Column: John Archibald - Alabama politics - 'You pay. We play. You don't. We won't.'
By John Archibald on January 20, 2016 at 6:56 AM
Politics is ugly. You know it, you sense it, you feel it.
Want to see it?
Yeah. You gotta see it.
Team Seven, a political action group founded by Jefferson County Commissioner Sandra Little Brown that holds particular reach in Birmingham neighborhoods, will hold a banquet in early February in which candidates for local offices – mostly judgeships – will have a chance to speak to the people and solicit endorsements from the group.
Which sounds ...
Democratic.
Until you read the fine print. Or just the print.
Hezekiah JacksonJohn Archibald | jarchibald@al.com
Hezekiah Jackson, president of Birmingham NAACP and co-chair of the Team Seven ad committee, sent an email to a number of candidates this month outlining new rule changes for the Feb. 4 Team Seven banquet. These rules will now apply to candidates who want to campaign at the banquet or seek endorsement, the email states:
Deadline to submit payment is Friday, January 23, 2016 to me (Jackson) or Pastor Webb (Ad committee co-chair Gwen Webb).
Candidates purchasing an ad ($500) will have two minutes to speak.
Candidates purchasing a table ($500) will have two minutes to speak.
Candidates purchasing a combo (ad -- $250 and table for eight -- $500 = $750) will have three minutes to speak.
And here's the kicker.
Candidates who do not purchase an ad nor a table WILL NOT be considered for endorsement.
I didn't add the emphasis. Jackson did. If you don't pay cold hard cash to the group, you WILL NOT get the warm and fuzzy endorsement of the group.
Which means you pay to play. And the endorsement you get, the check mark on the ballot and the claim that Team Seven considers you the best darn candidate in your particular race, is worth nothing.
But for the money you spent on it.
Jackson did not return calls or emails about the requirements. I can't say I blame him, because you can't perfume that poo. Let's face it. It's the way politics is made, with money and audacity and enough greed to make a good human blush.
It's not unique to Team Seven. But it is rarely displayed in a manner as brash, and mercenary, if perhaps as honestly as in the team's email.
You pay. We play. You don't. We won't.
Of course you should take any endorsement with a giant block of Himalayan Sea Salt. Pretty much every political group offering a list of preferred candidates arrives at its choices in ways that would make an idealistic young voter say ...ewwwww!
You get what you pay for, with money or power or promises. It's all part of the ugly business of politics. No refunds or exchanges. No take backs.
Except, I guess, for the Jefferson County Young Democrats. That group issued endorsements last week for 10 judicial races and a few more. Within hours, it had to take the whole thing back.
Not because of ewwww. Because of ... oops.
"I want to take a moment to email you and clear the air," wrote Beth Clayton, president of the group. "Today, the Jefferson County Young Democrats announced their endorsements for the primary elections, and I want to personally apologize for any confusion this has caused.
"The Young Democrats are not authorized to endorse in primary elections, pursuant to our Constitution. "
D'oh.
That's politics for you. When it's not greedy and ugly it is palm-to-the-face dumb.
No wonder so many people don't want to see it at all.
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