NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012VOLUME 20 NO. 45 www.flcourier.com

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CoMMenTaRY: dR e. FaYe WilliaMs, esQ.: PaYing iT FoRWaRd WiTh aCTions, deeds | a5

CoMMenTaRY: geoRge e. CuRRY: obaMa’s Media CoveRage halF as PosiTive as 2008 | a5

ROMNEYOptiMistic uNtil thE vERY ENd

pAGE B2

uNBROKENA Black voter backlash against GOp voter suppression tactics helped

Barack Obama administer an Electoral college beatdown of Mitt Romney. But the political players in d.c. – and serious challenges – remain the same.

COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

President Obama overcame a disappointingly slow economic re-covery and a massive advertising onslaught to win a second term Tuesday night, forging a coalition of non-Whites, women, and young people that reflects the changing political face of America.

More than one million TV ads were aired during the presiden-tial campaign and more than $2.5 billion was spent on campaign ac-tivities, much of it from outside groups. Even so, the political map ended up looking much as it did in 2008.

And for all the agitation and un-happiness with Washington, a con-stant of public opinion this election season, the federal government in January will look much as it does today. In the fight for Congress, Re-publicans held onto the House ma-jority they captured in 2010 and Democrats beat back long odds to keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Tougher raceFor Obama, 51, winning a sec-

ond term proved far more difficult than his barrier-breaking romp four years ago to become the nation’s first Black president. His re-elec-tion drive bore only a faint resem-blance to the uplift and aspiration of 2008. Even Obama supporters said the campaign was less a cru-sade than a rear-guard fight to pre-serve the accomplishments of the last four years.

The president did make histo-ry of a fashion Tuesday, becoming the first incumbent since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second term with unemployment above 7.4 per-cent. At 7.8 percent, the overall job-less rate stands a tick up from when Obama took office amid the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

FlORidA

Old FAcEs iN sAME plAcEsMost incumbents stay in officeFROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTSFLORIDA COURIER

Here is a roundup of election results of interest to Black Floridians.

NelsoN sTaysU.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, retained his seat

in Congress by defeating Republican challenger Connie Mack. He returns to Washington for a third term as the only Democrat in statewide office in Florida. The 13-per-centage point win over Mack helped the Democrats re-tain control of the Senate.

“I’d like to say that Connie Mack was my opponent – not my enemy,” Nelson said in a written statement follow-ing his re-election. “You know, these days the extremists in our political system try to divide. We need to unify. ”

DefiaNT WesT losesIn Florida’s 18th District, the race was too close to call

Tuesday night. However, by Wednesday morning U.S.

Rep. Allen West, a Black Republican, had been defeated by Patrick Murphy by less than one percentage vote and 2,456 votes.

Still, West refused to concede to Murphy. “This race is far from decided and there is no rush to

declare an outcome. Ensuring a fair and accurate count-ing of all ballots is of the utmost importance,” West’s cam-paign manager, Tim Edson, said in a statement.

The Tea Party-backed Republican demanded a partial

recount of Florida ballots in the district as well as the ver-ification of provisional ballots and a final count of absen-tee ballots. However, he lost by more than a .05 percent vote margin, which requires an automatic recount under Florida law.

DemiNgs, laWsoN fall shorTDemocrat Val Demings, the first Black police chief in

Orlando, lost her bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Dan Webster in a race for Florida’s 10th Congressional District. Webster earned 51.9 percent of the vote to Demings’ 48.1 percent. Celebrations were still held in the Demings household as her husband, Jerry Demings, was re-elected Orange County sheriff.

Also losing his congressional race was former Florida Sen. Al Lawson, who challenged U.S. Rep. Steve Souther-land. Incumbent Southerland won 52 percent of the vote and returns for a second term in Congress.

floriDa seNaTeRedistricting in both the Florida House of Representa-

tives and the Florida Senate affected some incumbents geographically, but not electorially. Sen. Audrey Gibson’s district once covered parts of Volusia, Flagler, St. John, Putnam and Duval counties; she’s now limited to Duval. It didn’t matter, as Gibson defeated Republican challeng-er Cherron “CC” Newby by a 28-point margin.

Other winners in the Florida Senate include Geraldine Thompson, who beat Republican contender Fritz Jack-son Seide; Dwight Bullard, who defeated Republican Scott Hopes; and upcoming Senate Democratic Lead-er Christopher “Chris” Smith, who defeated Republican candidate Christopher “Chris” Smithmyer.

vOtER tuRNOut

Number of votes cast is record for Floridaa2

supREME cOuRt

Pioneer justice easilyretains seata3

EditORiAl

Columnists weigh in on the electiona4

NAtiON

Historic votes for gay marriage, marijuanaa6

FlORidA

Residents brave long lines, other issuesB1

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT

President Barack Obama and the first family took the stage Tuesday in Chicago after the president was re-elected.

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Gone – Conservative firebrand U.S. Rep. Allen West was dumped after a close race in South Florida.

See OBAMA, Page A2

See FLORIDA, Page A2

spEciAl ElEctiON issuE

A2 NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012FOCUS

BY MICHAEL PELTIERTHE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Nearly 8.4 million Florida vot-ers cast ballots in the 2012 gener-al election, a record number that pushed voter turnout over 70 per-cent and may have changed for-ever both parties’ strategies for getting out the vote.

An unprecedented amount of early voting characterized by long lines, and a Democratic push for absentees, brought in more than half the number of ballots cast for the entire election before Elec-tion Day.

more ThaN 2008As of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday,

8,386,361 voters had cast ballots. That’s up from 8,351,358 cast in 2008, which until Tuesday held the record for numerical turnout. Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties still had absentee bal-lots that needed to be counted.

Tuesday’s 70.3 percent partic-ipation failed to eclipse races in 2008 and 2004, in which 75 per-cent and 74 percent of registered voters, respectively, cast ballots.

Black voTers hurTAmong the 2012 major trends

were the number of ballots cast early. Despite fewer early voting days, more than 2.4 million vot-ers cast ballots at one of 300 early

voting sites across the state.In addition, 2.1 million cast

absentee ballots. Taken together, they comprised more than half of all 8.4 million votes.

A Dartmouth University study suggests that Black voters were disproportionately affected by the reduction in early voting days, an apparent blow to Demo-cratic candidates. But the short-ened days apparently did not de-ter voters, who stood in line for hours in some areas of the state to cast ballots.

oBama orgaNizaTioN key

Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said the party benefit-

ed from the strong organization brought into the state on behalf of President Obama, whose cam-paign machine rolled into the state and mobilized thousands of volunteers. In addition, the cam-paign brought in fulltime orga-nizers to mobilize student and Hispanic voters.

“The changing demograph-ic of Florida, and the long-term way in which I see Florida poli-tics changing over time, was ev-ident,” Smith said Wednesday. “And for at least this cycle, we ad-justed to it well and we took ad-vantage of it.”

WhaT aBouT 2014?Smith said his successor must

continue those grassroots, orga-nizational efforts to provide the same sort of ground cover for the upcoming 2014 campaign, a midterm test in which the state will be largely on its own without a presidential race to drive turn-out.

Lacking the financial resources of its Republican counterpart, the Democratic Party is going to have to rely on such efforts to improve its performance in statewide and local races.

“When we begin to win the governorship and Cabinet posi-tions, then there’s an entire game change in Tallahassee in terms of resource allocation, in terms of energy and focus,” Smith said.

Number of votes cast is record for Florida

floriDa houseIn the Florida House of

Representatives, Mia Jones of Jacksonville easily re-tained her seat against Lib-ertarian contender Jona-than Loesche.

Other winners in the House: Randolph Bracy de-feated Republican Ronney Roger Oliveira; Larry Lee, Jr. defeated Republican Mi-chelle Miller; upcoming House Democratic Leader Perry E. Thurston, Jr. beat Republican candidate Scott Herman; and Kionne L. McGhee, Sharon Pritchett, Barbara Watson and Clovis Watson each secured 100 percent of the vote in their respective districts against write-in candidates.

ameNDmeNTs fall shorT

Measures that would have offered expansive property tax relief, set new limits on abortion rights and repeal Florida’s ban on public funding for church-es and other religious or-ganizations were among eight of 11 proposed state constitutional amend-ments that fell short of the required 60 percent ap-proval Tuesday.

A high-profile propos-al that would have capped the growth of state revenue and one that would give the Florida Legislature great-er control over Florida’s court system also failed. So did another proposal that would have prohibited the state from requiring people to obtain health insurance.

The three amendments that passed all gave tax breaks to specific groups: Amendment 2 to veter-ans; Amendment 9 to sur-viving spouses of veterans and first responders; and Amendment 11 to low-in-come seniors.

No loveRising Republican star

Mia Love, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this summer, would have be-come the first Black Re-publican woman elect-ed to Congress. Democrat Jim Matheson, a 12-year incumbent who was Utah’s lone Democrat in Washington, beat Love by less than one percentage point.

The News Service of Florida was used in com-piling this report.

FLORIDAfrom A1

Incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson is all smiles after handily beating Republican Con-nie Mack IV. Concidentally, Mack’s wife Mary Bono Mack also lost her Califor-nia congressional race.

COURTESY OF SEN. AUDREY GIBSON

Small business owner Traci Evans (center) said she sees positive results because of President Obama’s tax cuts for small businesses. She is with Jackson-ville-based legislators - Rep. Mia Jones at left and Sen. Audrey Gibson on the right.

