Support NorthStar News - Make a Donation

video icon  Video of the Week

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)

Search Past Issues

October 4, 2012

  • Supreme Court May Hear Challenge to Voting Act Preclearance

    Supreme Court May Hear Challenge to Voting Act Preclearance by Frederick H. Lowe The U.S.

    More
  • NAACP Takes Fight for Voting Rights for Ex-Cons to the United Nations

    NAACP Takes Fight for Voting Rights for Ex-Cons to the United Nations Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN (TriceEdneyWire.com) - The NAACP spoke up at the 21st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, recently for the rights of millions of former felons who have been denied the right to vote. “Today, nearly 5.3 million U.S.

    More
  • George Soros Donates $1 Million to Pro-Obama Super PAC

    George Soros Donates $1 Million to Pro-Obama Super PAC Billionaire George Soros, financial backer of the Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement, has donated $1 million to Priorities USA, a super PAC, that is supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election. Michael Vachon, an advisor to Soros, announced the donation last week during a lunch hosted by the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of business and philanthropic leaders.

    More
  • Network Announces $10,000 Grants for Schools that Empower Boys of Color

    Network Announces $10,000 Grants for Schools that Empower Boys of Color Schools, pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, that demonstrate promising practices in educating boys and young men of color can apply for grants form the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC). The organization announced on Monday guidelines and deadlines for its second-annual  series of $10,000 grants.

    More
  • Black Caucus Hosted Voter-Registration Drives in 12 Districts

    Black Caucus Hosted Voter-Registration Drives in 12 Districts The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) recently hosted voter-registration drives in 12 Congressional Districts as part of its voter-protection initiative.

    More
  • State of the Black World Conference Aims to Set Post-Election Agenda

    State of the Black World Conference Aims to Set Post-Election Agenda by Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.

    More
  • Chicago Pastor Finishes Cross-Country Walk

    Chicago Pastor Finishes Cross-Country Walk Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks who went from the rooftop to the road has completed his 2,700-mile  walk across the country to bring attention to violence in urban communities and to raise funds to purchase an abandoned building.

    More
  • American Express Hit Hard in the Wallet for Violations

    American Express Hit Hard in the Wallet for Violations by Frederick H. Lowe American Express Co. will have to pull out its Centurion, or Black Card, to pay this bill.

    More
  • Report: Businesses Added 162,000 Jobs In September

    Businesses created 162,0000 jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, the ADP National Employment Report announced on Wednesday, the day of the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov.

    More
  • Pa. Judge Blocks Enforcement of Photo ID Rule for Nov. 6

    Pa. Judge Blocks Enforcement of Photo ID Rule for Nov. 6 by Frederick H. Lowe Judge Robert Simpson of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction to keep the state’s tough photo-ID law from taking effect before the November 6 presidential election.

    More
  • Black Consumer Buying Remains Strong, Report Finds

    Black Consumer Buying Remains Strong, Report Finds (TriceEdneyWire.com) - As a  consumer group that continues to  grow, has unique generational behavioral trends and characteristics and has a projected buying power of $1.

    More
  • Political Observers Fear Voter Apathy Could Hurt Obama in Virginia

    Political Observers Fear Voter Apathy Could Hurt Obama in Virginia Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Howard University News Service by Christina Downs and Hazel Trice Edney WOODBRIDGE, Va. (TriceEdneyWire.

    More
  • We Are One

    We Are One by Gary L. Flowers (TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Can’t understand why we treat each other in this way…no matter what is said or done, we are one…” - Frankie Beverly and Maze National politics in the United States of America has not been so divisive since the American Civil War 150 years ago.

    More
  • Conservative Whiners Display an Inferiority Complex

    Conservative Whiners Display an Inferiority Complex by A. Peter Bailey (TriceEdneyWire.com) - One of the favorite sports of conservative propagandists on television, radio and the op-ed pages of newspapers, is to hurl accusations of “whining” at anyone who insists that race is a major force in the economic, political and cultural life of this country.

    More
  • Yale University Launches Celebration of Bayard Rustin

    Yale University Launches Celebration of Bayard Rustin The Yale University Law School will show the 2003 film Brother Outsider:The Life of Bayard Rustin to kick off the school’s centennial celebration honoring Rustin, a black gay man who organized the 1963 March on Washington, one of the most successful civil-rights demonstrations in  U.S.history. Yale will show the film on October 9, and Walter Naegle, Rustin’s companion, will attend the event to answer questions, said Margaret Chisholm, the event’s organizer and reference librarian at the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale.

