I think of the political arc of Jesse Jackson as a small American tragedy.

When I was 27 and a reporter for The Associated Press, I interviewed Jackson in the kitchen of his apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Jackson, then a graduate student in divinity at the University of Chicago and only 25 or 26 himself, swept me away with his vision, moral grounding and articulate passion. I have never been in the presence of a more charismatic individual. I went back to the office and wrote more than 2,000 words. The piece had been assigned as a feature for Sunday-morning papers, a special distinction; but my editors, seeing I’d totally lost my vaunted reporter’s objectivity, slashed it to 750 words and sent it out for Wednesday-afternoon papers, very few of which ever published it.

Over the years, though, Jackson seemed to lose his lustre. When the arc of his career culminated in seeking the presidency, he didn’t have a chance. There was his dreadful “Hymie-Town” slur, of course. And in 1984 and 1988, America surely was less “ready” to elect a black than it may (or may not) prove to be in 2008. But I think the core reason Jackson didn’t become a contender was where he came from. He started out as one of Doctor Martin Luther King’s inner circle, and had devoted his career to civil rights and agitating for the well-being of African-Americans — who are roughly 12% of the American population. It’s not a big enough base from which to be elected president of all the people.

After Jackson we had Al Sharpton and he wasn’t electable for similar reasons, I think. (Let alone the shameful Tawana Brawley episode that made him famous or notorious, as you please.) Sharpton has charisma to burn and possibly the slyest sense of humor since JFK. But to be elected president in the U S of A, you need more than that. You need to be able to reach beyond your base.

Now comes Barack Obama, who, as far as I can tell, doesn’t have a base. Indeed, the base you’d expect — the Jackson-Sharpton base — has been giving him are-you-black-enough flak. Grin and bear it, Barack. If you’re the candidate on Election Day, where else can these voters turn?

Allow me to digress. My daughter Shawn has a lot of girlfriends, both black and white. We were talking about the presidential race and Shawn said her white girlfriends think Hillary Clinton is electable. But her black girlfriends think Barack Obama is not.

Hmm.

The black girlfriends are expressing a deep though realistic pessimism about American society, Shawn thinks (so do I). But, I asked, why aren’t Shawn’s white girlfriends equally pessimistic about a woman’s chances?

I put this question the wrong way. I ought to have asked: ‘In America today, could this black man or this white woman be elected?’

I’m going to get a raft of you-know-what for saying this but … because Obama enters the race not identified with “black” interests the way Jackson and Sharpton were, I think he could be.

He’s a very credible candidate of course, with an unusual resumé (community organizer!) and a Senate seat. In the Obama-vs.-Hillary matchup, Obama wins the charm-and-good-looks award. Where Hillary seems up-tight and scripted, he seems confident and relaxed. But Hillary wins on experience, gender and, yes, possibly toughness. On Iraq, hard to tell. On money, a wash (so far). On brains … probably a wash too.

Only 4% of Americans say they would be “less likely” to vote for a candidate who was black, according to a February Pew survey reported in today’s New York Times. The survey says 11% would be “less likely” to vote for a woman candidate. People tend not to be truthful when asked such questions and I suggest taking both numbers with a big grain of salt … but still. If Pew asked the same questions two decades ago when Jesse Jackson was running, I bet the negatives were a lot larger.

Are we ready for a woman or an African-American in the White House? For this woman, this African-American? Time will tell. At least this African-American isn’t lugging the baggage that burdened, and finally may have broken, a guy who could’ve been a contender … Jesse Jackson.

Frank Joseph
www.tolovemercy.com

P.S. Read the first chapter of To Walk Humbly, the sequel to To Love Mercy. Visit http://frankjoseph.com/to_walk_humbly.html.