Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 3-15-19

Political News
Dems Select Milwaukee For 2020 National Convention
Some Democrats In 2020 Campaign Reaching Out To Rural Areas
Deanna Miller Berry
doesn’t often see presidential candidates. So when New Jer- sey Sen. Cory Booker re- cently came to Bamberg County, South Carolina, she was primed to unload about a contaminated water system.
“What is your plan to fix it?” Berry asked, her eyes nar- rowed.
Booker, former mayor of Newark, the largest city in the most densely populated state, assured Berry he cares about the 3,000 residents of Den- mark, South Carolina. “This is a time in America where too many people are feeling left out, left behind, not included,” he said, promising “a massive infrastructure investment” tar- geting “forgotten” places.
The exchange highlights the effort by Democratic presiden- tial candidates to make inroads in rural America. With the first contests unfolding next year in South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire, small-town voters will play a critical role in choosing the next Democratic nominee. And the early atten- tion could help the eventual nominee be more conversant on rural issues and compete for votes in places that gave Pres- ident Donald Trump his most intense support in 2016 .
“Organizing in every precinct is the key to winning both the caucus and the gen- eral election in Iowa,” Iowa
Sen. Cory Booker speaking to constituents.
Democratic Chairman Troy Price said.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lamented rural de- cline during an Iowa swing this weekend.
“All over America, we have tragically seen more and more young people leave the small towns they grew up in, the small towns they love, because there are no decent-paying jobs in those towns — we in- tend to change that,” Sanders said, drawing cheers at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
At the same time, California Sen. Kamala Harris was in small-town South Carolina ad- vocating more spending on telemedicine, broadband inter- net and infrastructure.
Booker used his two-day rural swing last month to talk health care, housing, infra- structure and criminal justice, among other issues.
New York Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand was the first can- didate who ventured to rural northern New Hampshire.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has already vis- ited a tiny town in Wisconsin, which will be a general election battleground.
Several candidates plan to attend a March 30 rural issues forum at Buena Vista Univer- sity in Storm Lake, Iowa — population 10,600.
The approach matters most immediately because the delegates necessary to become the nominee are awarded in part from primary and caucus results in individual congres- sional districts, even the most rural and Republican-leaning. But investing there also could narrow Republicans’ general election margins, by increasing turnout among Democratic- friendly constituencies like rural black and Latino voters or peeling off white voters or both.
That could flip states like Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina — even Florida — that propelled Trump to an Electoral College majority. Be- sides helping win the presi- dency, rural gains would be necessary for Democrats to have the muscle on Capitol Hill to enact the kinds of sweeping policy changes they are advo- cating on many fronts.
“So much of this is about the margins,” Iowa’s Price said.
Democrats selected Mil- waukee to host their 2020 na- tional convention Monday, setting up the party’s 2020 standard-bearer to accept the presidential nomination in the heart of the old industrial belt that delivered Donald Trump to the White House.
Democratic National Com- mittee Chairman Tom Perez chose Milwaukee over Hous- ton and Miami after delibera- tions lingered longer than party leaders or officials from the three finalist cities had ex- pected.
The convention is scheduled for July 13-16, 2020.
It will be the first time in over a century that Democrats will be in a Midwest city other than Chicago to nominate their presidential candidate. In- stead, the political spotlight will shine for a week on a metro area of about 1.6 million people. Once dubbed as “The Machine Shop of the World,” the famously working-class city also is known for its long love affair with beer and as the birthplace of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Republicans are set to gather in Charlotte, the largest city in battleground North Car- olina, on Aug. 24-27, 2020.
Democrats see plenty of sym- bolism in Milwaukee after a bitter 2016 election defined by Hillary Clinton being nearly swept in what her campaign aides had confidently called a
“Blue Wall” across the upper Midwest and Great Lakes re- gion. That band of states twice sided with President Barack Obama, but Clinton held only Minnesota, ceding Wis- consin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — a combined 64 of the necessary 270 electoral votes — as white working-class voters flocked to Trump.
The president won Wis- consin and its 10 electoral votes by about 23,000 votes out of almost 3 million cast, the first time since 1984 that Re- publicans claimed the state in a presidential election. After- ward, Clinton took withering criticism for not once visiting Wisconsin as a general election candidate.
Since then, Wisconsin vot- ers have re-elected Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, ousted Republican Gov. Scott Walker in favor of Democrat Tony Evers and the state’s first black lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes.
“A lot people feel that we lost (in 2016) because this area had been ignored — whether it’s from a political standpoint or whether it’s from a govern- ing standpoint,” said Barnes, one of the members of the con- vention bid committee. Hold- ing the convention in Milwaukee, Barnes added, says “we are ready to reinvest in the Midwest, that the Mid- west matters again.”
Massive Michelle Obama Poster To Benefit Minnesota Girls
Ahead of former first lady Michelle Obama’s book tour stop in St. Paul this week, one fan is going all out ahead of her visit.
At Sheletta Brundidge’s Cottage Grove home, Obama’s influence is hard to miss.
“I got the Michelle Obama shoes, the Michelle Obama shirt, the Michelle Obama jacket, I got purses, I got hats, I got all that,” said Brundidge. “But my friends in Houston called to taunt me because they commissioned a mural on the side of a building there.”
Refusing to be outdone, Brundidge spent three days calling muralists across the metro to paint a design featur- ing Obama on her home. She ended up buying a 17-by-7 foot Michelle Obama poster, which now covers the front of her home.
“I don't have a mural, but I have a poster, and bam - I'm still number one fan,” smiled Brundidge.
On hand to watch the
“Minnesota Loves Michelle” poster go up were members of Girls in Action, a Twin Cities group that works to empower young girls.
“We teach our girls they are valuable, lovable, important and extremely powerful, and [Obama] embodies all of that,” said Dr. Verna Price, the founder of Girls in Action.
Brundidge hopes to do- nate the poster to Girls in Ac- tion for the fundraiser in May, but as word gets out, she’s hop- ing for a special visit by Obama herself.
“Wouldn’t that be awe- some if Mrs. Obama would
come by the house and sign the poster, so that we can auction it off and help Dr. Verna and her Girls in Action program?” said Brundidge. “That would be a blessing to this program.”
Dr. Price says if Obama stops by, she would want the participants of Girls in Action to sign it with her.
Obama will be speaking at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday at 8 p.m. as part of her book tour.
The Girls in Action "I Am" fundraiser takes place May 3rd at the Northwest Marriott in Brooklyn Park from 7:30-9:30 a.m.
PAGE 2-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2019