In many ways, this has been a difficult time for Blacks who believe that a presidential election is an opportunity for policy accountability that must be taken advantage of, because they are afraid that such policy demands would be seen by potential White
In many ways, this has been a difficult time for Blacks who believe that a presidential election is an opportunity for policy accountability that must be taken advantage of because they are afraid that such policy demands would be seen by potential white voters as Blacks playing on a racial connection that they might resent and use to vote against Barack Obama.
But if Obama wins, it would seem to me that the process of agenda presentation to the new president should begin and the immediate opportunity will be the transition period from the end of the election on November 5 to the point at which he takes office on January 20.
By law, both of the major candidates have met with George Bush and covered such issues as: what federal financial and other resources are available to the winner of the election, what responsibility the sitting president has to assist the winner, when and how the sitting president should vacate the White House, etc.
Then, each of the candidates has met with their own staffs to begin the internal transition process. And while John McCain has given minimal attention to the Transition, preferring to spend his meager resources on the campaign, Barack Obama has begun an extensive process that has taken into consideration, the logistical issues discussed with Bush and also the personnel who will run key initial functions of government and the issues they will begin to address.
The Transition train is moving very fast now with respect to how the Obama government will be structured and the New York Times recently proposed a lineup of probable appointees to posts such as: White House chief of staff and the secretaries of treasury, defense, state and the president’s national security adviser featured three candidates none of whom were African-American with the sole exception of Susan Rice for national security adviser.
And while there may be some African- Americans being considered for other agencies, my distinct impression is that the cadre of close policy advisers who are African- American is thin as witnessed by the surrogates who have participated in various policy discussions on behalf of the campaign.
On the issue front, the Obama campaign has presented several policy issues that have been close to those that feature either barriers or opportunities for the Black community. They are social policies such as K-12 education, higher education, universal health care, urban policy, job training and development using the environmental engine and infrastructure repair.
These and other initiatives are promising which, together with the passage of a substantial Stimulus Package, will help to begin the change toward human development policy that is needed by the middle class and poor, Black, white and otherwise.
The concern I have heard is whether Black leaders will attempt to work within the transition process, which would be a natural move, or would there be a continued attempt to keep them at arms length in order to construct a “raceneutral” style of governance.
Then there is also concern that the specific issues that are of prime interest to the Black community will be received by the transition process. It would appear that the transition period would be an important time to test these assumptions rather than hanging back and celebrating while the governing structure and agenda of the President are being set in stone.
I remember that when Blacks helped elect Jimmy Carter, contrary to all signs that Carter was not a Lyndon Johnson, Black leaders stood by for over a year without making any demands upon his administration until Vernon Jordan who was then head of the Urban League said at a press conference, “Where’s the beef?”
Now is not the time to sit and wait. With the massive problems confronting the nation and therefore, the president, if Black leaders do not signal their concerns early in the formation of the administration, the policies of those who need government most could be put under a pile in the Oval Office.
In response to a question in the last debate about their priorities, Barack Obama himself said that presidents had to do more than one thing at a time. So we should be confident in putting forth the Black agenda now that we will not be asking one or two years out, “Where’s the beef?”
Ron Walters is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Director of the African American Leadership Center and Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland College Park.
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