Black unemployment remains in double-digits, with Black male unem-ployment at 50 percent or more in large urban neigh-borhoods.

haD oBama’s BackBlacks and Latinos vot-

ed overwhelmingly in fa-vor Obama, with the pres-ident again earning more than 90 percent of the Afri-can-American vote and 71 percent of Latinos, accord-ing to exit polls.

Blacks of every age group proved that they had Obama’s back: 18-29 (91 percent), 30-44 (94 per-cent), 45-64 (93 percent) and 65 and above (93 per-cent).

“From Florida to Virgin-ia to Ohio to Pennsylva-nia, the Black vote was the

deciding force in the most important states in this election,” says Ben Jeal-ous, president/CEO of the NAACP, which, on Elec-tion Eve, issued a state-ment saying it would have turned out more than 1.2 million voters by the times polls closed on Election Day. The NAACP called it the largest get-out-the-vote success in its 103-year his-tory.

The effort was partial-ly in response to what civ-il rights leaders viewed as a rogue campaign by Re-publicans to change voting laws to make it more diffi-cult for African-Americans to vote. Most of the new laws were struck down in court challenges while an army of African-Americans got registered and recruit-ed others to assure victory on Nov. 6.

“My heroes are our mem-bers who stood up to voter intimidation, who turned

back voter suppression, who set records for voter registration and turnout,” Jealous said. “We were suc-cessful in mobilizing our community through an incredible storm of vot-er repression because we planned our work and we worked our plan.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., who spent the final days before the election getting out the vote in Ohio rather than in his Chicago home-town, noted Obama’s up-hill battle against racism.

“The personal attacks on the president – ‘You’re a liar, you’re not an Ameri-can, you’re not a Christian, you’re a retard’” – Jackson recalled the hateful state-ments made by some Rom-ney supporters during the campaign.

“People took those hits as personal and aimed at them. He was bearing the cross for us. Those are the things they call us every

day …And it made him a martyr for all practical pur-poses. He had to take that stuff. He had to take those insults. They’d never treat-ed the president that way before.”

female supporTWomen favored Obama

55 percent to 43 percent, about the same as it was four years ago (56 percent). But there was a sharp di-vision, with unmarried women preferring Obama 68 percent to 30 percent and married women back-ing Romney 53 percent to 46 percent.

Among White vot-ers, Romney led Obama 58 percent to 40 percent, three points better than John McCain’s showing in 2008. Obama received on-ly 36 percent of the White male vote, compared with 41 percent four years ago.

Obama did better with families earning less than

$50,000 a year, Mitt Rom-ney did slightly better with middle class voters and held a wider margin among those earning $100,000 or more. Obama again won the youth vote, though by a smaller margin than four years ago.

kepT his sTaTesObama was ahead of

Romney Wednesday night by approximately 2.8 mil-lion votes of 118 million cast in the general election, but is expected to win the Electoral College by a large margin when electors meet on Dec. 17 to officially de-termine who becomes the next president of the Unit-ed States.

Obama and Vice Presi-dent Joe Biden carried most of the swing states, includ-ing Michigan, Romney’s birthplace; Massachusetts, where Romney served as governor; New Hampshire, where Romney has a sum-mer home; Wisconsin, the home state of Congressman Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee; as well as Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Virginia.

Obama was leading Romney in Florida by about 49,000 votes, or 0.6 percentage points, as of late Wednesday night. By that time, almost all of the state’s 8.4 million votes cast had been counted. Ab-sentee ballots were still be-ing counted in six coun-ties, and federal absentee ballots from members of the U.S. military were still coming in.

elecToral process

Of the 538 electors, Obama needs only 270 to win. He is poised to collect approximately 322 votes in the Electoral College to Romney’s 206. If that figure holds up, it will be down from the 365 electoral votes Obama won in 2008.

State electoral votes

are reported to Congress, which usually meets in a joint session on Jan. 6 fol-lowing a presidential elec-tion. Vice President Jo-seph Biden, as president of the Senate, will pre-side over the joint session. He will open the electoral vote certificates from each state in alphabetical order and pass the certificates to four vote counters or tell-ers, two appointed by the House and two appointed by the Senate.

After the votes are count-ed, the vice president will announce the results.

more hisToryObama becomes the first

African-American to win a second term in the White House. Following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, his elec-tion marks the third con-secutive time a U.S. presi-dent has been re-elected to a second term.

The president, who made two Supreme Court appointments in his first term, will most likely get an opportunity to make an-other appointment to the court, possibly two. De-pending on who retires from the court, Obama’s appointments could alter the direction of the court, which has been drifting to the right.

Work To DoHis first challenge will be

a budget showdown with Republicans, who want to reduce the deficit sole-ly through spending cuts. Obama, on the other hand, is insisting on a combina-tion of cuts and increased revenue, including repeal of the Bush tax cuts that fa-vor the wealthy.

George E. Curry of the National Newspaper Pub-lishers Association; Hazel Trice Edney of the Trice Edney Newswire; and Mark Z. Barabak of the Los Angeles Times (MCT) contributed to this report.

OBAMAfrom A1

CAROLYN COLE/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Ann Romney wave to supporters in Boston after Rom-ney lost the election on Tuesday.

A3ELECTION 2012november 9 - november 15, 2012

bY KATHLeen HAUGHneYSUN SENTINEL (MCT)

TALLAHASSEE — In the end, Florida didn’t actually matter at all.

And that’s a good thing. Because even though Pres-ident Obama got more than enough electoral votes to win re-election Tuesday, Florida was still officially up for grabs on Wednes-day.

No, there are no hang-ing chads or butterfly bal-lots this time. Not even any major glitches. And unlike 2000, there won’t be a re-count where the future of the country hangs in the balance.

But with record turn-out – more than 70 percent – local elections supervi-sors are still trying to tally absentee and provisional ballots that could push the Florida outcome one way or the other.

As of Wednesday after-noon, nine counties, includ-ing Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, were still tallying those votes.

“We are trying to work as fast as we can,” Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elec-tions Susan Bucher said.

And though the Florida Department of State ac-knowledged it was possible that the counties could fin-ish counting absentee bal-lots by the end of the day, it’s likely a total vote count won’t be available until Saturday.

Butt of jokesIn contrast, even Hawaii,

which is five hours behind Florida, was able to call

the state right after 6 p.m. local time when the polls closed.

As of Wednesday night, Obama was leading in Florida by 49,884 votes. It’s likely he will maintain the lead.

The fact that Florida can’t call the state yet for either Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has officially conceded, has put us once again in the political spot-light, and made the state the butt of national jokes.

More seriously, the im-ages of long lines of Florid-ians waiting to vote have given Democrats and vot-ing rights groups a plat-form to attack Republicans for changes they made in a 2011 election law that shortened the number of early voting days from 14 to eight.

Needs fixiNgLeading up to the elec-

tion, Florida was already getting lots of attention.

Images of long, long lines of people in South Florida waiting to cast ballots dur-ing early voting dominated the airwaves. Many voters in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties reported waiting several hours. That continued on Election Day with some voters in Miami not get-ting done at the polls until about 1:30 a.m.

Even Obama seemed to have noticed, making an apparent jab at Florida in his acceptance speech ear-ly Wednesday morning.

“I want to thank every American who participat-ed in this election whether

you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time,” he said. “By the way, we have to fix that.”

And the president is not the only one saying that.

AN emBArrAssmeNt

Gov. Rick Scott, when questioned last week about the long voter lines, said that seeing so many peo-ple turn out to do their civ-ic duty was “exciting.”

On Wednesday, Scott stopped short of criticiz-ing the state election’s pro-cess, but said he would be reviewing it with Florida Secretary of State Ken De-tzner.

“What went right, what can we improve?” Scott said.

State Rep. Perry Thur-ston of Plantation, the House Democratic leader, said that the state should be “embarrassed” by the lines and the national lime-light they attracted.

“I have gotten calls from all over the country ask-ing why we can’t run elec-tions,” he said.

ABseNtee BAllot issues

In Palm Beach County’s case, 8,000 absentee ballots arrived in the mail Tues-day. And processing them is not a speedy task, due to a 2011 law. Elections offi-cials are required to com-pare the signature on each ballot to the signature on a person’s voter registration.

If the poll worker doesn’t think they match, the bal-

lot can go through sever-al layers of inspection be-fore the county canvassing board decides whether to accept it or disqualify it.

The idea is to protect the state from absentee ballot fraud, but it also makes the process longer.

Bucher said Wednesday that she would have the in-formation all turned over to state by Saturday, but didn’t say how much lon-ger it would take.

“I just need coffee,” Bu-cher, who worked until 3:30 a.m. on election night, said while sorting through yet another pile of ballots Wednesday afternoon.

eArly votiNg outcry

Broward County, in com-parison, was still tabulating

30,000 of the 165,000 ab-sentee ballots on Wednes-day that it received.

Former Gov. Char-lie Crist, who support-ed Obama for re-election, took to the airwaves Tues-day criticizing Scott on MSNBC for the early-vot-ing change from 14 to eight days and for not extending the period via executive or-der. Both Crist and former Gov. Jeb Bush had opted to extend early voting during the two previous presiden-tial elections.

