The Quiet Thaw

October 14, 2008 2:59 AM

NYT: A new generation of black elected officials are wooing white voters and winning local elections in predominantly white districts across the country.
posted by chuckdarwin (29 comments total)

thanks gwen ifill!

OT: the quiet sun :P
posted by kliuless at 3:46 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Whoa and the lead-in is a name I've been seeing all over town. I didn't know there was even a single black person in Brookline (or all the rest of NH for that matter).
posted by DU at 4:35 AM on October 14, 2008

New York Times trend piece alert.
posted by srboisvert at 4:41 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

If I could vote here in Japan (which will never happen), and if there was a black person running for office here (which, um, will never happen) I'd damn sure vote for said black person. And I ain't afraid to say it, it would be precisely BECAUSE HE OR SHE IS BLACK.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:16 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

I know that Newark, NJ isn't predominantly white, but let me just say that Cory Booker (current mayor of Newark) is totally awesome and I hope he's President some day.
posted by billysumday at 5:22 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

New York Times trend piece alert.

Yes, and once again the NYT is behind the curve!
posted by Pollomacho at 5:31 AM on October 14, 2008

See, 'coz white people vote like this, but black people vote like this, amirite?
posted by kcds at 5:48 AM on October 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

New York Post trend piece alert.
posted by sondrialiac at 5:57 AM on October 14, 2008

Due to generous social policies, the city of Nellyville has elected black officials for years now, and no one has reported on it.
posted by geoff. at 6:05 AM on October 14, 2008

what will david brooks say about it, tho?
posted by yonation at 6:56 AM on October 14, 2008

So now black people are taking over politics too? It wasn't enough to own football, baseball (until the Latinos took that one over), basketball, golf, and tennis? Politics too? The only sport left for white people is hockey.

What's next, homosexuals in broadway productions?
posted by Mister_A at 7:00 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

See, 'coz white people vote like this, but black people vote like this, amirite?

The same?
posted by jnaps at 7:19 AM on October 14, 2008

Do we know enough about them?
posted by Artw at 7:39 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

what about us browns?
posted by infini at 8:24 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Cleveland already has a mayor.
posted by jonmc at 8:37 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

I get the point and all, but the example of Mrs. Levesque is kind of weak. She is in a predominantly white district, who else is she going to court for votes but the voters in her district? Also, she is in the relatively liberal east. This article would have been more compelling to me if she was in, say, the deep south or Idaho. I get the feeling from the piece that Levesque is just the best candidate in the district.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 8:38 AM on October 14, 2008

It's about time someone made up for Ken Blackwell, that asshole. In case you're too lazy to click:

Blackwell gained national prominence for his dual roles as Chief Elections Official of Ohio and honorary co-chair of the "Committee to re-elect George W. Bush" during the 2004 election. Allegations of conflict of interest and voter disenfranchisement led to the filing of at least sixteen related lawsuits naming Blackwell. [snip] Blackwell was also named in a 2006 lawsuit related to his office's public disclosure of the Social Security numbers of Ohio residents.

I hate that guy. And I haven't even gotten into his "you can't register to vote, your paper is the wrong weight" crap.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 8:54 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

So I guess we can add "black people" to "Stuff White People Like"
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:10 AM on October 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

I think I speak for us all when I say, "at least it's not the damn Latvians."
posted by Mister_A at 9:48 AM on October 14, 2008

The country?!
posted by BobsterLobster at 10:14 AM on October 14, 2008

Fixed for BobsterLobster:

NYT: A new generation of black elected officials are wooing white voters and winning local elections in predominantly white districts across a country.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:38 AM on October 14, 2008

A new generation of black elected officials, many of whom are cat-owning heterosexuals, are wooing white voters and winning local elections in predominantly white districts across the country.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:03 AM on October 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

I thought all whites were racist?
posted by Senator at 12:21 PM on October 14, 2008

They like black people in a racist way.
posted by Artw at 12:45 PM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Black is the new black.
posted by dhartung at 1:45 PM on October 14, 2008

I don't like all black people, let me tell you. However, I am not all white either. I like Will Smith, he seems nice.
posted by Mister_A at 1:47 PM on October 14, 2008

The only sport left for white people is hockey.

Jarome Iginla is actually still playing, you know…
posted by oaf at 2:28 PM on October 14, 2008

The Quiet Thaw

Good title for this post and heartening news.
posted by nickyskye at 7:26 PM on October 14, 2008

I get the feeling from the piece that Levesque is just the best candidate in the district.

But she's black, so I'm sensing a trend!
posted by DU at 7:36 AM on October 15, 2008