This is part of a class assignment for Davidson College
Taylor Ansley
SHADES OF BLUE: Dan Blue as a Senatorial Candidate in N.C.
When John Edwards announced that he would vacate his Senate seat to seek the presidency, many pundits predicted to see a repeat of the Democratic primary of 2002, in which Erskine Bowles defeated State Representative Dan Blue before going on to lose to Elizabeth Dole in the general election. What factors were important in Blue’s decision not to run?
RACE
Blue is a black man whose interest in politics began in college during the peak years of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s (Zengerle 2002). Despite expectations to the contrary, Blue’s first election to the State House actually came from a majority-white district (Zengerle 2002). Regardless of proving himself as a candidate capable of succeeding outside of his racial base, old attitudes die hard. Blue’s background as a child from a poor, rural home resonates with many North Carolinians, but as The New Republic notes: “ North Carolina doesn’t exactly have a history of electing blacks to high political office” (Zengerle 2002).
THE PARTY LINE
There was a time when Blue was considered a rising star within the Democratic Party--a Barak Obama of his own time—chairing the Clinton-Gore campaign in North Carolina for both the 1992 and 1996 election cycles (Zengerle 2002). Party support for Blue, however, would disappear rapidly. Blue served as Speaker of the House in North Carolina for two terms, losing his position in the Republican land-slide election in 1994 (Zengerle 2002). After the Democrats regained control of the House in 1998, representatives passed over Blue for speakler in favor of white conservative Democrat Jim Black (Griffin 2002). A rebellious band of black representatives, supported by a surprising ally--house republicans--sought to return Blue to his former post (Griffin 2002). As the Charlotte Observer reports, “The coup failed by one vote. Blue’s place within the party hasn’t been the same” since (Griffin 2002). Blue’s willingness to burn bridges within his own party makes it hard to imagine him as a viable senatorial candidate.
BOWLES
In terms of a head-to-head matchup against Erskine Bowles, Dan Blue was unable in 2002 to access resources to the same extent as his opponent. In as late as April 2002, Bowles had raised $1.73 million to the paltry $201,000 raised by Blue (Zengerle 2002). In addition to lacking the financial and party base readily available to Bowles, there seems to be a common sentiment that Blue’s politics are too liberal to play in the South. Blue represents a fairly liberal form of Southern Democrat, whereas Bowles seems to have championed the centrist cause. As demonstrated in the 2002 primary, in which Blue lost by 16 percentage points, Blue simply cannot compete with Bowles’ name recognition and appeal to conservative Democrats (Morrill and Johnson 2002).
Created: 9/21/04
Last Updated: 9/21/04