“When you’re elected governor of Florida, you’re not governor of the Repub-licans of Florida, you’re the governor of the people of Florida and you need to stand up for the people each and every time,” Crist said. “Do what’s right.”

Once a focal point, unsettled Florida now nearly afterthought

CHArLeS W. CHerrY II/FLorIDA CoUrIer

During early voting, Fort Lauderdale residents pack the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Quince, two other Florida justices faced

rare oppositionbY brAnDon LArrAbeeTHE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Three Supreme Court justices tar-geted by social conservatives and the Republican Par-ty of Florida easily survived merit retention votes Tues-

day, beating back a campaign the trio’s supporters said would be a threat to the justice system.

Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pari-ente and Peggy Quince were all carrying two-thirds of the vote into the evening, well more than the simple majority they needed to hold onto their seats. The jus-tices did not face opponents but needed the approval of voters to remain on the court.

No Supreme Court justice has ever lost a merit retention race.

In 1998, Quince was appointed by the late Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and Gov.-elect Jeb Bush to the Florida Supreme Court, becoming the first African-Amer-ican woman ever to serve on the state’s highest court.

After being appointed to the Supreme Court in 1998, Quince was overwhelm-ingly retained for additional terms by the voters of Florida in 2000 and 2006. She was also chosen by her colleagues to

serve a two-year term as Chief Justice in 2008.

‘tremeNdous success’Pariente said in an interview that the justices’ victory

rebuffed an effort by outside special interests to hijack the bench.

“So the message is: ‘If you are outside the state and you are trying to politicize our judicial branch, stay out. This is an assault on our democracy, our separa-tion of powers, and we’re not going to tolerate attempts to implement partisan politics for special interests,’” she said.

A statement on the organization’s website portrayed the effort as successful.

“Restore Justice is happy to have led the most vigor-ous grassroots merit retention campaign in Florida’s history. ... We consider our campaign a tremendous

success and would like to thank the countless volun-teers who made it possible,” said Jesse Phillips, the president of the group.

The campaign over the future of the court had looked like it might be one of the more heated down-ballot races of the year. After a decision by the court to strike a health-care referendum from the ballot in 2010, enraged conservatives launched a brief effort that year to derail Justice Jorge Labarga, who claimed just 59 percent of the vote, one of the smallest totals in years.

PoliticAlly chArged rAceLewis, Pariente and Quince form the backbone of a

5-2, center-left majority that has sometimes thwarted the efforts of GOP legislators and governors to move Florida to the right. In addition to striking down sev-eral legislative attempts to amend the state’s constitu-tion in 2010, the court threw out the first draft of this year’s redistricting plan for the state Senate.

In the end, the effort was less vigorous than expect-ed – an expected bombardment of TV advertising against the judges never emerged. The politically charged race was, however, brief-

ly ramped up in late September, when the Republican Party of Florida’s executive board voted to oppose the justices, citing a years-old opinion in the case of Joe Nixon, who was convicted in the 1984 murder of Jeanne Bickner in Leon County.

Supporters cried foul, and said Tuesday’s results were a rebuke to the RPOF.

“We can only hope that our elected leaders get the message and bring the unprecedented assault on our fair and impartial courts to an end,” said Dick Batche-lor, a former Democratic legislator and spokesman for Defend Justice from Politics, a group supporting Lewis, Pariente and Quince.

suPreme court

PioNeer justice eAsily retAiNs seAt

Pioneer Florida Justice Peggy Quince is part of a 5-2, center-left majority that has sometimes thwarted the efforts of GOP legislators and gov-ernors to move Florida to the right.

R. Fred Lewis

Barbara Pariente

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

With the Florida Depart-ment of Corrections mov-ing ahead with a plan to privatize prison-health services, about 1,900 work-

ers have started receiving notifications they will lose their state jobs, the Talla-hassee Democrat reported Tuesday.

The department has signed a contract with Co-

rizon Correctional Health-care to provide inmate care at prison facilities across North and Central Florida, effective Jan. 1. While the 1,900 workers at those fa-cilities will lose their state

employment, most are ex-pected to be offered jobs with Corizon.

The state also has se-lected another company, Wexford Health Sources, to provide inmate health care at prison facilities in other parts of the state, though a contract has not

been signed. The Wexford contract could affect an-other 350 to 400 workers, the Democrat reported.

The move to privatize prison health services has been highly controversial and has faced legal chal-lenges spearheaded by the American Federation

of State, County and Mu-

nicipal Employees and the

Florida Nurses Associa-

tion.

A hearing is scheduled

Nov. 15 in Leon County cir-

cuit court in the latest chal-

lenge.

State prepares to shed prison health staff

NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012A4 EDITORIAL

Somebody call 911! Re-publican presidential candi-date Mitt Romney was beat-en like a snare in the FAMU Marching ‘100’ drum line by the people’s favorite and newly reelected President Barack Obama.

Gantt Report readers were told two years ago that Pres-ident Obama would have to stay up all night before he knew what would ultimate-ly happen. I wrote that Pres-ident Obama would win a very close election.

I also said the president’s “coattails” would resemble a halter top, and Democrats seeking to take control of the U.S. Congress and many state legislatures would lose because the “base” liked Obama – but despised many other Democratic candi-dates.

More voters than you think went into voting booths and voted for the president – then walked out of the poll-ing places.

They don’t understand

Conservatives and clos-et Klansmen will never un-derstand or admit that Black voters play crucial roles in determining win-ners of all major national and state elections. There is

no guarantee, but if you can get 90 percent of Black votes cast, you have a great chance to win.

More groups than ev-er before, including orga-nized labor and women, will challenge the thought that Blacks were mainly respon-sible for the Obama win. Most of the talk will be about the increased Hispanic vote for the Democrats and de-creased Mexican and Cuban American votes for Republi-cans.

Thank the GOP The Gantt Report says Ba-

rack Obama can thank the Republican elected officials for doing the most to ensure his reelection.

Let me explain. Most Black registered voters like President Obama, but many Black voters didn’t exact-ly “love” President Obama. Some Blacks even described him as “George Bush dipped in chocolate!”

The late surge of Black votes that propelled Obama

to victory was because the masses of Black voters hated Republican efforts to purge, subdue, minimize and elimi-nate Black votes cast in 2012.

‘I’ll be damned’ The idea that, “I may not

want to vote sometimes for some candidates, but I’ll be damned if I let rednecks, skinheads, Tea Party mem-bers and political zealots steal or prevent the vote that many Black people died try-ing to get,” caused many Black nationalists, com-munity activists and others that were disappointed in the political process to go to the polls. That is why there was a better-than-expect-ed turnout of Black voters at the polls.

The surge of Black voters had nothing to do with there being Democratic politi-cal puppets and Uncle Tom candidates asking for our votes while sucking up to campaign contributors, par-ty leaders and the political enemies of Black citizens.

If the Democratic Party thinks Black people are go-ing to blindly vote for Dem-ocratic candidates forever-more, let’s see how many Black voters turn out in the next election – with no Obama on the ticket – to

vote for White democrats that exploit Black voters, re-fuse Black professionals and ignore Black issues!

What’s the future?Even if Al Sharpton, Jesse

Jackson, Tavis Smiley, Colin Powell or some other Black candidate runs for president in 2016, Barack Obama will have to endorse and sup-port Hillary Clinton because her husband Bill encour-aged mostly White voters to cast ballots for the Presi-dent. But who could be the only Republican formidable enough to challenge Hillary in 2016 if she runs?

The answer is on South

Beach. Jeb Bush could raise more money and get more Hispanic votes than Romney did (Bush is mar-ried to a Hispanic wom-an and speaks fluent Span-ish). Jeb Bush would get far more Black votes and Black support than Romney did. (More about that in a future column.)

Congrats! This is a historic day. The

Gantt Report congratulates the president on his win.

We will all see how Black “The Black President” will be now that he is free to perform without reelection concerns. Will there be in-

creased jobs for Black work-ers? Will Obama insist on more contracts and govern-ment purchasing opportu-nities for Black businesses?

Will more Blacks be ap-pointed to decision-mak-ing positions in the federal government? Will there be fewer bombs dropped and Predator attacks on African soil?

Inquiring Black minds want to know!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores ev-erywhere. Click on this sto-ry at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Down goes Romney! Down goes Romney!

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ‘I VOTED’

NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Obama won again – Now what?The mainstream media

(MSM) called the race for President Obama late Tues-day night. Just around mid-night, Gov. Mitt Romney gave his painful but gra-cious concession speech.

One lady from Coun-try Walk in South Miami-Dade, who had just come out of the voting booth, said she was disappointed at how long the lines were, but she thought that Rom-ney would win. A reporter informed her, much to her chagrin, that the media had already announced Obama had won.

Those of us who voted for Romney were shocked – not only because we thought Romney would win, but that the media had determined Obama the winner before all the votes were in. I thought that what happened in 2000 (when a MSM reporter called Flor-ida for Obama before the votes had even been count-ed) was enough to make these reporters gun-shy.

No such luck.

Should not have wonAll the indicators showed

that Obama should not have won. Unemployment was higher than when he took office – before the adminis-tration ‘adjusted’ the num-bers. Black unemployment was more than 15 percent, with Black teen unemploy-

ment closer to 60 percent.The debt was over $16

trillion – more than at any other time in the history of the country. Obama had al-so spent more money in his four years than George W. Bush had spent in eight – with two wars to pay for.

