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BRAUN, CAROL MOSELEY.   Term Paper ID:20954 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: First black woman elected to U.S. Senate. Life & career, 1992 campaign, issues, media coverage.... More...

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Paper Abstract: First black woman elected to U.S. Senate. Life & career, 1992 campaign, issues, media coverage. Paper Introduction: Whatever else her future accomplishments, Carol Moseley Braun earned her footnote in American history in November 1992 by becoming the first black woman elected to the United States Senate. Half a year earlier, she had earned a smaller reference book mention by becoming the first female African-American nominee for the position, a candidate of the Democratic Party in an election year when post-Persian Gulf War victory euphoria was supposed to have been the harbinger of a Republican Party, President-on-down sweep of the electorate. How she came to achieve this distinction - and how the popular national print media reported the topic - will be the subjects of this commentary. Born Carol Moseley forty-five years ago, the daughter of a police officer and a medical technician, the future Senator from Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. She learned tobroaden her admittedly Chicago-oriented perspective to encompass similarconcerns of the Illinois down-staters. 38). 24). Campaigning for history: Will Carol Moseley Braun be the first black woman senator? The Nation, pp. 121)." She did but, with no campaign war chest or political machine backing,few in the professional world of politics and media considered her aserious contender. The "Catholic" distinctionis somewhat important: it separates the Moseleys from the mainstream ofProtestant-affiliated black American culture, representing an emphasis oneducation via the highly-respected Catholic parochial school system, asopposed to the less disciplined public schools; it also indicates anaffiliation with the Irish Catholic political machinery that dominatedChicago politics up until the mid-197 s and the death of Ward Politician-supreme, the legendary Mayor Richard J. CarolMoseley Braun ran against the incumbent President, recognizing that herAfrican-American heritage, her being a woman - both certainly "historic" -were far less important issues than the fact that the voters wanted the"ins" to be out. It was not anunexpected transition; her father was physically abusive and beat hischildren with ropes (Haynes, 1992, p. Moseley Braun was more receptive, or, as she relates it, "Bythe time I got a letter from a White (sic) man in a Republican countyurging me to run (against Dixon for the 1992 Democratic Party Senatenomination), I knew there was something up and I really ought to considerthis seriously (Haynes, p. Staying in Chicago during the personally and socially tumultuous late196 s, Carol Moseley attended the University of Illinois, earning a B. Half a year earlier, shehad earned a smaller reference book mention by becoming the first femaleAfrican-American nominee for the position, a candidate of the DemocraticParty in an election year when post-Persian Gulf War victory euphoria wassupposed to have been the harbinger of a Republican Party, President-on-down sweep of the electorate. attorney under Jim Thompson andhis assistant, Sam Skinner. Moseley Braun's announcement of her candidacy barelymade the six o'clock Chicago news. To begin with, in terms of non-local media, the Carol Moseley Brauncandidacy was severely under-reported. Born Carol Moseley forty-five years ago, the daughter of a policeofficer and a medical technician, the future Senator from Illinois was theeldest of four children in a solidly middle class, Catholic family in anall-black neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. That Carol Moseley Braun won her Senate seat with a far morecomfortable majority than Bill Clinton won his presidency indicates thather campaign strategy was sound. Even as national women's support groups(such as EMILY's List, which donates money to women candidates) came tostand behind her, Carol Moseley Braun understood that the major definitionof her campaign had already been written out - by herself. As can be imagined, the black national print media approached thetopic from an essentially "booster" perspective. A.in political science, then went on to study at the University of ChicagoLaw School. "Al the Pal" Dixon, two term Senator andChicago political figure for 42 years (Patner, 1992, P. National Review, pp. Theposition itself is not impressive (albeit it does involve administering an$8 million budget and a staff of 3 ) - except for the fact that winning itmade her the first black of either sex to win executive office in CookCounty government (Coyne, p. In 1988 she ran for the office ofCook County Recorder of Deeds (Chicago is in Cook County) and won. 12 -122.Patner, A. The other national media (People, Newsweek,The Nation and National Review) took a less overt stance, but were still inthe main positive about her candidacy. People, pp. It was a prosecutor's role she played, and ithoned her deliberative and public speaking skills. (1992, September 14). A flurry of articles appeared in March and Aprilof 1992, after the primary victory. Coyne conceded the same positive attributes to MoseleyBraun that the candidate herself proclaimed; albeit, his was also the onlyarticle to mention specific proposals of the Democratic candidate (e.g. (1992, June). S. 38-39.Coyne, J. N., & Barrett, T. Large chunks of MoseleyBraun's stock speeches were excerpted uncritically, her take on generalizedissues was given full play - and her Republican opponent was virtually non-existent; the key political battle described was her primary victory, notthe actual Senate race ahead. Although carrying a full load as attorney-mother-and-social maverick,in 1978 Carol Moseley Braun set off on her own in the legislative world byrunning for the Illinois State Legislature - and winning. S. Newsweek, pp. (1992, March 23). 