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Black Student Movement Official Newspaper
The University of North CaroUna at Chapel Hill
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Vokime XIX, Number 3
December 5, 1988
The Effects of Jesse Jackson’s Candidacy
on the American Electorate
By Terrence E. Garrison
Jesse Jackson’s bid for the Presiden
cy has caused many changes in the elec
torate of America. His candidacy has
altered the perceptions of American
voters and created changes in the racial
composition and political ideology of
the Democratic Party and, to a small
extent, the Republican Party. These
changes have manifested themselves in
many ways over the past five years.
The most obvious result of Jesse
Jackson’s campaign for the Presidency
is the increase in voter registration and
participation. His 1984 bid led to
registration of two million new voters
and inspired people who would not
have wanted to vote. As a result of this
increase of registered voters, four
Democratic Senators were elected and
the number of Black elected officials
rose ten percent. In 1986, Blacks carried
the winning vote which elected six new
Democratic Senators and four more
Blacks to Congress thus giving control
of the House and Senate to the
Democrats. This same block of voters
enabled the Democrats to m2iintain their
control of this year’s election.
In 1988 Jesse Jackson once again
demonstrated his ability to bring people
together in a unified effort. He
sucessfully garnered support from
Blacks (persistently hovering in the
range of 95% to 97%), Jews, Asians,
Arabs, Latinos, homosexuals, peace ac
tivists and many farmers. In fact,
Jackson’s share of the White vote rose
from 7% in 1984 to nearly 20% this
year. His appeal to voters of different
ethnic backgrounds was evident in tha
participation of Blacks, Indians, Orien
tals and others in this year’s Democratic
Convention. Twenty-three percent of
the delegates were Black and 70 percent
“first-generation” delegates. It should
be noted, also, that delegates were both
young and old and that Jackson won
the young vote (18-24) overwhelmingly.
Jackson’s success in bringing out the
minority vote and increasing minority
participation was not the result of heavy
spending or advertising, but the result
of grass-roots organization and support
from Black professionals and a few pro
minent White Democrats. His can
didacy spurned and organization of
grass-roots supporters and prominent
Black Democrats such as Willie Brown,
California Assembly Speaker and
Jackson’s National Campaign Director;
and U.S. Senator William Gray. Also
supporting Jackson were Gerald
Austin, a Jewish political consultant,
and Bert Lance, former Director of the
Office of Management and Budget for
the Carter administration. Jackson’s
diverse group of supporters was suc
cessful in creating grass-roots support in
many different ethnic communities.
Despite Jackson’s claim that, “the
Democratic Party must realize that the
dayfr of counting on the Black vote in
advance are over,” many prominent
Blacks such as Mayor Andrew Young
of Atlanta and Detroit Mayor Cole-
mean Young have refused to support
Jackson. They contend that a Black
rurming for President is merely sym
bolic, unrealistic and greatly limits the
influence of Blacks in the two-party
system. This is true given the fact that
the overwhelming majority of Blacks,
because of Jesse Jackson, voted for
Mike Dukakis. This imlies, that since
Dukakis lost the election, there is a
trend toward Whites voting Republican
and Blacks (the minority) voting
Democratic. Many people argue that
Jackson is the cause of racial polariza
tion and that, furthermore, his “Hymie
Town” remark and inadequate denial
of Louis Farrakhan has served to divide
the Black and Jewish community,
which have been consistently supportive
of one another. This racial polarization
has led some Blacks such as Leonar
Fulani, founder of the New Alliance
Party and Howard Clement III, Black
Republican Council Memeber of
Durham, N.C., to think that the days of
the Democratic Party taking the “Black
Vote” for granted are not over. These
claims have in turn given incentive to
many White Republican politicians to
“go for the Black vote” and some
Blacks to consider the Republican or
third party alternatives.
Without a doubt, Jesse Jackson’s
historic bid for President of the United
States has had positive and negative ef
fects on the American electorate. He
has increased American voters’
awareness of low income housing shor
tage, the homeless, drug abuse, teenage
pregnancy, and Apartheid while at the
same time alienating Jews from their
historic relation to Blacks of the Civil
Rights Era. He has registered milUons
of voters, thus giving the “winning
edge” to Democratic candidates for the
House and Senate while alienating
Blacks from the Republican Party and
vice-versa. However, the most impor
tant and lasting effect of Jesse
Jackson’s Presidential campaign is the
change in oublic perception and expec
tation of the American electorate of a
Black Presidential candidate. Because
of Jesse Jackson, Blacks seeking high
political office will be taken more
seriously in the future.
Andrew Young at UNO
See Page 3
[2\ Black Women United
[3] BSM’s20«>
Q Pauli Murray
Year Abroad Program
[6] Why Choose UNC?
Cultural Calendar
[s] Academic Freedom
& Dissent
Thurgood Marshall
[i^ Controlled Ramblings
111] McKinley Interview
m Editorial