There were 20 million more people on welfare and food stamps than when Obama began his term and there seemed to be no relief in sight. The automobile in-dustry had been bailed out, but GM (now affectionate-ly called “Government Mo-tors”) sent thousands of jobs (with a new factory) to China.

There were only two oth-er real accomplishments on Obama’s side of the led-ger – Osama bin Laden had been murdered and a new healthcare bill affectionate-ly known as “Obamacare” had been passed – before Congress had even read it.

While Obama bragged that terrorism was dead along with bin Laden, the Muslim Brotherhood had taken over Libya and an ambassador, his informa-tion officer and two Navy

SEALS were murdered at our consulate in Benghazi on the 12th anniversary of 9/11, with several U.S. em-bassies being attacked dur-ing the following days.

Obama never tried to work with Republicans, as Bill Clinton did, during his first term. Three days after his inauguration, he told Republican Congressman Eric Cantor, “Elections have consequences and Eric, I won.”

Obama’s socialismPresident Obama has

been said to have a socialist ideology and wants to “fun-damentally change” Amer-ica.

He did that during his first term and there is no reason to think he will change di-rection now. In fact, he was overheard promising Rus-sian President Medvedev that he would have more flexibility to work with Rus-sia on dismantling our mis-sile defense system “after the election.”

Now that he doesn’t have to worry about anoth-er election, he can do any-thing he wants, regardless of the opposition.

Obama’s policiesDuring his first term, he

signed more executive or-ders than any other presi-dent before him. So he al-

ready has a track record of bypassing the Congress when they won’t do what he wants.

He waged war on busi-nesses, Wall Street and rich people – the very ones who create the jobs that are sole-ly needed in this unprec-edented high unemploy-ment. The country is go-ing broke as he vacations across the world. He gave billions to seven alternative energy companies – all of whom went bankrupt and

shut down.He endorsed gay mar-

riage and unlimited abor-tions – both issues are anathema to the church. Yet Black preachers risked their nonprofit status to keep him in the White House.

He got Obamacare, which will gut Medicare Advan-tage for senior citizens and send younger people to jail if they don’t buy health in-surance. He has pushed this country more toward socialism, and now people who don’t even know what socialism is are agreeing with him.

So what does he do now?

Anything he wants. It reminds me of anoth-

er election when the media chose the winner. I wrote a letter to the publisher warn-ing, “Be careful what you wish for.” Fifteen years later, the publisher had to admit I was right.

Again, I say, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Barbara Howard is trade and travel goodwill ambassador to Kenya and Florida state chair of the Congress of Racial Equal-ity. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

LucIus GAnTT

THE GANTT REPORT

More than a year ago, I wrote a Florida Courier article com-menting on Black Democrat Al-vin Brown’s historic election as mayor of Jacksonville. Brown de-feated a White Republican by put-ting together a coalition of Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats and independents.

I said in part, “Only time will tell if Republican candidates will learn the lesson. All they have to do is take a look at the 2010 Cen-sus to see how our state’s demo-graphics are changing. It is up to… local, state and national Republi-can candidates whether they will be waiving a “White” flag of defeat and exclusion – or a “White, Black and Brown” flag of victory and in-clusion after votes are counted in 2012.”

This week, the GOP waved the wrong “flag.” The preliminary numbers tell the story.

In Florida, Obama received 96 percent and 68 percent of the Black and Hispanic vote respec-tively. Most important, Obama scored big victories among Puer-to Rican Hispanics in Orange and Osceola counties, offsetting the

strong GOP-leaning Cuban Amer-ican vote in South Florida.

Why? Hillsborough GOP Chair-man Art Wood offered a reason: “Romney did a really poor job with minorities…You’d go on to his website and…there was Cath-olics for Romney, Democrats for Romney, fishermen for Romney. You never saw Blacks or African-Americans for Romney until four weeks ago…they probably just wrote off the African-American vote. Romney did a really poor job with the African-Americans. They’re in many ways like His-panics… they go to church reg-ularly…they’re suffering worse from unemployment.”

Wood’s comments were echoed by GOP congressional contender EJ Otero:

“… The Republican Party has written off African-Americans

and Hispanics for the past 20 years and it needs to change.”

Black Republicans leaving

A Black businessman called me shortly after Obama clinched re-election.

“Did you notice the difference between the Obama crowd and the Romney crowd?” he asked, re-ferring to the respective campaign headquarters. “It was just like the conventions. Blacks and Browns everywhere at Obama’s; oceans of Whites at Romney’s – that’s why I left,” he said.

He, like many other Florida Black Republicans, had joined the party in the days of Jeb Bush and his party chair Al Cardenas. He recalled when subsequent state chair Jim Greer established African-American and Hispanic leadership councils. The African-American Leadership Council was chaired by Lieutenant Gover-nor Jennifer Carroll, then a state representative.

The African-American council sponsored statewide essay-writ-ing contests for Black students,

awarding scholarships to win-ners. It held meetings with the state’s Black-owned media and with Black clergy. Those outreach efforts were beginning to have an impact.

That was then.

The Black responsibility A major problem is that many

in the GOP establishment, while publically saying “We must reach out,” privately say, “It’s a waste time to go after Blacks.”

As I said in a recent News-max.com column, …” regardless of the election’s outcome, Black voters are in deep political trou-ble…Democrats will continue to take African-Americans for grant-ed and ignore critical issues fac-ing people of color…Hispanics, Asians, and women do not put all their political eggs in the Demo-cratic Party basket as Blacks do… they – like independents – are sought after by both parties.”

So what is the outlook for Blacks after Obama received 96 percent of Florida’s Black vote? All we see and hear since the election is that Republicans must step up efforts

to attract non-Cuban-American Hispanics, youth, and women. There has been virtually no men-tion of Blacks. They are invisible. If the Black vote was closer to that of Hispanics and women, they would also be included – not as-sumed. They too must get in the game.

If GOP Black support – in Flor-ida and nationally – went from 4 percent to 20-25 percent, it would shake up both parties and Blacks would be in play. But it can’t be done two months before an elec-tion by naming an “African-Amer-icans for…” committee that is nev-er consulted on issues, strategies, or concerns.

Will the GOP and its candidates realize there is a “New America” – Blacks included? Time will tell.

Clarence V. McKee is a gov-ernment, political and media relations consultant and pres-ident of McKee Communica-tions, Inc., as well as a News-max.com contributor. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

The election’s meaning for Blacks and the GOP

cLAREncE V. McKEE

GUEST COLUMNIST

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC

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BARBARA HOWARD

THE POLITICS OF BLACKNESS

A5EDITORIALNOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012

Paying it forward with actions, deeds

“Something that I’ve learned from my mentor is always pay things forward, not necessarily with money, but with actions and deeds. You’re not alone. You’re not the only one out there in a bad sit-uation. Beat the odds and you’ll succeed.”

–Maggie Hobbins

Maggie Hobbins is just a se-nior in high school, but she al-ready knows a lot about making it through a bad situation. She has struggled with a learning dis-ability since first grade and spent years in special education class-es. Other students bullied her be-cause she couldn’t read well or af-ford brand name clothes.

Challenges in school were hard, but challenges at home were even worse. Her alcoholic mother was emotionally absent for much of her childhood, and her father, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, had many health problems that often made it difficult for him to work. When her family became homeless after he lost his job, they moved into a camper on a friend’s property. What they hoped would be a temporary solution lasted two years.

When Maggie was 9 years old, her parents finally found an af-fordable house to rent and things seemed as if they might be look-ing up at last. But just a few

months later, her father collapsed and died of a massive heart at-tack. For the next two years her mother sank into such a deep de-pression worsened by the drink-ing that she rarely got out of bed and Maggie was essentially left to raise herself.

Dark daysShe got herself to school on

her own, took care of the house, and was the one to make sure her mother ate and bathed. She looks back at that period as the “dark days” of her life. But even then Maggie showed an extraordinary resilience far beyond her years: “You can’t just sit there and be like, ‘Oh, poor me. My dad’s dead. My mom is depressed and she’s a drunk and she’s not there for me,’ or, ‘I’m dyslexic and I can’t read as well as other people. …’ So why not push myself further and change myself – because oth-er people can’t change you; you have to change yourself.”

Maggie kept pushing herself – and her positive spirit and be-lief in herself paid off. After an in-

tervention from Child Protective Services, Maggie’s mother finally got some of the help she needed and was able to keep custody of Maggie.

When Maggie was in sixth grade, a caring landlord and men-tor offered her $100 if she made the honor roll all four quarters of the school year. Maggie was al-ready a determined and serious student despite her learning dis-abilities and troubles at home, and this generous promise gave her just the extra incentive she needed. She made the honor roll every quarter that year and every quarter since.

As she kept on excelling in school, by the end of eighth grade she was moved into standard ed-ucation classrooms. Today, Mag-gie takes Honors and AP classes and has a goal of studying crimi-nal justice because she wants to help others. The same mentor who encouraged her to make the honor roll also sponsored her at-tendance at a Christian summer camp she fell in love with, and after returning as a camper for many years, she now serves as a junior counselor.

She is already looking forward to what comes next: “There’s col-lege to go to. There’s graduate school. You’re never done learn-ing . . . It’s just something I want in my heart. And I’m going to try

my hardest to get it.”

