San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 6, 2000 Page: 3 of 10
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Tht» Wav for Black Empowerment
By Dr. Lenora Fulani
STUPID TUESDAY:
WHY AMERICANS DON’T VOTE
When Al Gore gave his victory
speech last Tuesday as the voting
wrapped up in the 12 states he
won, he proclaimed with a wide,
wtde grm, “New we knew why
they call it Super Tuesday!”
Super Tuesday, indeed. Before
we get all puffed up and over
energized like the Vice President
did, we might want to ask what
exactly was “super” about it? The
Democratic Party produced its
lowest primary turnout in 40 years
- the one exception being 1996 '
when Bill Clinton ran unopposed
for his party’s nomination. (That
was the year he collected $13
million in taxpayer money to run a
primary campaign against no one.)
Last Tuesday, the energized
Democrats - to the extent there
were any - voted in the crossover
Republican primaries for John
McCain. All told, it doesn’t sound
like a Super Tuesday for your
average Democratic voter.
It wasn’t much of a Super
Tuesday for your average
Republican voter, either. While
John McCain’s anti-establishment,
anti-special interest crusade
produced the highest turnout in a
Republican Party primary since
1964, his five million vote
insurgency was crushed by the
party machine in 13 out of 21
states. Bush’s “compassionate
conservatism” was supplanted by a
ruthless mobilization of core
Republican voters, executed
largely by the 29 Republican
governors who backed Bush and
used the states’ political
machinery to get out the vote.
In New York, Governor George
Pataki attempted to keep McCain
and other challengers off the ballot
altogether. But when public outcry
and an indignant federal court
judge threatened to overturn him,
Pataki withdrew. Nonetheless,
while McCain carried parts of
New York City, Bush outpolled
McCain handily upstate, and 10%
of Bush voters rjnpripH in etui polls
said that the Pataki endorsement
made the difference in their
choice. New York was also one of
the states where Republican
turnout was down from previous
years. No wonder there are
whispers about putting Pataki on
the Bush ticket - he knows how to
mobilize loyalists from a shrinking
electorate. If anything. Super
Tuesday was more Stupid than
Super, replete with stupid victory
speeches and stupid commentary
by the media.
“It looks like it’s going to be
Gore vs. Bush in November,”
excitedly concluded numerous
journalistic commentators as I
surfed the newstalk channels. Now
that’s a daring conclusion! You
had two closely managed scions of
the political elite plass running
with the total and hugely funded
support of their respective party
machines - one of which reached
all the way to the White House and
the other into 29 statehouses - and
the fact that they locked up their
party’s nominations before half the
country voted is considered news!
And what of John McCain? He,
in effect, provided a cover for the
media and power moguls to create
the illusion that there was a hard
fought battle for the nomination.
He and the pro-reform
independents made it possible to
say there was a contest. That the
candidates engaged one another
fiercely. That the voters had to
choose. And they did! Whom did
they choose? They chose the
candidates of the status quo. Oh
well, I guess we’re now supposed
to think everyone is happy with the
status quo and that, in the final
analysis, our democracy works.
This illusion of consensus is one
of the remaining myths of
American democracy. Many
pernicious political myths have
been exploded in recent years, like
the notion that we feel we can
place our trust in government. Or
that politicians stand for
something othtir than getting
reelected. Harvard University’s
Shorenstein Center conducted a
poll just before “Stupid Tuesday”
which showed that 87% of
respondents believe “Most
politicians are pretty much willing
to say whatever it lakes in order to
get themselves elected.” Of
course. Harvard has to conduct a
poll to figure this out. Most
Americans could tell you that is
how most Americans feel without
conducting a poll.
Still, the myth that the county has
the mechanisms and the
commitment to build popular
consensus for leadership and
policy persists. It persists in spite
of the fact that well over half the
country doesn’t vote in national
elections and that the major party
nominees are chosen in a truncated
primary processes where a fraction
of the electorate voles and money
and the power of the incumbent
machines, not average Americans,
determine the winners.
When people feel that the status
quo has become unassailable, it
makes for large-scale disen-
chantment and non-participation.
That’s why, from the Bush/Gore
point of view, last Tuesday was so
dam super. But for the average
American, it was just plain stupid.
dam Houston
High School Foot-
ball New’s
Several Sam Houston High School
football players recently signed and
received athletic scholarships across
the state and nation on February 3rd,
the national signing date for high
school, and junior college football
players. /
The players receiving athletic
scholarships are: Joshua Scott, wide
receiver-Mary Hardin Baylor, Waco,
Tx. Roman Mason, offensive line-
inan-Mary Hardin Baylor, Waco, Tx.
