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Mr. President, Cousin Pookie needs a job
November 5, 2009
Mr. President, Cousin Pookie needs a job
Posted: 01:00 PM ET
Campbell Brown Blog - Staff
Filed under: Barack Obama • Commentary
By Roland S. Martin
CNN Political Contributor
Editor's note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Visit his Web site for more information.
When President Barack Obama traveled to Virginia to try to resuscitate the deplorable campaign of gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, he invoked a familiar nickname in black America: Cousin Pookie.
All kinds of people have nicknames, whether they are white, black, Hispanic or Asian. In black America, I’ve heard ‘em all: Pookie, Ray-Ray, Moochie, Big Man, Little Man, you name it.
So when President Obama invokes Cousin Pookie, that’s one of those signals to African Americans to go and get their friend who is unlikely to even know there is an election coming up.
"Go out and get your cousin, who you had to drag to the polls last November, Cousin Pookie," the president told the audience in Norfolk, Va.
He knew Deeds needed a large black turnout to have a chance of winning. But even the exhortations of Obama couldn’t do it for Deeds, a rather boring candidate who ran away from the president early in the campaign, but called on him late, hoping for some Obama magic at the end.
Now, I’m with the president on getting Pookie, Ray-Ray or anyone off the couch to vote, whether you have a job or not. Watching the pathetic turnout in Memphis, Houston, Detroit, Atlanta, Greensboro, North Carolina, and elsewhere had me hopping mad. Others have died for us to have the right to vote, and Americans, regardless of ethnicity, just sit on their butts and do nothing. But they will complain in a heartbeat!
The fundamental issue that came out of Tuesday’s election was that voters nationwide really aren’t going bananas about healthcare reform, keeping a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, or Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s all about J-O-B-S. A year ago it was anger at President George W. Bush for everything. Today, it’s the inability to get P-A-I-D.
Pookie, Ray-Ray, Lisa, Kim, Tom, Jim, Hector, Jesus and Junebug are all out of work, and they are depressed and ticked off. And like it or not, those in power will get the blame and must the bear the brunt of people’s anger.
What’s interesting is that exit polling data shows that people said that President Obama had nothing to do with the local races. The White House used that as their main talking point. But while voters may like him personally, trust me, Obama and the Democratic Party will pay dearly for the economic condition of the country.
October unemployment figures will be released tomorrow, and the White House is already bracing for it to hit the unthinkable 10 percent. President Obama will do his best to suggest that we have slowed the pace of job losses, and will likely remind us that his $700 billion stimulus package saved or created thousands of jobs, and they said that has numbered about 650,000. Yet the folks sitting at home are doing just that – sitting, and not working – and that is driving the angst we are seeing.
President Obama and the Democrats had better not hang their hat on the notion that they will not be blamed for the state of the nation. Oh, they will. That means that unless we see drastic changes in the economic condition – J-O-B-S – there is no speech he can give that will save his party. Democrats can and should expect massive losses next November, and that will make the president’s agenda far more difficult to implement.
That’s why he must stop messing around on health care and get it passed. By allowing Congress to continue to take the lead, he is creating the impression that he is lacking in leadership. He has to put his foot down and make it clear he wants a bill – now.
Sen. Harry Reid initially said don’t expect a vote this year. Folks, that is terrible news if you’re a Democrat. You can’t afford to have health care spill over into 2010 since it has dominated 2009. Like it or not, Obama needs the win in order to proclaim victory and move on to other items on his agenda. As long as health care dominates the discussion, nothing else is going to come up. The overhaul of the financial services industry will remain on the back burner; immigration reform won’t get any traction; and a plan to deal with the troubled assets of Wall Street will go untouched.
Democrats and the White House can spin all day, but they know they are in trouble. Republicans gained critical momentum by winning in Virginia and New Jersey, and they are regaining their voice on the fiscal conservatism front. It’s no longer about social issues that’s driving the right. It’s all about the money, and with government spending increasing, Democrats will pay the price.
All of this talk about President Obama losing in 2012 is nonsense. So much changes in a year (ask President George H.W. Bush about believing polls in 1991; he was out of a job a year later). But Obama and the Democrats have a problem. And if they don’t listen to the voters on Tuesday, it will only get larger next November.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin.
Mr. President, Cousin Pookie needs a job
Posted: 01:00 PM ET
Campbell Brown Blog - Staff
Filed under: Barack Obama • Commentary
By Roland S. Martin
CNN Political Contributor
Editor's note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Visit his Web site for more information.
When President Barack Obama traveled to Virginia to try to resuscitate the deplorable campaign of gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, he invoked a familiar nickname in black America: Cousin Pookie.