Beating the oddsMaggie’s inspiring story has

made her one of this year’s Wash-ington, D.C.-area winners of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Beat the Odds scholarship awards, given each year to high school seniors in eight cities who have overcome tremendous adversity.

For more than 20 years, the Beat the Odds program has support-ed more than 700 students. This leadership development program provides each recipient a $10,000 scholarship, laptop computer, guidance through the college ad-mission process, and an invitation

to join CDF’s servant leadership training programs. It also allows young people like Maggie to serve as role models for others, and for Maggie, this is one way of paying her own success forward.

Right now there are millions of young people like Maggie still waiting for just one caring adult or mentor to step in to help them beat the odds too. If you have the chance to be that adult for a child in your community – grab it.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s De-fense Fund. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: CIVILITY WAR

DaViD FitzsiMMONs, thE aRizONa staR

DR. E. FAyE WILLIAms, Esq.

TRICE EDNEY WIRE

Barack Obama campaigned for president four years ago on a theme of change. Now, four years later, he has seen change in the way the media has covered him – change for the worse. That’s a ma-jor finding of an exhaustive study by the Pew Research Center titled, “Winning the Media Campaign 2012.”

The report stated, “…The stark-est difference is that coverage of Obama is only half as positive this year (19 percent) as it was in 2008 (36 percent). And while his percentage of negative coverage in 2012 (31 percent) is only mod-estly larger than four years earlier (29 percent), neutral coverage has grown markedly, to 50 percent this year compared with 35 percent in 2008.”

Mitt Romney received more fa-vorable treatment from the media than Arizona Republican Senator John McCain did four years ago, according to the study.

Networks weigh inOf the three major networks, on-

ly ABC gave Obama more positive coverage than negative (27 percent to 20 percent). CBS and NBC were essentially the same. On CBS, 17 percent of the stories about Obama had a positive tone and 28 percent were negative. Of NBC’s stories, 16 percent had a positive tone and 29 percent were negative.

Romney did not fare any better on the networks. On ABC, Rom-ney’s negative stories outpaced his positive ones (33 percent to 18 per-cent). On CBS, 15 percent of the stories about Romney had a posi-tive tone and 29 percent were neg-ative. NBC had an identical per-

centage of negative stories, but a slightly higher percentage of sto-ries with a positive tone (18 per-cent).

Cable networks partisanThe high-octane, opinion-driv-

en cable networks provided decid-edly partisan coverage of the two presidential candidates, with Fox favoring Romney, MSNBC back-ing Obama and CNN sandwiched between the two.

After studying the tone of cover-age between April 27 and Oct. 21, 2012, the Pew report found that 46 percent of the stories about Obama on Fox were negative and only 6 percent were positive. On MSN-BC, by contrast, 39 percent about Obama were positive and 15 per-cent were negative. More negative than positive stories about Obama appeared on CNN, but only by a margin of 21 percent to 18 percent. Of the stories about Romney on Fox, 28 percent were positive and

12 percent were negative.There was a huge imbalance on

MSNBC, with 71 percent of the stories about Romney negative and only 3 percent positive. There were three times as many negative stories than positive about Rom-ney on CNN (33 percent to 11 per-cent).

“MSNBC was especially nega-tive in its treatment of Romney’s policy prescriptions,” the Pew study found.

The report stated, “Fox aired more negative stories about Obama than positive on every as-pect of campaign coverage. When it came to policy, 6 percent of the stories on Fox about Obama were positive and 51 percent were neg-ative.

“Fox also focused much more on Obama than on Romney. The Democratic Party nominee was a significant figure in 74 percent of Fox campaign stories compared with 49 percent for Romney.”

Unlike Fox and MSNBC, CNN devoted a similar amount of time to both candidates – 63 percent to Obama and 59 percent for Rom-ney.

Social media criticalThe report found social me-

dia far more critical of the can-didates than mainstream media. On Twitter, 48 percent of the dis-cussions about Obama were neg-ative, compared with 58 percent for Romney. On Facebook, 53 percent on Obama were negative vs. 62 percent for Romney. Com-ments about Romney on blogs were slightly more negative than those about Obama (46 percent to 44 percent).

George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspa-per Publishers Association News Service (NNPA). Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Obama’s media coverage half as positive as 2008

GEORGE E. CuRRy

NNPA COLUMNIST

I write this column in the aftermath of a storm such as we’ve not seen be-fore. Hurricane Katrina arguably came close. Through Hurricane Sandy, my lights were on. No trees fell on my home or office. I had a warm bed in which to sleep. I had lots of food and water and felt no fear of personal loss.

Had I lived in certain areas of the country, I couldn’t be sharing my thoughts on a computer. I’d be lucky if I could even do this by hand. My tele-vision remained on 24/7 as I watched with great sadness what was happen-ing to others. But for the grace of God, members of my family or I could have experienced the same tragedy.

Putting politics asideHurricane Sandy taught us that we

should live each day knowing it could easily be our last. As Lyndon Johnson once said, “How incredible it is that we could hate and destroy one another!” We can’t control the weather, but we can control how we treat each other.

President Barack Obama and Gov. Chris Christie taught us all what it means to think of something big-ger than the differences we have with each other. Governor Christie was a model for what a governor should do in times of crisis. President Obama was the model of what it means to be President of all the people.

People who had lost everything saw a President who cared enough to be there with them. Some cried on his shoulder and seemed not to care about his political party or any minor disagreements they might have had with him at some point. The color of his skin was irrelevant. They just saw someone who cared and they found comfort in his being there.

Governor Christie put politics aside and bestowed compliments on the President for his help in the crisis. No

matter what the fallout might be, the governor decided to be truthful and more human than many of us might ever have imagined. They made us believe America could once again ex-perience bi-partisan acts to continue moving our country forward.

Our heroic first responders made us proud. They risked their lives to save the lives of others. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude. They repre-sented the human spirit at its best. They went beyond the call of duty, as they so often do.

No one to blameSo many lives have been scarred

– many permanently. We will never know the pain caused by the losses of many – yet, they are not looking for anyone to blame for what happened to them. They just need us to be there to help them weather the storms still ahead. Will we, or will we go back to business as usual?

When the hurricane calmed, I closed my eyes to pray that we’d all learn to be there for each other in less trau-matic times, and that our children and the entire world, after the election, will have the opportunity to see us in a bet-ter light – not just during a crisis.

For encouragement, let us never forget the beauty of the way President Obama and Governor Christie were able to make us feel there is hope.

Dr. Williams is chair of the Na-tional Congress of Black Women. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Black Americans need to know and respect our heri-tage. Know the contributions of your ancestors, and you will learn who you are. One of America’s greatest strengths today is “diversity.”

An African-American who blazed the trail toward diver-sity, innovation, and market-ing creativity across corridors in corporate America while concurrently opening doors previously closed to Blacks is corporate pioneer of note, Houston native Henry Hart-ford Brown.

The career of Brown should be of highlighted because he is one of a select few Blacks hired by corporate America in upper-level sales positions to target and develop the Af-rican-American consumer market.

Brown should be remem-bered for the successes he had in the development and implementation of effective community relations over the three decades he prac-ticed his trade with Anheus-er-Busch in St. Louis. As cor-porate liaison to its “special markets,” Brown indelibly etched Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser’s name among Black leaders and their com-munities.

Tapping Black marketAs part of a groundbreak-

ing group of African-Ameri-can market developers that evolved from the 1950s, Brown is a role model in mul-ticultural public relations. Brown’s business and social talents enabled him to gen-

erate corporate market share and profits as he at the same time introduced diversity theories, techniques and im-plementation platforms that revolutionized strategies of niche marketing.

Brown helped corporate heads and decision influenc-ers to see and identify Blacks as an important customer segment.

The “Black market” Brown helped his company identify and tap is expected to reach 42.6 million by 2016. Black’s current $957 billion annual spending is expected to climb to $1.3 trillion by 2015. Black consumers spend $2.8 billion annually on alcoholic bever-ages.

Henry Brown’s innovative-ness toward Black markets is epic. In 1975, he developed the legendary Budweiser’s Great Kings and Queens of Africa by commissioning a series of portraits by African-American-artists.

These 29 portraits became Budweiser’s Great Kings and Queens of Africa exhibits, an educational program and one of history’s most influential collections of art honoring African-American culture.

Brown was a catalystBrown’s been a catalyst

for positive and progres-

sive changes among African-Americans. His impact on An-heuser-Busch has permanen-cy. The company says, “It’s important to be in the com-munity and of the communi-ty” and supports community-based organizations’ efforts to inform, advance and sup-port the African Americans.

In 1994, Brown retired from Anheuser-Busch after launching major initiatives including: Budweiser’s Living Legends and The Lou Rawls/UNCF Parade of Stars.

Brown served as an adjunct professor at Howard Univer-sity and in 1959 started as a wholesaler representative for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. In 1980, Brown was named vice president of Marketing De-velopment and made respon-sible for community outreach and a corporate liaison to the various ethnic communities.

He currently lives in Hous-ton and has received several honors and awards through-out his distinguished ca-reer, including the Presiden-tial Award from the National Conference of African-Amer-ican Mayors in 1994; and the Alpha Psi Alpha Fraternity Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects through the Bailey Group.org. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Will the calm continue after the storm?

