Carol Chumney Can Not Be Elected Mayor
Recently, a friend of mine made a point about the 9th congressional race and its implications on the mayor’s race next year. While the political environment of Memphis will allow Cohen to be elected to congress, it will not tolerate Carol Chumney or any other white candidate to be elected mayor as well. I completely agree with this. To have white politicians hold both the 9th congressional seat and the mayor would be unacceptable for the vast majority of African American voters. I actually hope no white candidates get in the mayor’s race, not Jack Sammons, John Vergos, some eye doctor, or Carol Chumney.
Unfortunately, Chumney has already entered the race and all I have to say about that is that she is fucking up the program. Herenton has to go. With Chumney in the race after a Cohen victory, it will polarize the electorate. In addition, a lot of people whose opinion I respect say Chumney is not a good administrator and would pick Herenton over her in a one-on-one race. I’m inclined to believe them after what Chumney said at that Living Wage rally several months back. I’m sorry Chumney but you aren’t going to be mayor. Whenever Herenton does leave office and for whatever reason, Deidre Malone is on deck. The magic 8-ball says Chumney does not have a chance against her.
I hope that there is a sit down at some point in the next few months and a qualified, African American candidate can be chosen. (That isn’t Ricky Peete.)
posted by polar donkey at 2:29 PM
7 Comments:
That sit-down thing sounds like the coin-flipping, straw-drawing, paying people to get out of races thing that helped get us fouled up.
I don't think your call on what Memphians of African descent will tolerate or not tolerate justifies depriving all of us of an open contest where the polls and not the back rooms decide.
4:28 PM
Carol is a great person and an astute observer of current events. She is not mayoral material. She is too quick to make noise without true clout to follow up. She can be arbitrary on issues. She is not a team player. She cannot lead. She cannot build consensus. Until she has built a record of success on local issues, she will merely be an irritant for the city council. She is still too marginal and insignificant for an overall effect in City politics. I look forward to seeing her grow as a local politician.
9:31 PM
I know many Black candidates are planning to run for mayor and with the split there's more than a good admount of people voting for Carol because of her knowledge of the city and state plus she already has many blacks lined up to vote for her. Her current ability to get much passed at city hall is only blocked by the council and the Herenton members Carol has much to offer the city if she waited another 4 years to run she might be considered part of the problem like
Barbara Holt. I Think the reason she threw her hat into the ring so early is
to raise money early. Overall I See her having the best chance so far to unseat Herenton.
2:47 PM
Polar you have some strange thinking and I know Carol is and excellent Manager or she wouldn't have made it through all those years in the state and as a chair and they said she couldn't get elected to the city either but she did. I think she
is the most progressive and the most honest out of anyone mentioned.
2:53 PM
Well, until someone tells me who IS qualified to run for mayor and won't polarize the electorate, I don't see any value to calling for Chumney to bow out.
I'm with winter when says that back rooms shouldn't be the place where candidates are chosen. Call me crazy but I still think that the voting booth is where that should happen. Or have we all forgotten how Rosalind Kurita was forced out?
And I respect the hell out of the Donkey but I don't know that I agree with his thoughts here. Depending on Cohen's numbers when he wins, I think we may find that the electorate around here may have wisened (wizened?).
A Ford name may not buy as much as used to around here. I'll wait for Cohen's numbers.
And anecdotally, (sp?) I have heard numerous african-americans expressing outrage with Herenton and while that may not affect their racial preferences for mayor, I don't think his re-election is a certainty.
9:41 AM
I disagree, Chumney is exactly what the city needs!
6:02 PM
Since this was written in October, before the general election, I'll have to disagree with what you (or your friend) said. Remember that it wasn't the "political environment" that "allowed" Cohen to be elected in the primary. It was a vast splitting of the Black vote in addition to a vast consolidation of the White vote that allowed Cohen to win the primary. Much is made of who African Americans will vote for and the fuss that was made during the Congressional race, but one of the reasons to think of Chumney as a spoiler is to validate the idea that Whites tend to vote for White candidates which doesn't get discussed near as much as the other way around.
4:12 PM
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