Sheila Jackson-Lee, Emanuel Cleaver Looking to Lead CBC

There are reports and whispers from Capitol Hill that a quiet campaign for Chair of the 41-Member Congressional Black Caucus may be afoot between Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).  Sources familiar with the CBC Member ballot process point to sudden public appearances by Jackson-Lee, including a September 23^rd appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, as a sign that she’s attempting to position herself as Chair of the Caucus, a position currently held by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).

“Bet on it,” observes Lauren Victoria-Burke in Crewof42.com.  “She’s putting her finger to the wind and reading the tea leaves… and she’s not giving ‘no’ as an answer when asked: Are you running?”

However, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), a three-term Congressman out of Kansas City, is perceived as the favored candidate for Chair.  Presently, he is 1^st Vice Chair of the Caucus, which puts him in a good position to win as the second most powerful officer in the CBC.  Jackson-Lee holds no official positions in the Caucus.  Still, there are signals that the eight-term Texas Congresswoman is staging a quiet lobbying campaign for votes.

The CBC Chair over the past two sessions of Congress have been held by women – the present Chair held by Lee, and before her, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick (D-MI), who just lost her seat in a hard fought primary to State Sen. Hansen Clarke (D).

In addition, both Jackson-Lee and Cleaver were staunch supporters of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential primary bid, causing significant rifts within the Caucus during that time as Members were split between the former First Lady and their former colleague, then Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).  Many observers point to the split in CBC support as a continuing source of tension between the CBC and the Obama White House.   Cleaver was a Democratic super delegate who came under harsh criticism from other Black politicians who felt he should have supported the Black candidate.  Although CBC Members are very hush about it, experts are curious as to what the relationship between the Caucus and President Obama would be like should Cleaver become Chair.

Charles D. Ellison, Managing Editor for Politic365.com, Washington Correspondent for The Philadelphia Tribune and a weekly political analyst providing insight on WDAS-FM (Philadelphia), WVON-AM (Chicago) and KSRO-AM (Sonoma County, CA). He is author of the critically-acclaimed urban political thriller TANTRUM. More information can be found at http://www.cdellison.com

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One Response to Sheila Jackson-Lee, Emanuel Cleaver Looking to Lead CBC

1. carving melon basket says:

   7:15am January 5, 2012 at 7:15 am

   amazing stuff thanx. Hey very nice blog!! awesome great .

   Reply