The new chief

by Carter Wrenn, Talking About Politics, July 31, 2013.

No sooner did the state legislators vamoose out of town than the pundits begin publishing post-mortems and obituaries.

Republicans, they opined, had a ‘breathtaking session,’ marched right off the right end of the earth, passed bills that hurt everyone from the poor to the lame, halt and maimed, and got pounded for their wicked ways by the new ‘star’ of the Democratic Party, Reverend William Barber.

Reverend Barber turned out to be an unexpected phenomenon.

His flamboyance propelled him into the spotlight and, overnight, he became the voice of the Democratic Party. He’s been in the newspaper more than the Governor and ten times more than any Democratic legislator.

In an editorial, Ned Barnett over at the News and Observer wrote, ‘Republicans became villains’ during the session of the legislature – and to the extent that’s so, in no small part is it due to Reverend Barber’s rhetorical fireballs.

After the election last fall there was a yawning vacuum in the North Carolina Democratic Party. It had no leader. Reverend Barber stepped forward and filled the vacuum. He’s now the most prominent Democrat in North Carolina politics. What he says on taxes, spending, education, and justice matters. He has invigorated Democratic activists beyond what was imaginable last fall. But when all’s said and done, for Democrats, will he turn out to be a two-edged sword?

For instance, his ‘Letter from the Wake County Jail’ was a demagogue’s pale mimic of Martin Luther King’s letter from the Birmingham jail. And compare what President Obama said about the Trayvon Martin verdict to what Reverend Barber said. President Obama calmly explained why the verdict had a special – historical – meaning to African-Americans. He also made the point both sides had their say at a fair trial decided by a jury. Obama shed light. He explained African-Americans’ angst toward whites. And reminded African-Americans juries deserve respect.

What did Reverend Barber do? He stepped to a microphone at a Moral Monday demonstration and, milking the moment for all it was worth, bellowed Trayvon Martin was ‘lynched’ by Southern justice.

He shed no light.

Reverend Barber’s a force unto himself. Donning the vestments of the church before each demonstration – painting a self-portrait of himself as the voice of a higher ‘moral’ conscience – he steps to the microphone hurling rhetorical fireballs. But he is also an old-fashioned demagogue who is as radical to the left as he accuses to Republicans of being to the right. The Democratic faithful are hoping his fireballs will give birth to a tidal wave of indignation that will sweep them to victory next election – but beware, in the end, instead they may scorch the earth beneath Democrats’ feet.