Danny Davis 'Infidel' Ad: Attacks Black Voters Who Oppose Carol Moseley Braun

Once upon a time, Congressman Danny Davis was vying with ex-Senator Carol Moseley Braun to be named the "consensus black candidate" for mayor by a group of Chicago's African-American leaders.

When Braun won that title, Davis became one of her many prominent supporters. And a recent radio ad shows the astonishing depths of his support.

The spot, which Braun posted on her Facebook page, is a barely-veiled exhortation to the city's black population to vote for Braun. ("Every community has its interests," a female narrator says in introducing Davis.) Recent polls show Rahm Emanuel, the race's apparent front-runner, receiving as much support among African-Americans as Braun. Two other black candidates, Patricia Watkins and Dock Walls, haven't moved the needle much.

But to hear Davis tell it, behind an epic swelling of strings, it would be treachery of Biblical proportions for blacks to leave Braun for Emanuel.

"I remember two principles of liberation and self-determination that my parents taught," Davis says in a booming, explosive baritone. "My mother often told us that it is a poor dog that will not wag its own tail. My father would tell us that the Bible says any man who will not support his own house is worse than any infidel.

"In honor of my parents during Black History Month, I am voting for Carol Moseley Braun for mayor, and ask that you vote for the best candidate. Punch 3 for Carol Moseley Braun."

Ted McClelland at NBC Chicago tracked down the Bible verse to which he refers: 1 Timothy 5:8, which reads, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

The ad, played on radio stations popular with black audiences over the weekend, apparently aims to turn those "infidels" who might have been leaning Emanuel's way back to the path of righteousness. It was paid for by "United Communities of Chicago," a group funded largely by black real estate mogul and Braun supporter Elzie L. Higginbottom, in the guise of ELH Partners.

Click through to CMB's Facebook page to listen to the ad.

Comments

[YOKEL13]

03:58 PM on 02/23/2011

The mayoral results show that black voters are in favor of competence over color.

[gogogadget]

02:23 AM on 02/24/2011

Too bad that wasn't the case when it came to POTUS this last election.

[YOKEL13]

02:32 AM on 02/24/2011

Apparently you've forgotten who was on the GOPster ticket.

[softvoice]

07:23 AM on 02/23/2011

Mr. Davis seems to believe the color of the skin is more important than the candidate themselves. He should know better than anyone that Rahm Emanuel has supported the African American community and will continue to do so. Mr. Davis needs to be careful that he does not separate himself from those who are willing to work together for the greater good of Chicago and for the country as a whole.

[WiltonDiary]

02:30 AM on 02/23/2011

Dear Danny: As a tired and worn old white man who supported Carol M B in the past. I have to say between you and her you cooked your own greens. Please, it is time to move forward and don't look back at the disaster you two have left behind.

It is no longer 1969 it is now 2011 and you lost big.

[eddie10]

04:09 AM on 02/23/2011

Well said! As a Black guy, I would say that Danny tried to use race to attact blacks and they didn't do so. Danny is too old and still doesn't get it that it's 2011.

[MrSolo]

01:28 AM on 02/23/2011

So yesteryear.

[DingoBuzzy]

11:39 PM on 02/22/2011

The sooner Davis and Braun have their race-baiting tails out of Illinois politics, the better it will be for the black community. Two known crooks are NOT who I would want "representing" me.

[YOKEL13]

03:59 PM on 02/23/2011

Maybe Roland Burris will make room on his tombstone for their names.

[brandonbecker0728]

08:44 PM on 02/22/2011

Danny Davis is a bigot, there is no way around that. His way of thinking--his mindset needs to go away. Its a sad way to see things in a world class city like Chicago.

[Alfreda Heard]

08:40 PM on 02/22/2011

EXCUSE ME, I am offended that the Braun team would try to intimidate the black vote. How dare you! I have the right to vote for whomever I please. Less we not forget her record of pocketing campaign money, paying her "boyfriend" $15,000 per month. Don't even try that Sh*t!

[Laryssa]

06:41 PM on 02/22/2011

Hi...my name is laryssa and I'm an infidel ---- (all together now) hiiiii laryssa!

[hollybcars]

06:10 PM on 02/22/2011

I'm white and voted for Braun when she ran for US Senate (big mistake as she was a horrible Senator) - am I an infidel? All the Whites, Hispanics, Asians who voted for Obama both as Senator and President - are we infidels for voting for someone who is not the same color as we are?

