THE EMERGING DEMOCRATIC BALKANS:

House Campaign Appointment Upsets Blacks (DAVID FIRESTONE, January 14, 2003, NY Times)

The decision by Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, to pass over a popular black lawmaker for a top campaign job has produced fresh tension between blacks and whites in the Democratic caucus.

Ms. Pelosi's choice of an old friend, Representative Robert T. Matsui of California, over Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana, the lone Democrat who had actively sought the fund-raising job with support from the Congressional Black Caucus, has prompted black members to question whether they are still taken for granted by the party's leadership.

The frustration was not fully eased by Ms. Pelosi's efforts last week to secure positions for black members on the most powerful House committees--including the first African-American woman on the Ways and Means Committee--or by the election last month of Representative James E. Clyburn, a black from South Carolina, as vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

"This decision would have sent a clear message to African-American voters and people in our country that Democrats were rewarding African-Americans for their loyalty to the party," said Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the new chairman of the black caucus. "I realize Nancy Pelosi has a tough job, and she's assured me we'll be all right when the dust settles. But this was an appointment we really wanted, and now we'll have to see just where we go from here."

Even if there's nothing inherently wrong with basing your party on a group-identity spoils system, rather than on ideas, you'd better be sure you've got enough baksheesh to spread around. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 14, 2003 7:41 PM