I Will Rebulid With You Mr. President

“On Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush -- in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But on Thursday night, after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.”

Donna Brazile
Democratic political consultant, managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign


Wow, After Reading Donna Brazile’s article in the Washington Post, I sat staring at what I had just read. See, I have what some people would call a, “love hate,” type of thang going on concerning Donna Brazile. Please allow me to explain. Donna first caught my attention when she worked on the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign. Donna and I are at the opposite ends of the political spectrum. We see eye to eye on very damn little. But I am no fool blinded by politics. What I said in 1992 about Donna applies to this day—If the republicans had Donna in their camp, they would possess 40-60% of the black vote. Donna has skills, serious skills. That coupled with a sharp intellect, Donna is partly responsible for a lot of the success Clinton had.

Donna pushes the edges of the envelope. This tendency of Hers has gotten her in more than a few tight spots, but it has paid off more often in huge dividends. I respect Donna Brazile. I always have, she is a worthy adversary and keeps the Republicans on their toes. Donna doesn’t walk around spouting the Democartic Mantra---Donna creates them. If you are just now becoming aware of her, keep your eyes on her because she will continue to shape parts of the Democratic party for the next 30 years.

I can see Donna sitting down to write the article she wrote, heart still heavy from watching her hometown in such misery, going through draft after draft. Donna does not play the political game just for the sake of playing like so many out there. Donna plays for keeps. So she starts stringing the words together, forming sentences, paragraphs, and the article is done. Donna proofs reads it once, yes once because she is a deliberate person and calls it finished.

Too often I see both parties block each others ideas simply because they are not their ideas. Forget whether or not it’s a good idea, it's just not their idea. Donna’s article is representative of what I would like to see in politics. Political adversaries working together to accomplish something greater than their own political agendas. So Donna has stepped up and said .”I’ll work with you to rebuild my hometown”, and I am hoping George Bush puts Her right in the middle of the project. Take Care Donna, don’t worry about New Orleans, people like you won’t let it die.

Later’