Black candidates are in this bind all over the country: Run as a Democrat and you compete against two partiesRepublicans and white Democratsboth of whom seem intent on using black people as a symbolic wedge or voting cattle, but not as equal partners in the governing process. Chances are Northam and Virginia Democrats will patch this up before the story moves from 24-hour blip to 72-hour tsunami, but this never should have happened to begin with.
For some reason, when it comes to African-American candidates, the basic rules of party loyalty, organization and strategy dont seem to apply.
This is a governors election, not a junior high sleepover. No one should be getting removed from flyers or having their image blocked over one issue, when obtaining state power is the overall goal. The Democratic resistance cant happen without black voters, black fundraising and black organizers; if Democrats cant even figure out how to keep black statewide candidates on campaign materials, theyll have no one to blame but themselves.