Thomas Wilson,defensive back-Sul
Ross Stale Univ., Alpine, Tx. Curtis
Wagner, defensive end- Sul Ross
State Univ, Alpine, Tx. Calvin
Perry, wid receiver- Sul Ross State
Univ., Alpine, Tx. Terrance
Wright, tight end-Sul Ross State
Univ., Alpine, Tx. Sam Hartfield,
offensive lineman- Sul Ross State
Univ., Alpine, Derrick Johnson,
running back-Sul Ross State Univ,
Alpine, Tx. Chris Caldwell, running
back-Texas Southern Univ., Clifton
Hall, linebacker- Alabama A&M.
Page 3 San Antonio Register Newspaper- April 6.2000
Portis Insurance
Agency
Auto
and
Life Insurance
Gary Portis has been in the insur-
ance business for anumber of years.
In the early 90s, Gary went into the
insurance industry full time, putting
his heart and soul into servicing the
East Side. He deals with auto, life
and health insurance, but plans to
expand his coverages. Gary played
footballat Wheatlley and Fox Tech
and credits the late Coach Henry
Carroll with providing him with
the never quit attitude..
Stop by and See Gary at 606 S. W. W. White or call him at
333-5272
Duke & Duke
Men’s Dress Hat Shop
1603 S. W. W. White Road suite 603
San Antonio, Texas 78220
Office: 210-333-8800
Store Hours 10am to 5pm M-F Sat 10am to 5pm
Styles by
DOBBS - STETSON- BILTMORE -KANGOL
‘New ” DORFMAN PACIFIC & GREEK FISHERMAN
New Spring Line In
Visa- Master Card
Jumbo Eggs
doz
990
OPEN
Monday-Saturday 8 AM-6:30PM
Closed Sunday
We accept The Lone Star Card
Magott Grocery
' —" ’ ' XCY
1314 E. COMMERCE • SPECIALS • 227-2521
SPECIALS GOOD
April 6-19
Red and White
Black Eye
Peas
2/$I
Coca Cola
12 pack
12 oz can
$2.99
Beef Fajitas
$1.89 lb
Rib Eye Steak $2.99
Coke (cups) 20 count 16oz.
$.99
Shrimp 50-60 count
$4.99 lb
Albertos Tamales
18 0z $1.49
I\irkey.2 isms 590 lb
Smoked Pork Bones 690 lb
Chicken Wings
1H
Smoked Pig Feet 790 lb
Turkey Legs 490 lb
Chicken Breast boneless
$1.59 lb
IA ■ r»i of Ini/
GHltlVCll KJI Ullloiivi\
490 lb
1/28allon
\\
Better Value Alu-
minum Foil 25
sq. ft 2/.99
Home made Vanilla cups 2/$ 1
Country Cone Vanilla .590
Country ConeBanana Split 590
Country Cone, Cookie &Cream 590
Pillsbury Flour 51b. 990
Pillsbury Cake Mix 18.25 oz Box
and assorted flavors 990
Red and White B-B-Q sauce 18 oz 990
Pork Sausage 790 lb
Whole Chicken Breast bone
in .890 lb
-Red & White Towels 2/99?
Chicken Fajitas $1.09 lb
Louisiana Hot Sauce 6 oz 3/$l.O0
Hormei boiled Ham $1.98
$3.39 3 for $10
Northern
Tissue 4 rolls
990
Milk
Gallon
$2.29
Jiffy CornMuffin
mix, 8 1/2 oz Box
3 for $1.00
Del Monte Tomato
Sauce
8 oz. 4Tor $1.00
Sunny Delight
64 oz .990
Beef Brisket $1.29 lb
Crisco Oil
48 oz $1.69
Pork Butts Roast 990 lb whole Cat fish nuggets $1.29
Old El Ptoolfcco Seasoning 1.25 oz Pack 2 for $1.00
Chicken Leg Quarters Pig Feet 490 lb
290 lb
40 lb box $11.60
Lone Star Light Qt. 790
Schlitz qt 790
Lone Star
18 pak
$6.99 hot only
Chitterlings
10 lb pack $4.59
Fresh Drum Fish, $2.79
H
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San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 6, 2000, newspaper, April 6, 2000; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth842325/m1/3/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.