45). There wasa much-remembered march alongside Dr. Martin Luther King shortly before thecivil rights leader was slain (Schneider & Tamarkin, 1992, p. Moseley Braun speakslittle about her mixed married, beyond acknowledging that she and herhusband divorced in 1986 and that she is very proud of her fifteen year-oldson, Matthew. There was nothingradical nor earthshaking about her 1988 campaign, just good, solid person-to-person, work-the-streets communication with the voters in Cook County.She did make one discovery: not only was she a black candidate forexecutive county office, Carol Moseley Braun was equally appealing as awoman candidate. In a like manner, off the floor or once debate was endedCarol Moseley Braun charmed her colleagues with her ability to "turn off"the pressure and relax with good humor and grace. The young Carol Moseley stagedsit-ins at all-white restaurants and beaches to break the de factosegregation hold on Chicago's public places in the early 196 s. The run for the nomination was not helped by disorganization from thecandidate's side, either. The whole thing was an embarrassment. A. An analysis of the national print mediacoverage given her campaign, moreover, indicates the degree to which thepopular media followed her lead, rather than observed it. Like all grassroots organizations, thevolunteers quickly fell into two camps: the well-intentioned and thedoers. (1992, March 3 ). 45). With the twomonied candidates slugging it out with one another in personal, destructivemedia attacks, Carol Moseley Braun was left relatively unscathed. Herelection was "historic," yes - it may prove to be so for reasons lessadmirable than the many "firsts" her election engendered. Whatever else her future accomplishments, Carol Moseley Braun earnedher footnote in American history in November 1992 by becoming the firstblack woman elected to the United States Senate. While women candidates elsewhere,in California particularly (Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein), were givenrepeated national exposure vis-a-vis their takes on particular issues,Moseley Braun's race for the Senate was recorded in simplistic "black womanversus the White Male establishment" terms. 121). But Washington died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1987, andMoseley Braun, already reeling from the break-up of her marriage,apparently felt the need for a change of political venue after eleven yearsas a state representative - and, perhaps, a desire to work near herpolitical constituency closer to home. To this end,as far as the candidate's campaign was concern, this was a plus: beyondone brief sentence describing organizational problems during the primary(Newsweek Magazine, March 3 , 1992), the reportage was uniformly upbeat inrepeating both the candidate's stump speech emphasizing "triumph overadversity" and the "historic" nature of her endeavor. Vowingto spend as much as $3 million of his own money to defeat the incumbent,Hofeld so frightened Dixon that the seasoned politician, sensing the publicdisenchantment with the status quo of incumbents in general, directed hiscampaign against the foe he perceived as more threatening. S. Then, during those same high school years, Moseley Brown experienceda drastic alteration in her life: her parents divorced. (1992, April 6). 45). She was not alone in her feelings. Oddly, it was only the conservative National Review that attempted toanalyze Moseley Braun's candidacy while it was on-going (September 1992).In rather humorous tones, Chicago resident and former White Housespeechwriter John R. With deliberate"maternal" charm, she sometimes gave opponents a slogan T-shirt or, onoccasion, balloons (Schneider & Tamarkin, p. In fact, she grafted the image of the Dixon-Hofeld fight onto herinitial reason for entering the race: There is still a lot of anger over Clarence Thomas...But what inspires me is that that anger is focused much more against a system of ideological patronage and a Billionaire Boys Club whose abandonment of domestic policy has brought us to a social and economic precipice (Patner, p. is history-making," she would say in repeated interviews,asserting as exciting fact an act which had yet to occur. I mean, it was an embarrassment from the very beginning and by the time it got to the sexual harassment issue, it was beyond embarrassing, it was mortifying (Haynes, p. More disheartening, her old ally, theostensibly "liberal" other Senator from Illinois, Paul Simon (she co-chaired his 199 re-election campaign), endorsed