Ohio Congresswoman on President Obama: "His advisors do him a disservice"

[wyethwire]

Note: I accidently posted in "Latest Breaking News" and the thread was locked, so I moved it over here.

Hiram College Professor Jason Johnson recently interviewed Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-Cleveland) about President Obama's campaign in Ohio.

http://drjasonjohnson.com/2011/12/19/jason-johnson-interviews-congresswoman-marcia-fudge/

Johnson: As the only African American Congressperson in the state of Ohio you’re unofficially the head of Black politics and a key part of Obama’s campaign there in 2012. What do you think Obama needs to do win Ohio, and especially to win Black voters?

Fudge: First I want to say that I am 100% behind the president. But, the first thing I would tell him or his handlers is to commit to Ohio early. Don’t wait until a couple of weeks before the election to show up. I’d tell him to make sure that his team is willing to work with local people here in Ohio who know what’s going on and how things work here. He also needs to get with the people more. It’s fine to show up in Columbus and Strongsville (a western suburb of Cleveland) but he needs to get with the people more. Shore up his base. That’s what I would tell him.

Johnson: Why doesn’t he do that more often? Do you think he doesn’t know any better or is it the people he’s working with?

Fudge: I really think his advisors do him a disservice. Those advisors don’t really know the community well.

[FarPoint]

1. Marcia is no Stephanie Tubb Jones.

I sense she's a risk taker... burning bridges at the moment.

[wyethwire]

2. More from the article

Johnson: It’s subsided a bit since this summer, but there is a lot a anger out there in the Black community about the president. More anger against him than there was against Bill Clinton even after some of the things that Clinton did. Do you think that this anger is real, or is the press playing it up? Also do you think it’s justified?

Fudge: I think it’s a combination of both. Black people had high expectations of Obama, high expectations of having a Black president. Some were unrealistic. Many people felt like their lives would change, but they look around and there’s still foreclosures, high unemployment, so no change. And since the whole [campaign] was about change – they are frustrated. And you know, we’re harder on our own than anybody else.

The media also plays it up as well. They wanted to play up disagreements with Obama and the CBC and make that a big issue. I’ll say this, I support the president, sometimes I disagree with him, but his job is completely different than mine. He has to consider everything, the whole country, my job is to look at my single district, District 11 (in Ohio). We may not always agree but I support him and I know he has a different job than me.

[provis99]

3. so basically Fudge completely made shit up.

Why is this in a news article?

[wyethwire]

4. It will be interesting

too see how her primary turns out