But personally, I think that the divisions in the Congressional Black Caucus over the endorsements of members in the race for the Democrat presidential nomination isn't a bad thing.

Even though Barack Obama may become the first African-American ever to represent a major party as the nominee for president, many black lawmakers on Capitol Hill are not supporting him. And thatÂ’s creating tensions within the Congressional Black Caucus.

More than a third of the black members of Congress are backing Hillary Rodham Clinton or John Edwards in the presidential primary, a stance that puts them at odds with many of their African-American constituents, who, recent polls show, are beginning to shift to ObamaÂ’s camp.

The Clinton supporters — among them, civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) — have said their endorsements didn’t hinge on race. Instead, they cited long-standing relationships with the Clintons, a respect for Hillary Clinton’s experience in national politics and, for some, geographical alliances with her in New York.

But now that Obama has won the Iowa caucuses and appears poised to do well in other early-primary states, some African-American lawmakers are pointing to the Clinton backers and calling them political opportunists who did not believe in the electability of a black candidate.

Why do I see this sort of split as positive? Not because of its potential to help Republicans. Instead, I think it is a positive thing that we are not seeing "black leaders" and (by extension) "the black community" thinking and speaking and acting in unison. African-Americans are rational thinkers with diverse points of views -- they can, should, and ought to differ among themselves on who they support for the presidency. There is no reason that they ought to vote in lock-step for Barack Obama, or for any other candidate for office. I'm hopeful that this may herald the end of skin-tone based politics and lead to a flowering of true political debate and diversity of political behavior among African-Americans -- because I believe that will result in policies better for African-Americans and all Americans rather than seeing the black vote be the monolithic property of one wing of one party.

Posted by: Greg at 11:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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