Duh !!!!!

Braun’s defeat signals end of black power movement in Chicago
Carol Moseley Braun’s stunning defeat signals the end of the black political empowerment movement in Chicago.  And the end wasn’t pretty.  Rahm Emanuel won big in predominantly black wards across the city, just as Mayor Daley did when a black candidate dared run against him. In fact, Braun, with 9 percent of the vote, fared worse against Emanuel than any black challenger did against Daley: R. Eugene Pincham (25.1 percent) in 1991; Roland Burris (36.3 percent) in 1995; Bobby Rush (28.1 percent) in 1999; Paul Jakes (14 percent) in 2003, and Dorothy Brown (20.1 percent) in 2007.  But the strategy of bloc voting based on race changed dramatically when Barack Obama was elected president. Although Obama was loathe to talk about race, black people understood the significance of electing the first black man to the highest political office in the country.

Obama didn’t have to say anything. He just had to be. And from that point on, race became a bad word in elections. Although Braun accepted the consensus candidate mantle bestowed upon her by a coalition of black business and civic leaders, clergy and activists, the role never fit.  She was clearly uncomfortable framing the mayoral contest in racial terms. In fact, she waited until a week before the election to accuse Emanuel of having a disappointing voting record with respect to issues supported by the Congressional Black Caucus.

By then it was too late for that information to be evaluated by media and voters, particularly since Braun could not raise the money to put ads on commercial television.
Braun’s past achievement of becoming the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate made her a superstar. And under normal circumstances, that accomplishment might have taken her quite far.  But in this race, Braun faced a new kind of superstar — one that had the tacit endorsement of a man whose photograph is hanging up in a lot of black households alongside photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Harold Washington and John F. Kennedy.

Unfortunately, the important lessons that black stakeholders should have learned from Harold Washington’s historic campaign were forgotten.  Before Washington’s name even became public, people met behind closed doors and decided among themselves who had the best chance of winning City Hall. No one had to declare Washington the black candidate. Black people knew that he represented them. Black voters weren’t sure who Braun was representing, and she was unable to bridge the gap between professional and working-class blacks, or even inspire impoverished Chicagoans that she could help improve the quality of their lives.

But when only 40 percent of registered voters turn out to vote in an election seen throughout this country as historic, then the failure is not just the candidate.  Black politicians, business leaders and activists who claim to have influence in this city were either standing with Braun and quietly supporting Emanuel, or voter apathy in black wards was just too much for Braun to overcome.

In any case, Emanuel did exactly what he was supposed to do. He took his campaign to every neighborhood — even those where he was greeted by protesters.  The lessons black politicians can take away from Braun’s miserable loss is the same as it has always been: Black voters matter, and you’ve got to be able to raise money.  Black voters turned out in a mighty big way for Emanuel. They didn’t turn out for Braun. After all the fuss, in the end, being the “consensus” candidate meant nothing.  You never hear Toni Preckwinkle arguing like Todd Stroger did, that its hard for a black person in an office if high importance to get stuff done.  Stroger declined to respond from his place in the unemployment line over by the Harold's on 111th