The O(bama) Factor: Bring on the Political Pundits

2008-03-25
By Ronda Racha Penrice

If you’ve caught CNN during past elections, you’ve noticed a welcomed change in this one. CNN has had Black folks in their political expert mix in the past, but never to this degree. With Barack Obama’s historic presidential run, gone are the days, at least for this election, of one, maybe two at the most, African American political pundits weighing in on the political landscape. During this election, there have been times when as many as three, four, even five Black faces have been among the experts, especially on primary days, during the same broadcast at that.

Without a doubt, their ability to discuss the general political landscape, as well as the African American community, make these experts especially desirable. Too often, as we have witnessed once again during “Wrightgate”, the media’s much ado about nothing, so many white folks are clueless when it comes to us. Such realities, however, often become tremendous opportunities for people of color. On this issue, CNN’s Roland Martin has been working overtime.

It’s not a stretch to say that the former executive editor of the historic Chicago Defender, who hosts his own show on Chicago’s Black talk radio station WVON, knows Chicago and the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright better than any other CNN correspondent. When CNN signed him up shortly after Obama announced his candidacy, they never imagined Martin would be this valuable. The great thing is, he’s not the only one on board.

Republican strategist Amy Holmes is a young woman who has become a fixture on CNN, as well as Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO’s weekly political hour. (You might recall Bill Maher hosted Politically Incorrect on ABC until comments regarding 9/11 got him kicked off.) Holmes may be a Republican but she doesn’t blindly accept all things Republican. On CNN, especially, she’s offered much thoughtful commentary on Obama.

Jamal Simmons is new to the regular rotation. A political insider who graduated from Morehouse and received his M.A. from Harvard, Simmons, a veteran of several presidential campaigns, including Wesley Clark’s, Al Gore’s and Bill Clinton’s, has been riding hard with Obama. On Larry King’s long-running talk show, he’s represented the young 20ish to 30ish perspective. How often have you seen a brother that young spotlighted for politics?

During a March 7 broadcast, Simmons was the only splash of color among the grouping of political strategists, but he didn’t let Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway’s comment that ‘while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were arguing about whether she should let him sit on the back of the bus of her presidential ticket’ go unchallenged. Although it’s inconceivable that Conway would have used such terminology if Obama were not Black, it’s even more disturbing that the incidents that have occurred since make her comments appear viable. Without Simmons on that broadcast, who would have stepped up?

It would be a disservice not to mention Donna Brazile because we almost never see a senior stateswoman who is African American. Brazile comes by her expertise honestly, even serving as Al Gore’s campaign manager during the now infamous 2000 presidential election. She’s all over CNN but also shows up regularly on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. When she’s not there, there’s usually no color in the room.

Aside from her considerable expertise, Brazile’s colorful phrasing, no doubt a byproduct of her New Orleans upbringing, is a welcomed respite from the dull drum rhetoric that often thrives in the political arena. For example, while commenting on Obama’s speech, you know the one on race prompted by Rev. Wright’s “alarming” comments, with CNN’s Campbell Brown March 18, Brazile addressed those who Obama will never satisfy. “There are people,” she said so eloquently, “who love sowing seeds of division so they can reap the harvest of polarization.” Following the Mississippi primary, when Caucasian pundits tried to chalk Obama’s overall primary success up to the African American vote, she reminded them that Wyoming is about as white as it gets and he won there.

These have been the primary four but their voices are not the only ones. Whoopi Goldberg is so missed whenever she’s not on The View. Whether you agree or disagree with her, you have to appreciate that she backs her arguments up with facts and is still open to hearing alternative viewpoints. Former Virginia governor and current mayor of Richmond, L. Douglas Wilder, as well as current Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, both Obama supporters, pop up on various networks and shows.

The media honeymoon is definitely over for Barack Obama, but not all good things end. As the Pennsylvania primary on April 22 draws nearer, political conjecture regarding how the media frenzy surrounding Reverend Dr. Wright’s sermons will affect Obama is at an all-time high. There’s no way to predict how Obama will fare, but the Vegas odds that our own political pundits will weigh in on the outcome are better than ever.

Veteran freelance writer and self-diagnosed television junkie Ronda Racha Penrice is the author of African American History For Dummies, which includes a chapter on film/television.