Thursday, August 28, 2008

What about Jesse?

Has the thought occurred to you that, if only Jesse Jackson had kept his lip zippered and John Edwards had kept his pants buttoned, those two could’ve delivered blazing hot speeches in Denver this week?

They must be shedding tears... feeling all left out of this historic moment with only themselves to blame.

Jesse Jackson in particular deserves a moment’s thought today. His presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 were the most dramatic element of Democratic politics during the Reagan era. (You remember, right?)

Eric Easter, a campaign staffer for Jackson, now runs EbonyJet.com. And he wrote a great piece earlier this month about Jesse’s future: “In short, Jesse Jackson needs to go global.”

Do check it out.

12 comments:

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

While things may look a little bleak for Jessie Jackson Sr., they're looking up for Jessie Jackson Jr. He is highly praised as a top advisor for Obama, even more so after he spoke against his father for his ridiculously crude statements about Obama.

Look for Jessie Jackson Jr. to get some good position in an Obama administration.

Anonymous said...

I have a 1984 elementary school portrait where I am sporting a "Kids for Jesse" button!

maria said...

i thought about how much i missed jesse sr. while i listened to his son this week. can't recall a single memorable phrase.

i gotta say, and i have watched every night, my faves have been the gov. of montana, kucinich, hillary and biden.

maria said...

oh, shit and michelle obama for sure.

Undercover Black Man said...

can't recall a single memorable phrase.

Yeah, Jesse Jr. needs some seasoning. Or else he's just not cut out to fill his father's shoes. (Somewhat like MLK III. It is a burden to have to live up to dads like that.)

And that Montana governor rocked! Glad to see he's much in demand for on-camera interviews ever since.

Undercover Black Man said...

I have a 1984 elementary school portrait where I am sporting a "Kids for Jesse" button!

Cute! I was a senior in college. And Jesse made a campaign stop on my campus... U. of Md.

Why wasn't I there? I couldn't tell you. But then, I didn't hustle my ass to Santa Barbara to check out Obama when I had the chance either.

Anonymous said...

It's hell being a "Democrat Abroad". BBC is only showing a two-hour highlight reel and C-SPAN has mislabeled some of the video clips. Thank goodness for You Tube so I could see what you all were all talking about with Jesse Jr. He is indeed very polished, just not memorable.

I really enjoyed Brian Schwietzer (sp?) too. Loved that bolo tie!

Undercover Black Man said...

I really enjoyed Brian Schwietzer (sp?) too.

He had kind of a Jim Hightower vibe about him.

Anonymous said...

I am kind of confused with the definition of a "black" man.
Tiger Woods
Barack Obama
What is the percentage of "black" in their racial composition and if it is 50% or less what is the rationale of labelling them "black".

Unknown said...

anonymous said...
I am kind of confused with the definition of a "black" man.
Tiger Woods
Barack Obama
What is the percentage of "black" in their racial composition and if it is 50% or less what is the rationale of labelling them "black".

Trust me, you won't get a single reply to that question on this site. Here they use the Colin Powell, "...when you look like me, you are black" formula.

But, you are off topic.

Has anyone else noticed the 'deafening silence' from the Rev. Al Sharpton since the Jesse gaffe?

When Jesse involved himself with the Rainbow Coalition, Operation PUSH and Operation Breadbasket, he was incredibly respected as a leader. Recently, blacks turned their back on him when he went public trying to get blacks to stop using the N word.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention, UBM. At the convention, Jesse Jackson actually came up to me and thanked me for the "insight" of that piece. Perhaps that means he will take my advice.

But I think part of your premise is wrong. I seriously doubt - nut comment or not- that Jackson would have been asked to speak this time. Edwards, yes. Outside of a CBC tribute to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, nobody representing that generation of Black politics was called to the podium.

Undercover Black Man said...

I seriously doubt - nut comment or not- that Jackson would have been asked to speak this time.

For real? The first serious African-American presidential candidate? It would've seemed perfect to me.

Although, now that I hear you say it, maybe they didn't want to TV audience to lump Barack and Jesse together.