wjr@rayssd.UUCP (01/07/84)
Well...would anybody care to start discussing the political
implications associated with Jesse Jackson and the release
of Goodman?????
a. How will the release effect Jackson's political
campaign??
b. How will the release effect Reagan's campaign??
c. Will the release of Goodman to Jackson give Syria
the needed leverage to get the marines out of
Lebanon??
d. Is Syria attempting a political upset (within our
system) to accomplish (c)??
e. Does the release put Jackson as the "new" DEMOCRATIC
HOPEFULL?????
Reply via net or post your response...Let's go!!
Bill
richard@sequent.UUCP (01/08/84)
I honestly don't believe Jackson stands a chance now, or ever did. There are several reasons for this, and unfortunatly, almost all are because of his skin color. The only reason that might be considered an exception it that he's such a minor player so far - it tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Goodman's release will make Jackson's campaign more visible, but not more sucessful, for the simple reason that there is nothing so special about Jackson that enabled him to get Goodman's release. It was primarily a PR move by Syria intended against Reagen. Other reasons I believe Jackson's campaign doesn't look too good: - Many people believe that, simply because Goodman is a black running for president, that he must be a radical of sorts. It's doubtful that these people have anything against civil rights, but they might want a Prez that concentrates on more "important" things - like the economy or Russians. - The man is a baptist minister. Will this compromise the constitutional separation? - Another major reason - abhorrent as it is - is that there is still a tremendous amount of racial prejudice in this country. It is more subtle, and a good deal of it is unconcious, and it is slowly being removed - but it's there. - One last reason that has nothing to do with the man: The Democratic party is very spread out, and it will be difficult for any one of these lackluster men to beat the lackluster man in office. Jackson winning the nomination would be quite a miracle. Note that these reasons might not apply towards the man running as Veep. I believe it would be a strong sign, and hope it could work. Unfortunately for the demos, Goodman's release will help Reagen in the long run. The presence of a POW in Syria during the coming months would have seriously injured Reagens credibility. And it probably would force him to escalate the fighting (he seems to think that way) - against the wishes a large portion of the people. As it is, there is a small opening for negotiations, which he'll probably blow, but can't hurt. Syria released Goodman in order to make Reagen look bad - and he did look foolish, but who is going to remember that in November? So the ploy may have succeeded, but in the long run may back-fire. The move was probably intended to bring about a change in administration policy, but i believe Reagen is too pig-headed to pay attention. Eventually, a Vietnam-like syndrome will take place that will force us out of (or into a different position within) the conflict. Jackson's light will burn alot brighter for a little while because of this, but the powers-that-be within the demo party will not recognize him as a threat, and therefor he won't be one. Our society is too cynical to accept someone so different on the basis of such a fleeting "heroic" act. From the fingers of the Rider in Black ...!sequent!richard
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (01/09/84)
Please confine this discussion to net.politics. I won't have this flaring up in net.general, net.followup, or net.news, it doesn't belong in any of them. Mark Horton
rkp@drufl.UUCP (Pierce) (01/09/84)
First of all, there is no way the Democratic Party would vote Jesse Jackson as the Presidential candidate (the best he could do is maybe a VP running-mate). And second, I don't think that many people would vote for a candidate that has zero (nil) political experience as an elected official. I see him as the thorn in the side of the Democratic party unless they plan on using Jackson to publicly ridicule Reagan (as he has already done), and then just dump him (Jackson). Waiting for flames, Russ Pierce AT&T Consumer Products