Day By Day© by Chris Muir.Monday, August 25, 2008
You know, I'm quite sick and tired of people calling Barack Obama the first black Presidential candidate. It's just not true. There have been four others:
1. The first, and probably best qualified of the bunch, was Shirley Chisholm. Shirley ran for President in 1972, and received 151 votes at the Democratic Convention.
2. The next was Jesse Jackson. Not much to say about his qualifications, as there really weren't any, but he ran for President in 1984 and 1988.
3. Al Sharpton ran for the office in 2004. Also not qualified, but he was still a candidate.
4. Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate, also ran for President in 2004. I don't know the exact numbers, but I'd almost be willing to bet she got closer than Sharpton did.
So please, people, stop calling Obama the first. It just ain't true.
1. The first, and probably best qualified of the bunch, was Shirley Chisholm. Shirley ran for President in 1972, and received 151 votes at the Democratic Convention.
2. The next was Jesse Jackson. Not much to say about his qualifications, as there really weren't any, but he ran for President in 1984 and 1988.
3. Al Sharpton ran for the office in 2004. Also not qualified, but he was still a candidate.
4. Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate, also ran for President in 2004. I don't know the exact numbers, but I'd almost be willing to bet she got closer than Sharpton did.
So please, people, stop calling Obama the first. It just ain't true.
Comments:
Maybe they just mean that he is first one that is articulate, good looking and clean, like his running mate says.
First black nominee from a major party. Different than first black candidate. That's what they mean.
# posted by 
: 2:29 PM
: 2:29 PM
Anonymous, I can appreciate what you are saying, but they are supposedly experienced at nuance. They surely know how to say what they mean.
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