BlackLiberalBoomer

Unfortunately, for Kwame Kilpatrick and the City of Detroit,very soon after he assumed office, a myriad of scandals started to unfold: too many to list here. As mayor, he oversaw many positive resurgences in Detroit,including the completion of Campus Martius, the development of the Riverwalk, businesses such as Compuware and Quicken Loans relocating to the City, conventions, the SuperBowl, the Baseball All-Stars Game,  the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, and the largest new housing boom in Detroit in decades. But he also, by his own actions, brought the most shame and disgrace to the same city he claimed he loved so much. The unearthing of each scandal brought apologies from the mayor, along with promises to “do better”.

Incumbent Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick narrowly held onto her seat for the 13th Congressional District yesterday, August 5. Ms. Kilpatrick won the hotly contested election by about 3 percentage points; in the 3-way race, her challengers, Mary Waters and Martha G. Scott, split the vote, which undoubtedly helped, as Ms. Kilpatrick collected just 39% of the votes cast.

In a post last Friday, I denounced and rejected the guilt-by-association smear tactics of one of the challengers; I hope that the voters of the 13th, which includes not only Detroit, but suburbs from the Pointes to Downriver realized that they were voting on Congresswoman Kilpatrick’s record, not that of her son (to whom I will not link here–we know all about”The Scandal”).

Now that the election is over, and the Congresswoman is almost assured of her seat for the next two years, it is our hope here that she will reward our support by working even harder for us; and that we, who live and work in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs, will continue to work with her to make Detroit better.

A “sister” blog, “What About Our Daughters“, has another take on the election from a non-Detroiter’s point of view…

Shameless Plug: please read my husband’s blog The “D” Spot…

There is a primary election coming up in Detroit on Tuesday, August 5 2008. Several local positions and state legislature and congressional seats are on the ballot. Although the turnout is expected to be embarrassingly low (less than 20%), the election is very important. In recent Detroit history, the Democrat who wins the August primary is the all-but-official winner in the November general election.

One congressional seat being challenged is that of 13th District Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Does that name sound familiar? Yes, she is the mother of the embattled Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick; and for the first time in many years, she is fighting to keep her seat: because she is the Mayor’s mother. Congresswoman Kilpatrick is in her 6th term in the U.S. Congress, and in addition to chairing the Congressional Black Caucus, she serves on the House Appropriations Committee (the only Michigan representative on that committee), the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services, and the Appropriations Subcommittee for Homeland Security. It takes years of service, political skill, and relationship-building to be appointed to such powerful committees. When voters go to the polls to make their choice, they should consider the entire personal life and professional accomplishments as they relate to what needs to be done for the Congressional District.

However, there is one challenger to Ms. Kilpatrick who is basing almost her entire campaign on conducting a smear campaign against the Congresswoman because of the alleged misconduct of her son. This challenger is currently running a distasteful TV commercial mocking the Congresswoman for her support of her son. The point of this challenger’s campaign, as well as the TV ad, is to paint Congresswoman Kilpatrick with the same brush as her son. This challenger does not even seem to understand the ramifications of removing someone from such powerful apppointments; especially for Michigan…we need all of the financial help we can get from Congress. New members of Congress are routinely assigned to much less powerful committees; and it takes years to “move up the ladder”. There is no way this challenger can even begin to have the influence that Ms. Kilpatrick has worked so hard to achieve over the years.

Although this post is not an official endorsement of Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, it is a denouncement of the tactics of one of her challengers. Back in the spring of 2008, when the mainstream media tainted the name and reputation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago based on a 30-second clip of one of his sermons, then tried to condemn Senator Barack Obama just because Rev. Wright was his former pastor, many Democrats (especially those supporting the candidacy of Senator Obama), as well as other fair-minded people, cried “foul”. It was patently unfair to transfer the alleged “transgressions” of Rev. Wright to Senator Obama.

In the same vein, I believe it is patently unfair to try to destroy the Congressional career of Congresswoman Kilpatrick based on the actions of her son. On the one hand, a mother is expected to support her son; and at the time of the plaintive cry for support that is part of that commercial (OK, I admit the rant was a little “ghetto”), the Mayor had not been involved in, or accused of the things he is now. On the other hand, the Mayor is a grown man, and as such, the Congresswoman cannot be held accountable for the alleged actions of her son even as she supports him as her son and the father of her grandchildren.

As a native Detroiter and (never-miss-an-election) voter, I denounce and reject the smear tactics of one of the challengers to Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s seat for the 13th Congressional District of Michigan. I would hope that voters would make their decision based of the reputation and accomplishments of the Congresswoman, not that of her son.

This is cross-posted at my husband’s blog: The “D” Spot