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EDITORIALS & COMMENTS Democrats: Moving Towards Unity! In a most unusual way, the Democratic Party launched its attack on the Republi can Party and the Reagan Administra tion in a first major step toward the November elections. In specific terms, a Southern conservative, a Northern Italian American and a black American each have offered eloquent words of wisdom and advise on what to do and how to defeat Ronald Reagan. Southern conservative Democrat Son * Ernest Hollings of South Carolina dftfcredtiA preface to the Democratic Party Conven tion. In the form of a bluntly worded newspaper article that severely criticize'),' —the Reagan Administration; and more sig nificantly, chastized the Democratic Party for what it has allowed itself to becttfM&iWl1* what it needs to do in order to win November elections. In an eloquently and carefully worded Washington Post article, Sen. Hollings did in fact kick-off the Democratic Party Convention by stating bluntly, “...the good news is that we Democrats can win in November.” He hastily added, however, the bad news is that on the present course, “we won’t.” Hollings’ “we won’t” win arises from his accurate assertion that in 1980 the Demo crats were caught up on a number of single-interest issues as opposed to “ad vancements for the nation as a whole.” In a frontal attack on the Reagan Administration, Hollings said Reagan has a “frontier mentality” and has failed to recognize the role of government in de veloping our nation’s West. Neither has Reagan recognized the role of the federal government in pulling the free market economy from the ashes of the Great De pression in the 1930’s. Hollings’ punch line on the role of govern ment was, “we want our government disciplined enough to live within its means and - competitive enough to protect our standard of living... And while other countries use government to compete and put America at a disadvantage, our President insists on closing government down.” In conclusion, Sen. Hollings admonishes that his Party; that its extreme in nothing but government cannot win against Rea gan’s extreme of no government. There fore, the Democratic Party must do some thing different if it hopes to win in November. Cuomo Sets The Tone! The something different the Democrats must do, if there is to be any hope of winning the White House in November, is the need to reli nk President Reaganwiththedfeasters cf his Administration. His cunning ability to separate himself from the failures of his Administration has been a sustaining force JiMr. Reagan’s popularity. What the Democratic Party needs, and is so well taown by Sen. Hollings, is an alternative to the Reagan Administration and the Res ign movie hero personality. r"~ .. . Tins, then, is the Democratic Party’s challenge in 1964 - an alternative to Mr. Reagan personally and Mr. Reagan politically - that is his policies. If the enlightenment of Sen. Holiings’ challenge was like a tune-up for things to come, it was then fitting and proper that tew York Gov. Mario Cuomo was called ipon to set the tone for the Democratic Fhrty Convention strategy to recapture the ms address to the Convention, Gov. Cuomo called on the 5,000 delegates and alternates, and indeed the nation, in ' sbmewhat the same way Sen. Holiings did, to “look past the glitter, beyond the attack tartUSt erf the Reagan record of social program cuts, the abandonment of public housing, reduced funds for education, an excessive defense budget and large tax breaks for the corporate rich. As if cutting his speech from the same cloth as that of Sen. Holiings, Cuomo skillfully aimed to tarnish the public rela tions program of the Ronald Reagan presidency by stating that “no slick com mercial, no amount of geniality, no ma terial music” could overshadow a fine tuned Democratic Party message if the Party set aside its special interest dif ferences to focus on defeating Reagan. Jackson’s Sermon! It was Hollings who prefaced the direc tion of the Democratic Party Convention and it was Cuomo who set the tone of objective systematic attacks on Reagan as the keynote speaker; but it was Jesse Jackson’s guarded emotional political sermon speech of 50-minutes that moved the National Democratic Party Convention of 5,000 delegates and alternates and un doubtedly the millions of TV viewers to tears as he said, “Please forgive me” for the errors of my head, not my heart.” Then after asking for support for his candidacy, said, “I will be proud to support the nominee at this Convention for the presi dency of the United States” to assure Party unity. Jackson asked the delegates to support him op the first ballot “as a vote for a new direction for hi* Party and this nation; a vote for conscience and conviction.” Undoubtedly, the true character of Jesse Jackson the man was never more clearly stated when he said to national tele vision, “...if in my low moments, in word, deed or attitude, through some error of temper, taste or tone, I have caused anyone discomfort, created pain or revived some one’s fears, that was not my truest self.... please forgive me.” It took courage and character to admit an error before mil lions across the nation. Thus, it was the charisma of the preacher-politician Jesse Jackson, the