The Politics Of Race

Colin McEnroe, who appears weekdays from 1 to 2 p.m. on WNPR-FM (90.5) writes about the disingenuous leanings of the two major political parties when it comes to fielding candidate diversity.

McEnroe’s Hartford Courant column:

In 1962, Connecticut made history. Gerald Lamb became the first black candidate in the United States to be elected state treasurer. From that, the Democrats drew a weird conclusion: the treasurer should pretty much always be black and nobody else should. That was good news for Henry Parker, Francisco Borges, Joseph Suggs and Denise Nappier who has been state treasurer for exactly as long as the euro has been a currency.

There are some signs that she might retire this year, which could force the Democrats to do something really crazy like draft an African-American state legislator–Gary Winfield? Toni Walker?–to run for lieutenant governor. Madness! A black candidate but not for treasurer? What do you think this is? Illinois?

Connecticut Democrats have never, in hundreds of years, elected a black person to Congress. Connecticut Republicans have, once, 20 years ago: Gary Franks, also his party’s nominee for Senate against Chris Dodd.

One black member of Congress! Alabama has had six. Florida nine. If it makes you feel better, Massachusetts is stalled at one, the Republican U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke. But they’re leading us 1-0 with black governors.

Doesn’t this seem a little weird? We’ve had a black U.S. President!

Full story here.

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4 comments

  1. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, New Haven’s mayor Toni Harp should run for governor. She has serve in the Connecticut’s Senate and as the mayor of New Haven, she has the skills and ability to run and to get things pass through the House and Senate.

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    1. Sure, what you have said time and time again is that the Republican Party doesn’t care about Black people. Harp? I’m convince that you are what Andy Fardy has labeled you. Toni Harp? The State Senator that left behind nothing but red ink after years in the State Senate.

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      1. Joel,

        Toni Harp is a much better Democratic candidate than Joseph P. Ganim. He is a felon convicted of robbing the people he was elected to represent. Ganim made all sorts of promises in 2015, conned a good size chunk of the community with a pseudo admission of guilt before the congregation of of a south end church. That and twenty bucks a vote bought his return to public office. He has not redeemed himself, not by any stretch of the imagination. 

        Cut the bullshit, Joel. 

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  2. Joel, what you don’t understand is the black female voter is the most loyal voter that the Democrats have nationwide and those results werr shown at the two weeks ago nationwide. When the black female voter turnout the make the difference.

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