This is “pre Internet” history and got next to no national media coverage at the time for reasons that will become obvious as I retell the story.
It was the middle 1980s… 1986 to be exact, the State of Michigan was firmly in the control of Democrats, primarily the Teacher Unions, trial lawyers and government employees, with significant support from the auto related labor unions. James Blanchard was finishing up his first term of Governor, amid a fair amount of ridicule for doing things like using a State operated helicopter to ferry himself to the State Mansion, which is maybe a mile away from the State Capital in Lansing – Lansing is a small town relatively speaking.
For whatever reasons, the Republican Party in Michigan decided it would be a good idea to find a Black candidate (“African American” didn’t exist yet). Bill Lucas had been in the FBI, and then Sheriff and County Executive of Wayne County (the County that includes Detroit). He had been a Democrat up until this election.
Either the Republican party felt racial guilt or maybe a few true believers thought that the million blacks inside the city of Detroit living on various types of government handouts would suddenly vote for a Republican if they saw a black face on TV. Bill Lucas lost 68% to 32%. White Republicans didn’t trust him, and blacks did not vote for him.
This bone-headed decision left Michigan under Democratic Party leadership for another 4 years during which the descent into economic destruction picked up pace – especially inside the city of Detroit. It would be four years before the Republican John Engler took over the Governor’s job and started to reverse the mistakes during Democratic Party Rule.
The reason I’m dredging up this old story is that Herman Cain, the black talk radio host on Cox Radio’s WSB in Atlanta has left his job in radio, reportedly to pursue running for President in 2012 as a Republican. Look for lots of cash showing up in his coffers from George Soros and friends. There is nothing positive about this news. The Cox family has a long history of support of the Democratic party, not the least being that Mr Cox was FDR’s running mate as Vice President in 1920.
It would be nice if some day people didn’t look at race when choosing leaders, but the election of 2008 proved beyond any doubt that America ain’t there yet. We truly live in two different Americas, and Mr Cain’s campaign is only going to ensure that Barack Obama gets another four years and the DNC will have decades of material for tons of videos to stir up race based anger in the future, even if they have to send stooges in to pretend to be racist white people.
Herman Cain, you are no Alan Keyes.