flamboyant and controversial civil rights leader who sounded the emotional bell to sweep the National Democratic Party to a sense of unity. i j SLACKS HAVE BEEN I » ‘T ' ^ r, JJJ.Z UP 70 US‘ BUCKS who cape about the black FUTURE, TO IMPOSE ORDER WHERE NONE EXISTS TODAY— I* I ^ WE HAVE TO DO IT BECAUSE WE CANNOT ASH OUR OLD PEOPLE TO SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES PASSING THROUGH A GAUNTLET OF MUGGERS. H OODL' COMBS HY MASAZ/VL' , , • - _--*■ -W- - I g--- - ■ . v ‘ Will It Boom? Geraldine Ferraro And The Candidacy What is this country coming to? A woman vice presidential candidate, blacks, gays and women having potential control over the election - this country is coming of age. For the first time in history a woman has been chosen as a running mate on the Democratic ticket. And this woman is Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York. Little is known about this American history maker ex cept that she is from New York, a . Roman Catholic, who supports federal funding . of abortions and twice mar ried. Ferrarojs presence on the Democratic ticket ap pears to offer little h6lp to Mondale on the surface. However, further observa tion reveals that Ferraro’s presence will bridge the gap between. Mondale, young , white men and feminists. For this race no one knows. It is believed that Ferraro’s pre sence will strengthen Mon dale in the Northeast and among liberals. She offers no particular help in the South, except maybe Florida, or in the West, with the exception of California, Oregon and Washington. Places where BSBBHBWp SABRINA JOHNSON ■ mm\z . SKSWPCt ' rows large numbers of women have been elected to public offices. With all this facade or grandure, Ferraro is not ex pected to “pull women” to the polls to vote out of some Susan B. Anthony reasoning of historical pride - not in the multitude that Jesse Jackson pulled the black vote during the Democratic primaries last spring. For the moment the Con gresswoman from Queens is being praised for her strong Catholic faith, her solid fam ily life, her blue-collar roots and herfamily’simmigrant past: in a single phrase - all the things that make her American! The verdict is not in. The professional politicians must face a battle between the minuses and pluses. Hope Sabrina fully, the positive will out weigh the negative. This will take time - the only pro blem being that November is only a few months away and what happens in No vember is built practically upon July’s events. The polling that has taken place or will take place on the subject will not prove ac curate. In the past the ques tion of a female vice presi dential candidate has been theoretical and now so much depends on Ferraro. It is no longer the question of a woman running for Vice President ^it..is the ques tion of Geraldine Ferraro running for Vice President. Traditionally the polls have not offered conclusive evi dence in measuring the po pularity of female candi dates and race relations be cause people are reluctant to openly confess a socially un acceptable prejudice. Women who have shown strong leads in the polls have been found to win elections by slim - very slim mar gins or do not win at all. How the American public will vote is a great my stery and what pollsters find out is not necessarily true. People will tell the pollsters what they think they want to hear instead of what they plan to do. And it is a true fact that some people will not vote for a woman simply because she is a wo man. une poll taken by the New York Times and CBS immediately after the Fer raro announcement showed that 60 percent of those sur veyed thought Monddle chose Ferraro because of pressure from women’s or ganizations and not because of her qualifications. Whe ther or not Ferraro beats the odds is entirely up to her and is based largely on how she campaigns. Her lack of ex perience will only be an issue if she makes it an issue Performance, stamina and wit will be Ferraro’s \ pons in defend!*? her ability. There is in Ferrai but th thusiai The Charlotte Post North Carolina’8 Fastest Growing Weekly 704-376-0496 “The People’s Newspaper’’ 106 Years Of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Editor, Pub. Bernard Reeves Gen. Mgr. Fran Bradley Adv. Mgr. Dannette Gaither Of. Mgr. Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Post Publishing Company, Inc. Main Office: 1531S. Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Second Gass Postage Paid at Charlotte Member, National Newspaper Publishers’ Association • North Carolina Black Publishers Association National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. One Year Subscription Rate One Year - $17.68 Payable In Advance I t rom Capitol HiU Spcctor Places The Preamble Mandates Above Partv By Alfreds L. Madison Special To The Post “To establish Justice, enure do mestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the ge neral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” This statement of the Preamble to the United States Con stitution is taken very seriously by the Junior senator from Pennsyl vania. Senator Arlen Specter who came to the U S. Senate in 1M1 - the first Republican elected Senator in 90 years from Philadelphia - can Just about be called nonpartisan, be came he places the Preamble mandates