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Saturday, May 25, 2013

"King Maker" A Crafted Message Within Politics


Mr. Leighton Bradford, Dr. Bradford, and President Clinton.

TBR Leighton Bradford Editor-in-Chief

I look back on my days with the Clinton/Gore campaign and marvel at the once in a lifetime opportunity. We slept on cots, ate very little, and attempted to matriculate through college. I remember how gracious President Clinton was to his staff and well-wishers. I was still attending classes at ASU in my BDU's, raising hell with my professors, and writing for the AZ Informant newspaper. The chair of the political science department requested my presence. I met with him, and he informed me I would be working with the Clinton/Gore campaign representing the college. I admired President Clinton and was excited about working with the campaign. The opportunity helped me forget the war or "Desert Storm". The people in my family wanted me to be nice and don't piss anyone off.

 I was a brash cat, always about justice and uplifting my race. How would I intertwine the ensuing opportunity with actual change? The thing that irritated me about most blacks in Arizona; had to be their bourgeoisie mentality or wealth or status is more important than equality, freedom, or a chance at an opportunity.  A crafted message within politics is what President Clinton and the AZ coordinated campaign had. It's what is lacking in the mid-south.

What I saw from President Clinton was not an act! While working with the President's advance team, I saw nothing but brothers, veterans & women securing his effects. It was not just about political theory or what I was studying, but the brass tacks of running a political campaign. We were called "King Makers"! A still have fond memories of Sam, Melodee, Beth, etc... I remember when Melodee told me I was the press avail coordinator, and we had to facilitate a visit from the actor Danny Devito! Man! I was like what? I never forgot what Mr. Devito told us, "Now listen, I don't want to be seen in a white limousine" "I'm serious Leighton".  I laughed my ass off but met his brother and he at the Hyatt regency, where Devito helped to raise $35,000 in one night! For the first time since 1948 (Truman) a democratic president won the state of Arizona!

 As Secretary Clinton's campaign ramps up, I am torn between the loyalty I have for the Clinton's, and my disagreement on but a few key issues. My country is reeling from economic woes and reality television. Well, the financial crisis is serious and has destroyed lives. As a heterosexual Christian your faith is truncated and turned against you. The DNC forces you to deal with absolutes. My experience with Mississippi has made me wonder how democrats ever won an election. A crafted message espouses a decent living wage, health care, veteran hiring, made in USA etc...  President Obama must not let extremist actions, destroy our civil liberties.  As a small business owner, I cringe at outsourcing and the claim that the veterans I served with in the USAF and went to college with, can't turn this thing around! Third party politics will be the demise of the aforementioned entity; unless OWS, Votevet.org, African Americans and the poor, are heard and integrated within the crafted message. We must not succumb to the modern industrial war complex, President Eisenhower foretold. The trenches of a campaign are in the mid-south. We must create parity along all lines of human endeavor. My dream of ending hunger and disease will be accomplished. Just hire my fellow American graduates and let us get to work!