bositis predicted that the split of endorsements will not hurt the African-American community because black turnout will be so important in the general election that the Democratic nominee quickly will make peace with those who supported other candidates.

Donna Brazile, campaign manager for former vice president Al Gore in 2000, said she welcomed the fact that black officials are making multiple endorsements, though she hoped they would measure candidates by how much they would do for urban America.

"I am happy to see [African-American members of Congress] Al Wynn and Eddie Bernice Johnson endorsing Senator John Edwards and Alcee Hastings endorsing Joe Lieberman," said Brazile, who is African-American. "It's not just about political maturity but of growth, that we have come out of the box."

The box, she said, is the view that only one candidate can represent black interests and that the community's agenda would rise and fall based on that candidate.

Twenty years ago, Jackson became the first presidential primary candidate to claim the backing of the vast majority of black voters. During the 1984 campaign, some black officials steered away from Jackson, afraid that he would finish well back in the pack. But black voters rallied to his candidacy, and he gained significant clout with the eventual nominee, Walter F. Mondale.

Jackson drew more support from black officials four years later, in 1988, and finished second to Massachusetts governor Michael S. Dukakis in number of delegates.

But Jackson's attempts to wring concessions from Dukakis, including a frosty meeting between the two under the Fourth of July sun on the Esplanade, contributed to the idea that Democrats were bound to special interests.

Four years later, in 1992, Bill Clinton scolded Jackson for inviting rebellious rap star Sister Souljah to an event both men attended. But the two enjoyed a close working relationship throughout Clinton's presidency.

Now, while two African-Americans -- Sharpton and former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois -- are contending for votes and endorsements, neither can wield a fraction of Jackson's power.

"People are choosing candidates they think are the best in light of the fact no one candidate outstandingly articulates and carries the symbolic meaningfulness that the Jackson campaign carried," said Bill Perkins, a New York city councilor from Harlem who has endorsed Dean. "So the next best thing is we have to find someone who can win."

Meanwhile, Sharpton has made it clear that he is not happy that candidates are coming to Harlem to pick up endorsements. He is even angrier at the prominent black politicians in Harlem who supported other candidates.

"They are going to have to deal with the consequences," he told The New York Times. He suggested those politicians would change their tunes as he did in 1988, when he backed Jackson after snubbing him in 1984. But most analysts say black votes in the primaries will go much like black endorsements -- scattered among the pack.

That may not be a bad thing, said Brazile, as long as all candidates remain attuned to urban issues: "It doesn't matter who's sitting in whose camp -- whether it's Al Sharpton's camp, John Kerry, or Howard Dean. "What matters is if we sit in silence."