Henry Brown blazed a trail in corporate America

WILLIAm REED

BUSINESS EXCHANGE

DR. E. FAyE WILLIAms, Esq.

TRICE EDNEY WIRE

TOjA6 ELECTION 2012 NOVEMBER 9 – NOVEMBER 15, 2012

Historic votes for gay marriage, legalizing marijuanaMaine, Maryland approve same- sex marriage;marijuana measures pass in Colorado,Washington state

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Altering the course of U.S social policy, Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, while Washington state and Colorado set up a show-down with federal authori-ties by legalizing recreation-al use of marijuana.

The outcomes for those ballot measures Tuesday were a milestone for per-sistent but often thwarted advocacy groups and activ-ists who for decades have pressed the causes of gay rights and drug decriminal-ization.

“Today the state of Wash-ington looked at 70 years of marijuana prohibition and said it's time for a new ap-proach,” said Alison Hol-comb, manager of the cam-paign that won passage of Initiative 502 in Washing-ton.

More victoriesColorado Gov. John Hick-

enlooper, a Democrat who opposed legalization, was less enthused. “Federal law still says marijuana is an il-legal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or gold fish too quickly,” he said.

The results in Maine and Maryland broke a 32-state streak, dating to 1998, in which gay marriage had been rebuffed by every state that voted on it. They will become the seventh and eighth states to allow same-sex couples to marry.

In another gay-rights vic-tory, Minnesota voters de-feated a proposed consti-tutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in the state. Similar measures were ap-proved in 30 other states, most recently in North Car-olina in May.

“The tide has turned — when voters have the op-portunity to really hear di-rectly from loving, commit-ted same-sex couples and their families, they voted for fairness,” said Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, a California-based gay rights group.

More acceptanceWashington state also

voted on a measure to le-galize same-sex marriage, though results were not ex-pected until after the Flor-ida Courier’s deadline on Wednesday.

The outcomes of the mar-riage votes could influence the U.S. Supreme Court, which will soon consid-er whether to take up cas-es challenging the law that denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages. The gay-rights victories come on the heels of numerous national polls that, for the first time, show a majori-ty of Americans supporting same-sex marriage.

Maine's referendum marked the first time that gay-rights supporters put same-sex marriage to a popular vote. They collect-ed enough signatures to schedule the vote, hoping to reverse a 2009 referen-dum that quashed a gay-marriage law enacted by the Legislature.

Jubilant reactionIn Maryland and Wash-

ington, gay-marriage laws were approved by lawmak-ers and signed by the gover-nors this year, but opponents gathered enough signatures to challenge the laws.

The president of the most active advocacy group op-posing same-sex marriage, Brian Brown of the Nation-al Organization for Mar-riage, insisted Tuesday's re-sults did not mark a water-shed moment.

“At the end of the day, we're still at 32 victories,” he said. “Just because two ex-treme blue states vote for gay marriage doesn't mean

the Supreme Court will cre-ate a constitutional right for it out of thin air.”

Marijuana headacheThe marijuana measures

in Colorado and Washing-ton will likely pose a head-ache for the U.S. Justice De-partment and the Drug En-forcement Administration, which consider pot an ille-gal drug. The DOJ has de-

clined to say how it would respond if the measures were approved.

Colorado's Amendment 64 will allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, though using

the drug publicly would be banned. The amendment would allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area.

Washington's measure establishes a system of

state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and stores, where adults can buy up to an ounce. It al-so establishes a standard blood test limit for driving under the influence.

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Pioneer OlympianMilt Campbell dies See page B4

SuN coAST / TAmPA BAY

November 9 - November 15, 2012

‘One Night Only’ tributeto Eddie Murphy See page B5

waiting it out

Above: Kezia Gip-son, 3, waits with her grandparents Doris Ross and Freddie Irvin in the voting line at the International Longshoreman’s Association Office in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.

JOE RIMKUS JR./ MIAMI HERALD/MCT

SCOTT KEELER/TAMPA BAY TIMES/MCT

Voters waiting in line to vote at the Campbell Park Recreation Center in St. Petersburg had to break out rain gear at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday when rain showers started.

A frustrated elec-tion official named Tony, center, talks

with voters waiting in line on Tuesday, including Moham-mad Azim Hossain from Davie telling

them that a vot-ing machine for

precinct T009 was working slowly be-

cause of the long lines. As a result, a new machine was

requested.

TAIMY ALVAREZ/ SUN SENTINEL/MCT

A poll worker gets “I Voted” stick-

ers ready to hand to voters as they

finished up at the ballot booths at

Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library

in South Tampa on Tuesday.

CAROLINA HIDALGO/TAMPA BAY TIMES/MCT

CHARLES W. CHERRY II/FLORIDA COURIER

Early voters wait their turn at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.

KIM GIBSON/FLORIDA COURIER

Actor Hill Harper is shown stumping for President Obama at a library in Miami.

Florida residents brave long lines and other issues

to make their vote count

Long lines, an extremely long ballot, stringent new ID requirements, and in some places, rain.

But the negatives didn’t deter the Floridians shown on this page and millions of other residents who were determined to exercise their right to vote.

Some were deterred and left their polling sites. And those who waited to vote for president and other rac-es also had to read through a long ballot packed with confusing state constitutional amendments. But they persevered.

More than 4.5 million people voted early, which ac-counted for 38 percent of the state’s 12 million regis-tered voters.

STOJELECTION 2012 NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012B2

Romney ends Tuesday with

disappointment after day of confidence

BY MAEVE RESTON AND SEEMA MEHTALOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

BOSTON — The day had start-ed optimistically, as Mitt Romney cast his ballot early, then made one last trip to scour for votes. But it ended with stony silence in the ballroom where his support-ers watched state after state that that they hoped would break the GOP nominee’s way tilt toward President Barack Obama.

Nearly two hours after the net-works called the race for Obama, Romney appeared onstage at a waterfront convention center to congratulate his opponent and thank his supporters.

“I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory,” Romney said, and went on to thank his running mate Paul D. Ryan, his wife, Ann, and his sons for their work on the campaign.

“I believe in America. I believe in the people of America,” Rom-ney said as the crowd cheered, and he paused to take it all in. “I ran for office because I’m con-cerned about America. This elec-tion is over but our principles en-dure.”

Silent, Sullen crowd

Romney said he wished that he would have been elected, but that “the nation chose another leader, so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him.”

Before Romney came out, sev-eral hundred people stood si-lently and sullenly, watching the returns come in.

Some struggled to understand voters’ continued support for Obama.

“We’re aghast. Why? Why would someone vote for him?” said Sandy Nabhan, 54, of Bos-ton.

Earlier, the Republican can-didate and his campaign had seemed optimistic as he sprint-ed to Ohio and Pennsylvania in

a last-minute push to drive sup-porters to the polls. As Romney strode off his plane Tuesday af-ternoon in Moon Township, Pa., hundreds of people spontane-ously lined an outdoor park-ing garage overlooking the tar-mac and cheered. That, the GOP nominee said, was the moment he became confident he would win.

emotional connection

“Intellectually, I’ve felt we’re going to win this, and have felt that for some time, but emotion-ally just getting off the plane and ... seeing people there cheering as they were connected emotion-

ally with me — I not only think we’re going to win intellectual-ly, I feel it as well,” Romney told reporters aboard his campaign plane later that night.

But hours later, at what was to be a victory celebration here, a palpable sense of dismay settled over his supporters, as state after state that they had hoped would break the GOP nominee’s way appeared to be backing the pres-ident. Earlier than most had ex-pected, the Associated Press and news networks, citing surveys of voters leaving the polls, gave the victory to Obama.

Romney kicked off the day vot-ing with wife Ann at a community center near their Belmont home,

and then joined close advisors, a son and a grandson aboard his campaign plane as he made ap-pearances in Ohio and Pennsyl-vania to thank volunteers and make a final push to get support-ers to vote.

‘what up?’Romney met up with Ryan on

the tarmac in Cleveland. “What up?” Ryan said to Romney after striding onto his plane, and then regaled him with tales of recent rallies. The state’s importance was highlighted by an unusu-al confluence: Air Force Two — Vice President Joe Biden’s plane — was parked near the two Re-publican candidates’ planes.

After the GOP ticket visited

the victory center in Richmond Heights, they ordered burg-ers at Wendy’s before flying to the Pittsburgh airport in Moon Township.

Romney later boarded his cam-paign plane for home, not know-ing whether, in the end, he was closing out a six-year-campaign or preparing to be president. Breaking precedent with the last two months, he took questions from the reporters who accom-panied him.

Exuding confidence, Rom-ney said he had only written one speech for the evening: a victory speech.

“It’s about 1,118 words,” he said.

BY BILL GLAUBER AND JOHN DIEDRICHMILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL (MCT)

MILWAUKEE — Paul Ryan’s first national run ended in de-feat.

But it could well mark the be-ginning of something bigger for the Wisconsin congressman.

Ryan, the Republican Par-ty’s vice presidential nominee, emerged from the 2012 race as a standard-bearer of small-gov-ernment conservatism.

Even though Mitt Romney

and Ryan lost Tuesday’s elec-tion, the battle over the feder-al debt is far from over, and Ry-an, 42, remains a key player in Congress and main architect of the Republican budget. Ryan retained his 1st Congressional District seat by defeating Dem-ocratic challenger Rob Zerban.

