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Don't count on votes by race or gender
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=710736
Jan. 23, 2008

No question, it's a banner election year for firsts.

Hillary Clinton is the first serious female presidential candidate in American history. Barack Obama can make the same claim for African-Americans. Next month's Wisconsin primary election will likely continue the debate over the importance of race and gender for respective voters as Clinton and Obama battle it out for the nomination.

Regardless of which one wins, it's one for the history books.

But the emergence of a surprisingly bitter feud between both camps appears to have pitted two "minority" groups - blacks and women - against each other for the first time. Which means, African-American women might have the toughest choice of all.

A good person to ask about all this is state Sen. Lena Taylor, an African-American woman running for Milwaukee County executive in this historic election year. If elected, she would become the county's first female county executive as well as the first African-American. Pitted against two-time incumbent Scott Walker, Taylor isn't taking anything for granted.

Particularly not votes.

Taylor said she doesn't expect African-American women - or women in general - to make decisions on their elected officials solely on matters of gender or race.

"I think it's a matter of listening to the person talking about the issues and deciding who can best get the job done," Taylor said Thursday. The longtime Democratic legislator said it was wrong to single out black women specifically as having any particular allegiance to a candidate based on race or gender.

"I see black women as individuals; they make their own decisions as individuals," she said.

Taylor pointed out that black women are often the main person in the household in touch with pocketbook issues that determine how they vote. Black women pay the bills and look after their children, she said, so they want candidates to talk about the things that matter most in those areas.

Despite all the talk about the importance of black women in the election, Taylor said young voters of all races might make more of an impact on turnout nationally.

"I hear Obama is getting the highest turnout among young people," she said. "They are really excited about him."

She noted Obama has garnered impressive support among local politicians, including Mayor Tom Barrett and Gov. Jim Doyle as well as numerous local black politicians. Taylor said Obama would likely make a strong showing next month, but she was more excited about the prospect of the Wisconsin primary playing a significant role in the presidential elections.

"This will be very interesting to see how things turn out," she said.

In regard to her own race for county executive in spring, one Democratic pollster gave Walker only a single-digit lead over Taylor last December, which surprised most observers in town. Taylor said she's looking forward to having conversations with voters during her campaign and she hopes the excitement of the current election year will interest more people in the prospect for real political change.

As for the fact that the black and female vote has become so prominent in 2008, Taylor acknowledged that in her case, it's a win either way:

"Each morning I get up, I'm both."

Contact Eugene Kane at (414) 223-5521 or ekane@journalsentinel.com.