above Party. Born in Wichita, Kansas, where he remained through high school, Arlen Specter is a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania, ma joring in International Relations and he is a law graduate of Yale University. After serving in the U.8. Air Force and as a member of a prominent law firm, he began his public career His investigations and convictions of the Philadelphia Board of Magistrates, which was highly corrupted, coupled with his prosecution of Teamsters Local 107 officials, for looting the union's treasury and his refmai to accept plea bargaining, caused Specter to be dubbed a tough prosecutor. Mr. Specter fell into disfavor with Philadelphia’s tough police commis sioner, Frink Rizzo, by successfully Prosecuting a policeman who killed a Mack man. Thai again after Mr. Ritzo later became mayor, Spector again brought down Rizzo’s ire on his head when he investigated and secured conviction of some of Rizzo’s top officials, this impres sive District Attorney record re M Alfreds L. Madison suited in his appointment aa counsel to the Warrqn Commission which investigated the assassination of President Kennedy. All of these qualities and human concern*, Arlan Specter brought to the U S Senate. A mediumsiied man with black wAvy hair which £e*not lie flat to hi* bead, and la pcppei-ed with a few strands of gray, he can be seen on the floor, in the many committees on which he serve*, hustling back and forth to them, or busy in hia office Yet, amid all of these activities ho remains p'feasible to the people. *35. specter serves on the Ap propriations Committee, the Sub committee of Agriculture, Ldbor, State, Justice and Commerce Fo reign Operations, Judiciary and Chairman of the District of Colum bia Committee. Serving as a co-chairman of the Senate Northeaat-Mldweat Coali tion, Specter is ajp*~ie gat Fe- ■ deral Government contracts for bu sinesses in his state. As Chairman of the Senate Children’a Caucus, he has held Hearings on child abuse, and imprisonment of juvenile* ~ '/x * Senator Spector, in keeping with hia eagerness for promoting the genera] welfare, has introduced' many bills in the Senate. He and Senator Paula Hawkina have ushered through the Senate Judi ciary the Missing Children’s Assis tance Act In urging passage of a bill to provide $3 million for emergency food and shelter. Senator Spector said, “The issue of homelessness is a multi-faceted subject and the home less is a diverse group." He stated that lack of low income housing, displacement, reduction In social service spending are among the emergency causes. Through the untiring persistence of Arlen Spector, the Senate Ap propriations Subcommittee instruct ed the Minority Business Develop ment Agency to make reopening its Pittsburgh office its prime goal. Spector said, “...at a time when all businesses are finding It difficult to •undve, It seems incredible to me that the Minority Business Devel opment Agency would done its Pittsburgh office, one which is badly needed and which has proved its worth.” Arlen Speotor has proposed the Juvenile Incarceration Protection Act which provents locking juve niles up with adult criminals Through his hard fight the Office Of Juvenile and Delinquency Preven tion, which President Reagan had marked for extinction, was kept in existence. The Senator succeeded in getting the Senate Appropriations Committee to add an additional $9 million to the budget for the literacy and vocational program. Ho strongly emphasised that releasing prisoners who can neither read nor write and without any vocational skills is an Invitation to a life of crime. k V Opportunities Industrial Center, founded by Rev. Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia, received 9100,000 for its Taleqt Search Project through Senator Spector’s efforts. Reauthorization of the Civil Rights Commission which had been sty mied by President Reagan’s firing three commissioners was saved by Senators Spector and Biden. The Biden-Spector compromise, which expanded the Commission to eight members, was accepted by both the White House and civil rights groups. Later the White House reneged on its agreement and insteed robbed the Commission of Its independence. Senator Spector was a strong supporter of the Votii« Rights extension and Martin Luther King birthday holiday. When Jesse Helms was ranting and ravby on the Senate Floor besmirching Dr. King’s reputation, Spector rose and took on Helms, denouncing his ac cusations. Ralph Nease, Executive of Lead ership Conference, Althea Simmons, of the NAACP, and Ronaldo Torres, of the League of United Latin American Citizens are coMtantly sesn conversing with Arlen Spector because they know he will carry the baa for dvU and constitutional rights. - — As Chairman of the District of Columbia Committee, Senator Spec tor feels stronlgy that the District should have home rule. He says the D. C mayor is equivalent to the governor of a state. He believes Washington should be a model city, since its the place where hea* of state visft. He deplores the fact that so many members of Congress are against complete rule Arlen Spector can truly be called the “people’s servant ”
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 19, 1984, edition 1
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