All kinds of people have nicknames, whether they are white, black, Hispanic or Asian. In black America, I’ve heard ‘em all: Pookie, Ray-Ray, Moochie, Big Man, Little Man, you name it.
So when President Obama invokes Cousin Pookie, that’s one of those signals to African Americans to go and get their friend who is unlikely to even know there is an election coming up.
"Go out and get your cousin, who you had to drag to the polls last November, Cousin Pookie," the president told the audience in Norfolk, Va.
He knew Deeds needed a large black turnout to have a chance of winning. But even the exhortations of Obama couldn’t do it for Deeds, a rather boring candidate who ran away from the president early in the campaign, but called on him late, hoping for some Obama magic at the end.
Now, I’m with the president on getting Pookie, Ray-Ray or anyone off the couch to vote, whether you have a job or not. Watching the pathetic turnout in Memphis, Houston, Detroit, Atlanta, Greensboro, North Carolina, and elsewhere had me hopping mad. Others have died for us to have the right to vote, and Americans, regardless of ethnicity, just sit on their butts and do nothing. But they will complain in a heartbeat!
The fundamental issue that came out of Tuesday’s election was that voters nationwide really aren’t going bananas about healthcare reform, keeping a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, or Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s all about J-O-B-S. A year ago it was anger at President George W. Bush for everything. Today, it’s the inability to get P-A-I-D.
Pookie, Ray-Ray, Lisa, Kim, Tom, Jim, Hector, Jesus and Junebug are all out of work, and they are depressed and ticked off. And like it or not, those in power will get the blame and must the bear the brunt of people’s anger.
What’s interesting is that exit polling data shows that people said that President Obama had nothing to do with the local races. The White House used that as their main talking point. But while voters may like him personally, trust me, Obama and the Democratic Party will pay dearly for the economic condition of the country.
October unemployment figures will be released tomorrow, and the White House is already bracing for it to hit the unthinkable 10 percent. President Obama will do his best to suggest that we have slowed the pace of job losses, and will likely remind us that his $700 billion stimulus package saved or created thousands of jobs, and they said that has numbered about 650,000. Yet the folks sitting at home are doing just that – sitting, and not working – and that is driving the angst we are seeing.
President Obama and the Democrats had better not hang their hat on the notion that they will not be blamed for the state of the nation. Oh, they will. That means that unless we see drastic changes in the economic condition – J-O-B-S – there is no speech he can give that will save his party. Democrats can and should expect massive losses next November, and that will make the president’s agenda far more difficult to implement.
That’s why he must stop messing around on health care and get it passed. By allowing Congress to continue to take the lead, he is creating the impression that he is lacking in leadership. He has to put his foot down and make it clear he wants a bill – now.
Sen. Harry Reid initially said don’t expect a vote this year. Folks, that is terrible news if you’re a Democrat. You can’t afford to have health care spill over into 2010 since it has dominated 2009. Like it or not, Obama needs the win in order to proclaim victory and move on to other items on his agenda. As long as health care dominates the discussion, nothing else is going to come up. The overhaul of the financial services industry will remain on the back burner; immigration reform won’t get any traction; and a plan to deal with the troubled assets of Wall Street will go untouched.
Democrats and the White House can spin all day, but they know they are in trouble. Republicans gained critical momentum by winning in Virginia and New Jersey, and they are regaining their voice on the fiscal conservatism front. It’s no longer about social issues that’s driving the right. It’s all about the money, and with government spending increasing, Democrats will pay the price.
All of this talk about President Obama losing in 2012 is nonsense. So much changes in a year (ask President George H.W. Bush about believing polls in 1991; he was out of a job a year later). But Obama and the Democrats have a problem. And if they don’t listen to the voters on Tuesday, it will only get larger next November.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MAAT on
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You know, after all of the comparisons of Democrats views on one side and Republicans views on the other side, no one is thinking about the invisible people being over looked who are left to pay the bills, debt, and the empty bag left over. The bag is empty because the Republicans and the Democrats stole all of the goodies inside of it over the last 30 yrs., and gave them to the big bankers , the insurance companies , the auto industry and any other big business filled with millionaire thieves. Then they took our jobs to India and China because of cheap labor. It is so sad that the big news media is owned by these same thieves. That is why our brother cannot tell all of what he knows is happening to the american people. He cannot tell us that the dollor will be defunct within 2 yrs. This is because of INFLATION And the Federal Reserve (Private) Bank. Is it not interesting that every week when we go to the grocery store we spend more but bring less food home to feed our families? Our bills keep going up yet we cannot understand why it is happening . At the end of the day when we look at the bank book balance or empty our pockets to count our money, we only come up with.... CHANGE. Im(hotep)
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