Only six black senators have served in the United States Senate: three Republicans and three Democrats, including current President Barack Obama. In the current 112th Congress, no United States Senators are black. There is no tangible reason for this disturbing fact, however, some elements are clear and present as to give a possible answer. The premier element is money. Regardless of candidate’s demographic, in order to be a serious general election US Senate candidate you must spend on average 6 million dollars from the date of declaration to your conceivable win. That alone excludes many credible candidates from entering US Senate races. Despite this, a good number of black candidates still are able to have the financial backing to enter a US Senate race. This article will focus on the candidates that did enter and examine the reasons why some won and others did not.
The age-old natural direction is to attribute the lack of black representation in the US Senate to the controversial “Bradley effect”. The Bradley effect is a theory to explain observed discrepancies when a white candidate runs against a black candidate in a statewide election, the white candidate will always surely win. The win based on the fact no state has no more than 35% of its voter population black, and very few blacks win outside majority held black electorate districts. The theory has some legitimacy, however, L. Douglas Wilder for Governor in Virginia, Edward William Brooke for US Senate in Massachusetts, and most notably Barack Obama for US President, defeated their white opponents in grand fashion.
What made Wilder, Brooke, and Obama different from Kendrick Meek who lost his US senate bid in Florida in 2010, Denise Majette who lost her bid for US Senate in Georgia in 2004, and Harold Ford, Jr. who lost his bid for US Senate in Tennessee in 2006? All three losers were credible, popular, congressional representatives prior to their lost. The three even turned out a sizable number of black voters in each race.
To summarize the aforementioned US Senatorial loses; I reference the late rapper Gang Starr’s 1994 hit “Mass Appeal”. The candidates did not have “mass appeal”, meaning when they ran for office, the race of their skin was not a factor for their loss. However, the candidates trying to use their skin color to win their race was a factor for their loss. Meaning, Meek, Majette, Ford, and a host of others have lost statewide races because the overtones of their campaigns were centered on race. All three were US Congressional Democrats from overwhelmingly black districts. Their appeal based on the notion why 80% of Black Americans are Democrats in the first place, that the Democratic Party reflects the interests and priorities of racial minorities. In each of the candidates’ case, all three had congressional records as being “super liberal”, even for Democrat party standards.
As recent as 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. These numbers only increase to the more conservative and moderate end in states such as Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee where Meek, Majette, Ford ran. Few candidates, regardless of party and demographic, are able to win statewide elections based on careers that have been established on being a crusader for the most extreme end of a political ideology.
Additionally, Meek, Majette, Ford, and many other Black Democrats have made careers on racial causes, which is suitable for their majority black congressional races, however, the US Senate must appeal to voters from all demographics, especially to voters who believe race plays no factor in their everyday life. A voter in that sense would find no reason to vote for a candidate whose entire political strategy is off racial rhetoric. White Democratic candidates, notably the Southern United States blue dog Democrat have forged tactics with Democratic Party principals, but in a wider political ideological appeal package, which is needed to win statewide contests.
While running for US President, Barack Obama eloquently gave his famous “race speech” on March 18, 2008, in which he stated race has and always will be a factor in politics, however he will not be running as a black man for President, yet as an American running for President. Obama wisely separated his campaign from racial rhetoric, which help separated him from being a winner and his opponent the loser.
About Trae Lewis
I disagree with your inclusion of Harold Ford, Jr. in this discussion, who is one of my favorites, by the way. Harold Ford, Jr., a member of the Blue Dog Coalition in a liberal district that does not like Blue Dogs, has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 23.22 (http://www.conservative.org/ratings/ratingsarchive/2006/2006house.htm). That is hardly, “being “super liberal”, even for Democrat party standards,” especially when the all-Democratic Massachusetts delegation consistently rates in the zeros year in and year out.