Clone Barack Obama?

After Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic convention, praise for his speech was near unanimous, and here and there comments were made about the scarcity of men like him in the GOP.

Stanley Crouch wrote in the New York Daily News that he heard a black Republican say, "The GOP needs to clone him and get started on presenting someone black with Republican ideas."

That statement is laughable on Staten Island, where I live, because the only black political candidates here have been Republican. It's hard to believe that in a borough of New York City, the Democrats have never found an African American worthy to run on its party line, but that is exactly the case on Staten Island.

This borough, while predominantly conservative, still has a registered Democratic majority that has never elected a black to serve in state or federal government.

One could argue that this is because Staten Island has always had a predominantly white population and thus fewer available candidates, but that excuse won't wash in the 21st century. Debi Rose, an African-American Democrat, couldn't even win her party's endorsement for City Council in 2001.

In 2000, the GOP ran two candidates, Al Curtis for state Senate and Terry Player for Assembly, and both ran well considering the lack of funding from the state's Republican Party. This year, Mr. Curtis has an excellent chance for the vacated Senate seat and has received the support of not only Albany, but the Conservative and Independent parties as well.

Internal polling data has indicated Mr. Curtis will beat any Democrat candidate in November. So, of course, the Democrats are doing whatever they can to discredit his candidacy. Christopher Nalley, the Democratic law chairman, filed a complaint with the Board of Elections, challenging Mr. Curtis's eligibility to run in the 23rd District.

The complaint says a candidate must live in the district for 12 months by Election Day. Mr. Nalley claims that because Mr. Curtis voted last from his old district (the 24th), he is not eligible to run.

Mr. Curtis, born in Liberia, is the former president and CEO of the U.N. Development Corporation and onetime head of the city Department of Youth Services. He sold his house in Willowbrook last July and now lives in Tompkinsville. This challenge to his candidacy will likely be overruled. Still, one has to wonder if the move to derail his run for the state Senate is a sign of desperation by the local Democrats.

Besides securing the support of the other major political parties, he has also received the endorsement of the powerful health and human service union, Local 1199. This union, which normally supports Democratic candidates, has pledged to mobilize member volunteers and offered its phone banking system for his campaign use.

This past Saturday, Mr. Curtis opened his campaign office at 150 Bay St. and celebrated with a rally that attracted quite a diverse group of supporters. Businessman and community leader Jhong Uhk Kim pledged the support of the borough's 10,000 strong Korean population. Igor Baboshkin, president of the Russian Council and publisher of the Island's only Russian newspaper, is also a supporter.

The borough president, James Molinaro, said this race is winnable for Mr. Curtis, but that the real battleground will be in Brooklyn. Mr. Molinaro also said the state GOP has given 110% to help Mr. Curtis.

Bob Conroy, the chairman of the Brooklyn Independent Party and a Ralph Nader supporter, recognizes that a Curtis win opens up new options for his community, which has been sorely neglected by the Republican-controlled state Senate.

The crowd of about 300 people was treated to gospel music, cold drinks, and testimonials from Island politicians and enthusiastically cheered in agreement when Curtis said, "The guys before me did absolutely nothing for you."

The most stunning surprise came when I met Bill Taitt, who was the community liaison for Democratic Council Member Michael McMahon. He told me he had just handed in his resignation to volunteer for Al Curtis.

"I have the utmost respect and admiration for Mike, who is a fine leader and a great man of integrity. It was a difficult choice to make. But I believe that Al Curtis has the vision to make this a historic victory, and I can't let my party affiliation get in the way."

Mr. Taitt also went on to say that Mr. McMahon had inspired him to take this stand because the councilman had taken difficult positions that sometimes went against the party line. It was obvious that Mr. Taitt's admiration for Michael McMahon was as considerable as his enthusiasm for Al Curtis's campaign for the Senate.

If Al Curtis's message can successfully garner support across political party and racial lines for the Republicans as he has demonstrated, then it's obvious the GOP has no need to clone more Barack Obamas. The real problem for black Republicans seems to be sidestepping all the obstacles the Democrats throw at them.