    More
  • Macy’s Plans to Hire 80,000

    Macy’s Plans to Hire 80,000 Retailer Macy’s Inc. announced on Monday that it will hire approximately 80,000 seasonal workers for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online-fulfillment centers nationwide.

    More
  • NorthStar Begins Accepting Ads and Donations

    The NorthStar News & Analysis, one of the leading online publications for African-American men, is now offering sponsorship and advertising opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs. The publication, which is not published for a profit, is seeking support for its operations through small donations and modest paid advertising.

    More
  • Round 1: Romney Takes It to Obama

    Round 1: Romney Takes It to Obama President Barack Obama never went on the offensive in Wednesday’s night televised debate, possibly prompting concerns by some that the president is a better campaigner than debater.

    More
  • $2 Million Investment Made for Black-Male Achievement

    The Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA) announced on Wednesday a $2 million investment to launch the Leadership & Sustainability (LSI) Institute for Black Male Achievement.

    More
  • The NorthStar’s Week in Black History

    The NorthStar’s Week in Black History October 4 to October 10 October 4 1864 ----- The New Orleans Tribune, America’s first daily African-American newspaper, published its first edition on this date.

    More
Julianne Malveaux
Julianne Malveaux

Don't Believe the Hype! It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over

by Julianne Malveaux
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In late September the “nonpartisan” website Real Clear Politics reported that President Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney is several battleground states. According to the polls, President Obama leads by 5.2 percent in Ohio, 4.5 percent in Virginia, 4.2 percent in Nevada, 4 percent in Iowa, and 3 percent in Florida. Do we believe the polls? I’m not so sure. But I surely don’t believe these polls should alter an aggressive effort to re-elect this Democratic president.

There are lots of ways to do voter suppression. One is to deny people ballots, or to change the rules on voting. Mandatory state-issued ID, new and more distant polling places, and all of the shenanigans documented by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law are all methods of voter suppression. In some cities or states, police cars have been parked outside polling places, intimidating those who may have minor infractions of law, including unpaid parking tickets.

Another way to suppress the vote is to attempt to influence voter attitudes. For example, in the 2008 election, a Republican operative made robo-calls into the black community telling people they didn’t need to vote because Democratic candidates President Obama and Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland had already won. The operative was convicted of four counts of fraud last year and faces jail time. Other communities have experienced similar pranks, including one that crudely told people that the election was on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday, and another that said polls were open until 10 p.m. although they closed at 8.

Well-informed voters repel these shenanigans, but some voters fall for them. If such tawdry tactics affect only a few voters in a few precincts, they can have an impact on an electoral outcome. That’s why it is so effective to go door to door on Election Day, to provide rides for those who need them, and to do anything and everything to ensure that every voter gets out. That’s why it also makes sense to encourage early voting, especially for the elderly and others who may have challenges getting to the polls.

I am wondering if these polls showing President Obama in the lead in key states represent another form of subtle voter suppression. If we think the President is leading, then we might pull back on our efforts. That’s exactly what some Republicans are counting on. Jay Cost, who writes for the conservative Weekly Standard, told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that “Democratic enthusiasm is going to recede”. Another analyst said that the current polls are assuming a “record Democratic turnout”. Still another said that while 90 percent of registered Republicans will vote for Romney and 90 percent of Democrats will vote for President Obama, the race will be decided by independents, many of whom are not polled.

My grandmother used to say, “Don’t feed me fat meat and tell me it ain’t greasy.” Or, “Don’t spit on me and tell me it’s raining.” In other words, don’t believe the hype.

To be sure, President Obama may be leading the polls in some states, but polls are like putting your finger in the air to see which way the wind blows. They are like calling the basketball game based on who is leading after the first quarter. They are like handicapping the horse race based on who is first out of the gate. They tell a story about a point in time, but not about the outcome.

Thus, polling results are both good news and provisional news. The good news – the polls tell us that an Obama win is not only possible but likely. The provisional news – President Obama won’t win unless we work for it. Imagine that the basketball team started chilling in the second quarter because they led in the first, or that the horse first out of the gate decided to slow up because, after all, the win was decided. We’ve all heard about the flash in the pan, the tortoise and the hare, and the importance of persistence.

These polls ought to be a motivator for those who support President Obama. The goal ought to be to make these poll results a reality by ensuring that Democratic enthusiasm increases, not recedes, and that Democratic turnout does hit record numbers. It ain’t over til it’s over, and the outcome of this election will depend on the work that is done in the next several weeks.


Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D., is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and author.

The Northstar News & Analysis, Inc.
Chicago, IL | 312.504.0223
Copyright © The Northstar News & Analysis, Inc.
Contact Us: info@TheNorthstarNews.com
Privacy Policy

My statusContact Us on Skype