The nearly three-month na-tional campaign sprint sharp-ened Ryan’s skills on the stump even as it took a toll on his voice. He came out of the race stron-ger, better known and clearly a force to be reckoned with within the Republican Party. The one

downside: He couldn’t carry his home state for the ticket.

For a few brief moments Tuesday morning, Ryan was just another neighborhood dad going to the polls with his wife and kids.

Back home to voteRooted in Janesville, where

he was born and lives, Ryan’s trek to the polls was a mixture of small-city charm and national media frenzy.

Ryan, his wife, Janna, and their three children, Liza, Char-lie and Sam, arrived at 8:50 a.m.

on Tuesday at the Hedberg Li-brary on S. Main St. and moved to the front of the line of about 30 people.

Wearing a dark suit, powder-blue tie and an American flag pin on his lapel, Ryan voted at Ward 13 in south-central Janes-ville.

Ryan apologized to the other voters as he moved up to the ta-ble where poll workers looked for names of voters. Ryan came around the back of the table to help the poll worker find his name and his wife’s name, which were on different pages.

Paul and Janna Ryan then went into separate voting booths, splitting up with their children. Sam went with his fa-ther while Liza and Charlie went with their mother.

“Hey, Sam, let’s do this thing,” Ryan said.

The children looked on the ballot as their parents marked their choices.

Some StumBleSIntroduced by Romney as his

Republican running mate Aug. 11 in the shadow of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., Ry-an shot out of the gate of his first national campaign.

Bright and personable, Ry-an was overwhelmed by large crowds over the first weekend, culminating in an emotion-al Wisconsin homecoming in Waukesha, where he declared: “My veins run with cheese, bratwurst, a little Spotted Cow, Leinie’s and some Miller. I was raised on the Packers, Badgers, Bucks and Brewers.”

“I like to hunt here, I like to fish here, I like to snowmobile here. I even think ice fishing is interesting. I’m a Wisconsinite through and through,” he said.

There were some stumbles along the way when Ryan had to correct a statement he made about his time as a marathon-er. And he absorbed plenty of criticism from Democrats over the House budget he crafted, as well as his plan for Medicare.

But he found his feet as a re-

lentless campaigner and held his own in a debate against a combative and mocking Vice President Joe Biden.

emotional homecoming

He also gained support from his family on the campaign trail, his brother, Tobin, and sister-in-law, Oakleigh, working tireless-ly on his behalf, mostly in Wis-consin. At Monday night’s emo-tional

homecoming at Mitchell In-ternational Airport, Ryan ap-peared genuinely touched by the roars of the crowd, saying “thank you” over and over.

Ryan said the family’s recep-tion during the campaign “has warmed our hearts. It has been incredible because so many people have come out to get this country back on the right track.”

“Paul Ryan is consistent,” said Nancy Milholland, a Racine Tea Party leader who first met Ryan at a church picnic in 1998 and who attended the vice presiden-tial debate. “He is upbeat, ener-getic, on message. What you see is what you get. He is the real deal.”

‘came acroSS well’Milholland said that when

Ryan was named to the ticket, she and her friends thought to themselves, “Now we have to share him with the whole coun-try.”

Gov. Scott Walker said during the campaign that Ryan “came across well,” not just to the Re-publican base but the wider electorate. Polls indicated at the start of the campaign that Ryan was relatively unknown nation-ally. Walker said Ryan weath-ered intense media scrutiny that comes with being named to a national ticket.

“He maintained his high level of credibility,” Walker said.

Asked if Ryan could one day mount a national campaign of his own, Walker said, “Absolute-ly.”

ryan: now politically Stronger, Better known

MARK CORNELISON/LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER/MCT

Republican Paul Ryan greets supporters as he arrives at the Bluegrass Airport on Oct. 10 in Lexington, Ky. The vice presidential debate between Democratic incumbent Vice President Joe Biden and Ryan was that week in Danville.

optimiStic until the very end

JMP/ABACA PRESS/MCT

Gov. Mitt Romney takes the stage to concede to President Barack Obama at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Tuesday.

B3NATIONTOJ NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012

THE JOBThe president is the top elected official

in the United States and often called the most powerful person in the world.

HClout: The president is head of state and chief executive officer of the most powerful country in history.

HResources: The president oversees a budget of $3.67 trillion, a federal work force of 3 million and a military of 1.1 mil-lion people.

HTenure: The president is elected ev-ery four years, but is limited to two 4-year terms.

THE GROUND RULESTo qualify you must be 35 years old, have

been born in the United States and have been a U.S. resident for at least 14 years.

THE CAMPAIGNLabor Day has been the traditional kick-

off for the two major party candidates, which gives them two months to woo vot-ers. In reality, candidates begin runs for their party’s nomination up to two years before Election Day — time they need for exposure, public recognition and raising money.

Campaign costs have skyrocketed, and fundraising has, too. Each of the candidates — incumbent Barack Obama and chal-lenger Mitt Romney — is expected to raise about $1 billion for his election effort.

Candidates decide where to spend their time and resources, usually eyeing states heavy with electoral votes that may be considered up for grabs. To win, a candi-date needs 270 electoral votes.

To get the nomination, candidates stump states with primary elections or party caucuses. Both determine how many delegates a candidate can claim at national conventions that nominate stan-dard-bearers.

THE PERKSHNice house: 1600 Pennsylvania

Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005. The 200-year-old White House has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, eight staircases and three ele-vators (to reach six levels). Five full-time chefs work in a kitchen able to serve din-ner to 140 guests and hors d’oeuvres to 1,000.

HGood money: $400,000-a-year salary plus $50,000 in expenses. But it’s not great money. A comparable job in the private sector would command a salary of mil-lions a year. Presidents of some major U.S. universities earn more than the U.S. presi-dent.

HGreat getaway: Camp David, a 125- acre retreat 90 miles north of Washington.

HNo airport hassles: Any aircraft in the U.S. military fleet becomes Air Force One (above) if the president is on board. If it’s a Navy or Marine craft, the designa-tion changes to Navy One or Marine One. Also, ground transport is in one of sever-al armor-plated limousines or heavy-duty SUVs.

THE NUMBERSH44 men have been president.H4 ex-presidents are living: George W.

Bush, Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

H14 presidents served as vice presi-dent.

H69 is the age of the oldest person elected president — Reagan.

H43 is the age of the youngest person elected — Kennedy.

H42 is the age of the youngest person to serve as president — Theodore Roosevelt (right), who be- came president following McKinley’s as-sassination.

CASH & CONFLICTOften the people who make policy —

lawmakers, administration leaders — al-so have money and investments. To di-minish the appearance of a conflict of interest, many put their holdings into a blind trust.

That’s an account whose assets are un-known to the beneficiaries. A third par-ty manages the trust independently. That way a policymaker can’t know if a certain regulation or rule will impact his or her fi-nancial investments.

Romney and Ryan have blind trusts. Obama and Biden do not.

THE PRESIDENTIAL PAYCHECK

Presidential candidates usually are bet-ter heeled than most Americans, so it’s a bet they’re not seeking the job for the pay-check.

BANKROLLS: REPUBLICANSHere’s the asset background of the 2012

Republican candidates. Members of Con-gress are paid $174,000 a year.

HGov. Mitt Romney: His net worth has been reported to be between $190 million and $250 million. Those numbers, howev-er, don’t include other items such as real estate and trust funds. It is estimated that he could be worth more than $350 mil-lion.

HRep. Paul Ryan: Net worth exceeds $4 million.

BANKROLLS: DEMOCRATSHPresident Barack Obama: His 2011

assets were valued at around $8 million. His annual salary is only $400,000, so in-come from the sales of his two books, “Dreams of My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” have added millions.

HVice President Joe Biden: He and his wife, Jill Biden, report assets between $239,000 and $866,000. Biden makes $230,700 a year.

WHITE HOUSE WEALTHSome of the 43 former presidents were

wealthy by the standards of their day.HGeorge Washington (in office 1789-

97): His family was wealthy and he mar-ried a wealthy widow. When he died in 1799, his estate was valued at more than $500,000, a handsome sum then. His sal-ary as president: $25,000.

HAndrew Jackson (1829-37): Among the wealthiest presidents of the 19th cen-tury. His fortune was made in real estate through deals made while he was a U.S. Army general. His presidential salary was also $25,000.

HHerbert Hoover (1929-33): He made his money in mining and investments. By World War I, when he was just 40, he was worth between $1 million and $5 million. He donated his annual presidential salary of $75,000 to charity.

HFranklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45): Born into wealth, Roosevelt was also a Wall Street lawyer. His personal estate was valued at more than $1 million.

HJohn F. Kennedy (1961-63): Born in-to wealth, Kennedy was notorious for not carrying money, and friends often had to slip him some cash. He, too, donated his $100,000 annual presidential income to charity.

HLyndon B. Johnson (1963-69): Earned his wealth entirely while in public life. By the time he became president, his and wife Lady Bird’s wealth was estimated at $14 million. Most of the fortune came from land deals and a radio and TV station in Austin, Texas.

THE FLIP SIDEOF THE COINServing in the White House doesn’t al-

ways mean a lifetime of financial security.HUlysses S. Grant died impoverished.