Alan Dixon forrenomination (Patner, pp. National coverage in the printmedia did not begin until after her Senate primary coup. She like the power play and the control (Schneider & Tamarkin, p. She's nonthreatening towhite people, to other women, to Republicans," was the assessment ofNorthwestern University political science professor/Illinois politicalobserver William Crotty (Baker & Barrett, p. And then stopped. Supreme Court, breaking with the Democratic Party togive Republican president George Bush a 52-48 narrow victory, howls ofoutrage echoed across the state's political landscape - and into CarolMoseley Braun's living room. ReferencesBaker, J. Even women's groups who should havebeen expected to support the candidacy of a Carol Moseley Braun were slowin recognizing the legitimacy of her campaign; of the prominent feminists,only Gloria Steinem campaigned for Moseley Braun's nomination. Dixon's bid for renomination was expected of the sixty-four year-oldprofessional politician; his marshalling of the party machine was"precisely that type of old boys' network that got me into this race,"according to Moseley Braun (Patner, pp. Ebony, pp. 39). 24-26.Haynes, K. So matters stood in 1991 when the Senate debacle of the ClarenceThomas-Anita Hill sexual harassment hearings took place. This brought her some small level ofprominence in the Chicago political scene, particularly in contrast to thepost-Harold Washington, white-dominated Democratic Party machine that wasreestablished by Richard M. 365)...I am qualified for this job. Point woman: In a dangerous year for incumbents, Carol Moseley Braun leads the challengers' charge. How she came to achieve this distinction -and how the popular national print media reported the topic - will be thesubjects of this commentary. "This ... According to SuePurrington, Moseley Braun's legislative aide during those early years: It was immediately obvious that Carol was in her element. "[we]behaved like women and underestimated our strength," was the only excuseJane Danowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Women's CampaignFund, had to offer by way of explaining the slighting of Carol MoseleyBraun's candidacy by the very groups to whose constituencies the Illinoiscandidate was making her appeal (Baker & Barrett, 1992, p. Attorney Hofeld'sentry into the race was a blessing in disguise for her candidacy. Senate was probably only aminor plus for the candidate. Daley, the former mayor's son and Mayor ofChicago himself since 1989. In order to be elected to such an office - an essentiallyunglamorous, no-name-value contest where incumbents usually are elected byvoters too apathetic to change their habit - Moseley Braun had to broadenher campaign to appeal to all constituencies, not just the blackneighborhood electorate she had previously courted. Partly because of the chaotic state of her campaign organization -several key personnel quit in frustration - Carol Moseley Braun was onlyable to raise enough funds for two last-minute television commercials. Senatewas severely under-reported in the national print media. 365), may havefigured that having the Democratic Party political machine supporting himwas all that was needed, but he seriously misjudged the mood of hisconstituency. I am more qualified than any of my opponents (Haynes, p. Daley. As during her primary run, the attentiongiven was too little to provide any consistent benefits. She became noted for herability to bring prosecutorial fervor to her debate-floor advocacy ofwhatever issue she was championing (usually of a traditionally liberal-Democratic bent). 365 & 381.Schneider, K. The candidate did notneed their political "acumen," though: she had foreseen the temper of thepublic long before they - her stump speech was well-honed by the primarycampaign against Dixon and Hofeld. In a year where theprime voter motivation came to be characterized as a backlash against"Politics as usual," Moseley Braun's lack of media barrage and the intimacyof her message-sending offered a very clear alternative to the type ofstandard brand candidate presented in the other two candidates, Dixon andmultimillionaire personal injury lawyer/amateur politician Al Hofeld. 365 & 381). Facin' Dixon. The primary victory finally brought Carol Moseley Braun the attentionand support of the political establishment - and the media. Woman of the year? S. This sets something of a bad precedent: while notattributing to Carol Moseley Braun the crimes of Jack the Ripper, she couldvery well have perpetrated such deeds and still been seen in a positivelight, given the haphazard boosterism of the national print media. Faced with afait accompli (and the unpleasant alternative of supporting a Republicancandidate, Rich Williamson, associated with incumbent President GeorgeBush), the Illinois State Democratic Party and the vaunted "Daley Machine"of Chicago stepped in to provide their candidate with some much-neededlogistical expertise and fund-raising apparatus. Voter revolt: A giant- killer in Illinois. All apparently took the Moseley Brauncampaign press kit and repeated it in verbatim paraphrases. Nevertheless, within thecontext of Roman Catholic society, particularly in the less-tolerant 196 s,her parents' break-up was thereby accompanied by a break with theirreligious "community." There was an attendant physical break with hercommunity for the young Carol as well: for financial reasons, it wasnecessary for her to move in with her grandmother in a black Chicagoneighborhood nicknamed "Bucket of Blood." "I had a chance to be part ofthe black experience on a lot of different levels" (Coyne, 1992, p. When Illinois' Alan Dixon stoodup on the Senate floor and declared for confirmation of Clarence Thomas asa Justice of the U. But this observer from the opposite camp was notparticularly interested in Moseley Braun's attributes, negative orwhatever; his positive appraisal of her campaign momentum was used as thebasis of an attack upon the national Republican campaign spearheaded byincumbent George Bush, whom the conservative commentator blamed for having"let your opponent set the rules (p. 122). It also broadened her constituency: for the first time, CarolMoseley Braun was elected not by friends and neighbors in her immediatecommunity, but by the population of one of the world's largest metropolitanareas. She graduated in 1972, going to work immediately for thefederal government as an assistant U. 24) isher comment upon this abrupt change from comfortable middle class security. 44-45.----------------------- 1 Carol MoseleyBraun's reaction to the televised spectacle was intensely emotional: I couldn't bring myself to watch the hearings full-time. 365 & 381). For their part, this potentialstatewide constituency had the opportunity to meet first-hand the candidatewhose rallies were always smallish, almost personal affairs. 26)." In the final analysis, then, national print media coverage of CarolMoseley Braun's successful bid for the U. thedecriminalization of marijuana) and the observation that, despite herclaimed "outsider" status, Carol Moseley Braun was in fact a fourteen-yearcareer politician. For all of 1992,in the popular national press only eleven feature articles discussed CarolMoseley Braun's Senate race with her as the central figure - of thoseeleven articles, six were in black-oriented publications (Ebony, Jet, BlackEssence). Community involvement was her metier from the very beginning; as ateenager it was encouraged by her parents. Inthis age of media identification/legitimization, however, the fact that hercampaign was forced to fall back upon old-fashioned foot-sloggingthroughout the state worked to Moseley Braun's advantage. Nevertheless, given the charged atmosphere of Chicagopolitics in the post-Richard Daley era, when Democrats and Republicans bothcampaigned against Harold Washington (who successfully became Chicago'sfirst black mayor) on thinly-veiled racial platforms, the pressures on theMoseley-Braun family would have been as much from exterior sources as fromthe usual conflicts within. 25-26). 122).By constantly repeating these refrains - their "club" versus myqualifications - Carol Moseley Braun successfully beat out Dixon in theDemocratic Senate primary race by drawing 38% of the vote to his 35%(Hofeld lagged even further behind, in the mid-2 th percentile). Within a year of graduating law school and reintroducing herself backinto the familiar world of political/government activity, albeit on thefederal level, Carol Moseley had taken a step outside the mainstream - bymarrying white law school classmate Michael Braun. At the same time,it must be conceded, that same media's inattention led them to virtualacceptance of the candidate at face value; not interested in investigatingthe race at any length, they were content to accept the candidateuncritically. R. Again it should be reiterated: above the local state level (and itshould be remembered that Illinois is a large state that should attractnational attention), Carol Moseley Braun's candidacy for the U. With her late father, JoeMoseley, a law enforcement officer during an era when politics and policewere inseparable, Carol Moseley Braun's first familial influences were theward and the community. 12 -121)." It did not matter that theRepublican opponent was himself younger than Moseley Braun, not anincumbent, and, by most bipartisan accounts, entirely supportive of hiscareer-oriented wife who was serving on the Illinois Board of HigherEducation - he even incurred the wrath of the religious right by signing-onwith Ann Stone's attempted Pro-Choice addition to the Republican Partyplank at the national convention that summer (Coyne, pp. This was her first foray outside the world of Chicago politics - andby all accounts she was comfortable in it. Her personalpresentations were effective: "She's articulate. Her strategies fordefusing off-floor conflicts and ameliorating the injured feelings ofopponents was apparently effective: in 1983 she became Harold Washington'slegislative floor leader in the State capitol. She would thengo on to challenge the status quo of the Republican-headed federalgovernment - and, by extension, her opponent, who had served in the Reaganand Bush Administrations: "The real test is what kind of human being youare and what kind of mark you make." There would always be in herstatements, finally, the ultimate contrast drawn between her "human"campaign versus "an elitist club made up of mostly White (sic) malemillionaires over 5 (Haynes, pp. S., & Tamarkin, C. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.