The reason to NOT vote for Braun as nothing to do with her color. The job of US Senator is hard but not as complex as being mayor of Chicago. She couldn't handle being a Senator - no way can she function effectively as the mayor of one of the country's largest cities.

[wonderweirdo]

08:54 PM on 02/23/2011

That's the exact same position I'm in. I was so embarrassed about having had voted for her, and I'm so grateful she has not been able to get into public office since.

[gogogadget]

02:25 AM on 02/24/2011

No, your not infidels for voting for Obama, just idiots.

[hollybcars]

09:21 AM on 02/24/2011

The first sign of a small mind is someone who stoops to name calling to make their point

[Anarchy4hire]

05:22 PM on 02/22/2011

and here we are paying for his parent's psychosis

[CaptainVideo]

05:19 PM on 02/22/2011

" it would be treachery of Biblical proportions for blacks to leave Braun for Emanuel."

If a white politician had said something like that about whites leaving a white candidate for a black one, for example leaving McCain for Obama, it would have been denounced as blatently rascist, and correctly so. This is no different.

In light of the fact that Braun is running a race-based campaign, the worse she does the better, to demonstrate that this kind of race-based bigotry is no longer acceptable.

[DrBillo1]

05:18 PM on 02/22/2011

oh,its just the White's who are always accused of racism--Davis belongs with all the biased people of our society-he still wants to be mayor,it will never happen!!!

[antonymous]

03:49 PM on 02/22/2011

Meanwhile in the cosmopolitan word: Chicago lost 20 percent of its black population since the last Census, black Chicagoans who stayed are drifting to mixed neighborhoods outside the Black Belt, and Caroline Moseley-Braun consistently polls under 10 percent, when black Chicagoans make up over 30 per cent of the population.

The white ethnics went quietly - after two decades of Daley rule, they didn't even put up a candidate this time, and most of their surviving aldermen are retiring this year - but The Machine's black counterpart seems to be kicking and screaming its way into history as its base shrinks and becomes less insular. Where's a Harold Washington when you need him?

[KDMac]

03:56 PM on 02/22/2011

There's a "Black Belt?"

[CaptainVideo]

05:24 PM on 02/22/2011

"The white ethnics went quietly ... they didn't even put up a candidate this time"

So a Jew does not qualify as an etnic candidate?

[lezahgg]

09:43 AM on 02/23/2011

I think a Jew is definitely an ethnic candidate in that he is not a White Anglo Saxon Protestant but he did not run as an ethnic candidate. I don't think anyone did except for Carol Mosely Braun who really disappointed me. I was very excited when she was elected Senator and thought of her as a "post racial" candidate and am sorry that some of her supporters like Danny Davis resorted to old school tactics. I was very impressed with this campaign in that none of the candidates seemed to run on race or ethnicity until CMB got desperate at the end. No doubt African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Jews were pleased to see one of their own running and I work closely with members of all these groups and when we discussed the election I didn't get the impression that my colleagues were basing their votes on race or ethnicity. I think it's a good thing and we've come a long way in 40 years in Chicago.

[ItAintNoRocketScience]

02:30 PM on 02/22/2011

Poor Danny. Don't get mad at the voters, Danny, simply because you let CMB schmooze your own campaign away from you. It's not the voter's fault that CMB never ran television ads or didn't raise much money. It's not the voters' fault that CMB uses words like "rape and pillage" at press conferences. So if you want to be disappointed in anyone, be disappointed in yourself, sir. Don't be mad at us for your own foolishness at letting a fool be your consensus candidate. What a joke.

[msdarrla]

04:01 PM on 02/22/2011

I just read about CMB's comments in today's paper. I do not understand how anyone could want her representing the City of Chicago. I am embarrased every time she opens her mouth.

[CaptainVideo]

05:25 PM on 02/22/2011

She's a divider, not a uniter.

[ItAintNoRocketScience]

05:53 PM on 02/22/2011

I saw it last night on "Chicago Tonight." I couldn't believe what such a spectacular fool she made of herself. Thanks the heavens she's not going to be mayor. I think I'd move to the burbs if that had happened. She's a complete and utter fool. And those who believed in her campaign and stepped aside to make her the "consensus candidate" (whatever that's supposed to mean...) got bamboozled.

[WinDeCity]

01:54 PM on 02/22/2011

Carol Braun is good because Danny says she is good.