Carol Moseley Braun: Bill Clinton Has Betrayed African-Americans
Former Senator Carol Mosely Braun took Bill Clinton’s endorsement of her opponent Rahm Emanuel rather personally:
Chicago mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun on Wednesday called former President Bill Clinton’s campaign appearance for former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel a “betrayal” of the city’s African-American and Latino communities.
“For him to come on the day following Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday to insert himself in the middle of a mayoral race, when the majority of the population and mayoral candidates are African-American and Latino, is a betrayal of the people who were most loyal to him,” Braun, former Democratic senator from Illinois, said in a statement. “It’s a mistake.”
“President Bill Clinton does not live or vote in Chicago,” she said, adding a line she’s used in previous statements. “He’s an outsider parachuting in to support another outsider.”
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), who dropped out of the race in December and threw his support behind Braun, also voiced his dismay about Clinton’s visit.
“People have always – especially African-Americans for a long time – have regarded former President Clinton as a friend, political ally and as one whose goals and objectives may have been similar to theirs,” Davis said as he boarded a plane to Washington, CNN reported.
“And so I think that this will take away a bit. And there are individuals who have been former Clinton supporters who no longer will.”
It’s worth noting, of course, that Brown is trailing Emanuel by 16 points in the most recently released poll.
What?? The first black president is betraying black folks?
While I believe the mayoral field in Chicago is incredibly lacking, regardless of color, the idea that apparently the only prerequisite to be mayor is skin color is abhorent. Carol Moseley Braun was a disaster as a US Senator and multiple clouds of scandal still follow her.
For decades, the black community in Chicago has been taken advantage of by both both white and black politicians who were only interested in adding to their own power and making more money for themselves. The black community needs a leader based on qualifications and not the color of their skin.
I don’t know how Rahm Emanuel would do at that, but I know that Braun is driven only by self interest and she has the track record to prove it.
It’s a shame that Mosley Braun chose to take the low road. Apparently she forgot about Dr. King’s dream of judging folks not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.