Black people in Rochester put Joe Morelle in Congress.
They voted as a bloc for him, every election, and that has given him a comfortable margin of victory.
Had they not, had they voted instead as a bloc for any of his opponents, Joe Morelle would be retired today, sipping coffee at I-Square, telling stories about the old days.
But that didn’t happen. Black voters in Rochester have been a reliable Democrat goldmine for a couple of generations, and Joe Morelle and his political establishment have been the beneficiaries.
Certainly, the rising tide of progressivism is shifting political allegiances in the mostly white suburbs, and those new Democrats are faithful Morelle voters, but they need another two or four years to take the city-supplied training wheels off the county’s Democrat juggernaut.
Which means black, city Democrats are still important.
And the question is: Will they back Morelle this year?
This year, the fidelity to voting a straight Democratic ticket may be threatened by a series of insults Morelle has paid black city leaders, and the ongoing battle of extinction he seems to be waging against Mayor Lovely Warren.
It boils down to: If you’re kicking my friend in the head, maybe I should kick you in the head. And if Morelle has no political respect for black, city Democrats, should black, city Democrats have any respect for him?
And if not, will they vote for his opponent – Republican George Mitris – or will they simply skip that line and not vote for Congress?
We’ll learn the answer to that in about a week.
The odds are Morelle will get about 60 percent of the vote and spend another two years living in AOC’s shadow.
And feeling even more empowered to rule the Rochester roost any damn way he pleases.
Which must clearly be his intention, as you look at a year in which he tried to get one black Democrat fired, pushed another black Democrat out of a leadership position, pushed a third black Democrat out of a Board of Elections job, tripped up a fourth black Democrat’s county clerk prospects, and sought to stymie the black Democrat mayor at every turn.
In a profession where people usually try to build bridges and soothe upsets and forge coalitions, Congressman Joe has been playing a furious game of My Way Or The Highway. And while he has been appropriately fisting and kneeling when TV cameras have panned over the Black Lives Matter gatherings, he’s kind of become a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to black political power in the kingdom he has claimed for his own.
As the face and boss of a local party hoping to ride to national victory on the guilt and fear of the status of black America, maybe he should be an advocate for elected black Democrats, instead of their major Monroe County obstacle. And maybe all this BLM stuff is meaningless lip service if your white-run political machine has a tendency to put in powerful county offices people who look like the congressman. Maybe the best way to advance black interests in a community is not through paternalistic whites, but through empowered blacks. Maybe woke Joe is mostly an ally of his own political ambitions and pals, and the whole sensitivity thing is just a box to check off to keep his progressive bona fides up to date.
On Election Day, public officials facing re-election go through an employee evaluation. The voters decide how well they’ve done, and vote accordingly. At least that’s the theory.
If it were the reality, Joe Morelle would be in trouble. His disrespect to black Democrats would cost him their support, and would also alienate those in the progressive white community who actually do care about the interests of black people.
In a position of power, good people reach down to pull others up. Bad people push the climbers back down. If progressives truly believe that black people are disadvantaged in this society, then they ought to be conscience bound to help them climb. Not through another welfare program or set aside, but with real power and a real place at the table to make real decisions on their own behalf.
This year, in Monroe County, Joe Morelle has kept that from happening. He has impeded or thwarted the political power of a least three significant black city Democrats, and thereby muted the electoral voice of the people who support them.
Next week, we’ll see if they noticed