The anger was there, barely under the surface, but seething just the same. I, for one, was pleased that Election 2000 had not been forgotten. And, it was evident that some folks are ready for Election 2002 to be The Big Payback.

At the recent national NAACP convention, there were few speakers who didn’t touch on the election of 2000. “Election 2000 is one where we will feel the pain for many years,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, addressing the nearly 20,000 attendees at the convention in Houston. NAACP board chairman Julian Bond said of the Bush administration, “Even though they lost the election, they operate as if they have a mandate.”

NAACP Executive Director Kwesi Mfume reiterated the organization’s call for election reform. “Election reform is not a request—it is a demand,” he said and added, “The right to vote is the most sacred right of all.” These and similar remarks drew thunderous applause.
It was clear that most folks at the convention felt that their sacred right to vote had been violated. And there was strong determination that would not happen again. For example, NAACP officials throughout the country have registered 120,000 new voters.

And, there were aggressive registration efforts witnessed at the convention. These calls for voter empowerment and the shots taken at George W. Bush resulted in the organization being chastised by Republican officials and the media for being partisan. But Mfume set the record straight on that weak charge when he said, “Not every Republican is your enemy, not every Democrat is your friend.”

But the NAACP made it clear that people who steal elections are not their friends. Throughout the course of the week in Houston, there were discussions and planning sessions and strategy meetings on voter registration, voter education and voter empowerment.   The payback theme even made its way to handouts at the Wednesday labor luncheon.

Among the give-away items on the luncheon tables were fans created by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists that said: “Election 2000: Stolen. Election 2002: Payback.”
Watch for that payback come November.