The two-term president (1869-77) invest-ed money — donated by friends and sup-porters — in a fund that went bust. He sold his swords and souvenirs just to survive. He was broke when he began writing his memoirs. He died of cancer shortly after his “Personal Memoirs”— published by Mark Twain — came out. It made nearly $500,000.

HThomas Jefferson: Author of the Dec-laration of Independence, two-term pres-ident (1801-09), prolific writer, quintes-sential American philosopher, farmer and founder of the University of Virginia, died July 4, 1826, virtually bankrupt. Troubled by debt, his finances were ruined after the failure of a business for which he had en-dorsed a note.

Emma Kantrowitz of McClatchy-Tri-bune Information Services contributed to this report.

SOURCES: NaTiONalpRiORiTiES.ORg/; www2.CENSUS.gOV/; Siadapp.dMdC.OSd.Mil/pERSONNEl/;

www.laTiMES.COM/; www.SENaTE.gOV/; www.BlOOMBERg.COM/; www.MOThERJONES.COM/;

hTTp://ThECaUCUS.BlOgS. NyTiMES.COM/; www.BlOOMBERg.COM/; www.iNfOplEaSE.COM/ipa/a0875856.hTMl; www.VaNiTyfaiR.COM/; www.

hUffiNgTONpOST.COM/

Grant may be on a big bill, but when he died he had little money.

Requirements, perks, cash and conflicts, plus the dangers of running for president

By CaROl CaiN aNd azlaN iBRahiMdETROiT fREE pRESS

The life of the president isn’t always easy; check out these facts and figures to get an inside look

at what it means to be commander in chief, from running for office to getting paid.

HAssassination: Four presidents were shot and killed: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy.

HAttempts: Andrew Jack-son, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford (twice) and Ronald Reagan were all targets of assassination at-tempts.

HOpposition: Not all politicians like you. Especially those in the opposing political

party. And if that party controls Congress, your political agenda is crippled. (This happened to President Obama when Repub-licans took control of Congress in 2010).

HThe press: If politi-cians aren’t criticizing, some newspaper columnist, editorial writer, radio personality or late-night comic is making sure people recognize your vulnerabilities.

HImpeachment: The con-

stitutional way of removing a sitting president. The House of Representatives prepares and votes on articles of impeach-ment charging a president with “high crimes and misdemean-ors.” If charged by the House, the trial is held in the Senate where two-thirds of the mem-bers must vote to remove a president. Two presidents have survived impeachment trials in the Senate — Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.

THE DANGERS Of HOlDING OffIcE

KEiTh MyERS/KaNSaS CiTy STaR/MCT

ChUCK KENNEdy/MCT

THE NATION’S TOP JOB

tojCALENDAR • SPORTS • OBIT NoVEMBER 9 - NoVEMBER 15, 2012B4

Orlando: “Sister Act The Musical’’ makes its way to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Dec. 4-9.

Jacksonville: Rap artist 2 Chainz will be at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville Nov. 23 for an 8 p.m. show and at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater Nov. 26 for an 8:30 p.m.

Orlando: The Electric Daisy Carnival, the world’s largest electronic music festival tour will take place Nov. 9-10 at Tinker Field, 400 S. Rio Grande Ave. Admission begins at $75. More informa-tion: 407-849-2500.

Orlando: The 26th Annual Festival of Trees showcas-ing displays of designer decorated trees and wreaths, gingerbread creations, vignettes, a gift boutique and children’s activity area will be held Nov. 10-18 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. Cost: $10 adults, $6 for children. More information: 407-896-4231. Ocoee: The second annual Access-Life Expo of Central Florida will be held Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. 2 p.m. at Bill Breeze Park on Lake Starke. It is a free community outreach event to provide Christ-centered encourage-ment, support and fun for individuals and families living with disabilities (cognitive and physical). It will feature boat rides, fishing, kayaking and other activities. More information: 214-336-1188 or www.access-life.org.

Tampa: Wiz Khalifa’s The 2050 tour is at the USF Sun Dome Dec. 2 for a 7:30 p.m. show.

Winter Garden: The com-munity is invited to attend a free couponing class presented by the Simple Truth Foundation and hosted at Next Community Church, 13640 W. Colonial Drive, at 10:30 a.m., Nov. 17. More information: 407-654-9661

or pastorscott@nextcom-munitychurch.com or www.nextcommunitychurch.com.

Pinellas: The Pinellas Advocates for Children and Families and the Pinellas As-sociation for the Education of Young Children will present a School Readiness Forum on Nov. 13, 6 p.m. – 8:30

p.m., at Coordinated Child Care of Pinellas, 6500 102nd Ave. North. RSVP to cwall@childcarepinellas.org or 727-547-2986.

Orlando: Tyler Perry’s “Madea Gets a Job’’ makes a stop at the University of Central Florida Arena in Orlando on Nov. 8 and the American

Airlines Arena in Miami Nov. 9-10.

Ocoee: The City of Ocoee will award $10,000 in match-ing grants for neighborhood improvement projects as part of its Most Valuable Partner-ship (MVP) Matching Grant Program. The maximum grant award is $2,000. Applications

are available at www.ocoee.org or at the City Hall reception desk. The deadline to submit applications is Nov. 30. More information: www.ocoee.org or call 407- 905-3100.

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Pe-tersburg at 250 Central Ave. between Second and Third

Avenues from 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

Sunrise: Fat Joe will be joined by Flo Rida, Waka Flocka and WBA Champion-ship Boxing for Beatdown 2012 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise on Nov. 30 beginning at 5 p.m.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

ERICA RIGGINSThe Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists will host its annual Griot Drum Awards & Scholarship Banquet on Nov. 15 at The Nielsen Company’s headquarters in Oldsmar. A reception will be held at 6 p.m.; dinner and a program begins at 7 p.m. A panel will include Bay News 9 anchor Erica Riggins. More information: www.tbabj.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Milt Campbell, who became the first African-American to win the Olympic decathlon in 1956 and went on to play pro football and become a motivational speaker, died Nov. 2. He was 78.

Linda Rusch, Campbell’s partner of 13 years, said Campbell died at his home in Gainesville, about 55 miles northwest of Atlanta. She said he had been fighting prostate cancer for a decade.

“He was extremely disciplined,’’ Rusch told The Associated Press. “He had huge passion. For you to win the gold you have to be so self-motivated and so self-disci-plined. And you have to have a very strong mind.’’

“He literally had to train himself to have this incredible mind, to be such a positive thinker,’’ she added. “He carried that way of life throughout his whole entire being.’’

Silver in 1952A native of Plainfield,

N.J., Campbell was a ris-ing high school senior when he won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1952 Olympics in Hel-sinki, finishing second to Bob Mathias. The Ameri-cans swept the decathlon that year. Four years later, Campbell won gold at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

“World record holder Rafer Johnson was hampered by injury, but even in full health he probably couldn’t have beaten Milt Campbell in Melbourne,’’ according to “The Complete Book of the Summer Olym-pics’’ by David Wallechinsky.

Campbell had hoped to qualify for the Olympic team as a hurdler, but he finished fourth during tryouts.

“I was stunned,’’ Campbell said in the book. “But then God seemed to reach into my heart and tell me he didn’t want me to compete in the hurdles, but in the decath-lon.’’

National honorsThe 6-foot-3, 217-pound Campbell, who

attended Indiana University, was drafted in 1957 by the Cleveland Browns, where he played one season in the same back-field as Jim Brown. Campbell then played for various teams in the Canadian Football League.

Campbell was inducted into the Nation-al Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1999 and honored this year by the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 2000, the New Jersey Sportswriters Association named him New Jersey Athlete of the Century.

In June, he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame along with nine others, including actor Michael Douglas, author Joyce Carol Oates and the late New York Gi-ants owner Wellington Mara.

Linda Rusch said Campbell dreamed of being a great athlete as a young boy com-peting with his older brother, Tom.

“He actually would look at the ceiling

and say `I am going to be the world’s great-est athlete’ every day,’’ she said. “He needed to beat his brother.’’

Fought until endRusch said Campbell became a motiva-

tional speaker, and maintained a positive outlook despite the loss of a son to cancer and as he himself fought the disease. In addition to Rusch, he is survived by three grown children.

“Someone would say, `How are you feel-ing?’ He’d say, `Great,’’’ Rusch said. “He was such a fighter. And with this cancer, he tried to fight it until the end. For his wife. For his family. And for his friends.’’

Rusch said Campbell was a whirlwind of activity – playing tennis as well as riding bikes, horses and motorcycles – until can-cer treatment began slowing him down. She said the past year was a special one, with him being honored by the New Jersey and the International Swimming halls as well as being invited to attend the Olympic trials in Oregon.

“People called and said, `We need you out here,’’’ she said. “He didn’t get the rec-ognition in the `50s. He got it all this year and he died.’’

Milt Campbell, first Black olympic decathlon winner, dies

Milt Campbell

BY ANDREAS BUtLERFLORIDA COURIER

Joe Taylor, Florida A&M University’s head football coach for the past five years, will retire at the end of this season. He will

make the Florida Classic on Nov. 16 against rival Bet-hune-Cookman University his final game.

Taylor, 62, announced his retirement on Nov. 3 dur-ing a pre-game breakfast. The Rattlers lost that game to North Carolina A&T 16-3 in Greensboro, N.C.

In 31 seasons, Taylor has a 233-96 overall record, in-

cluding 35-19 in his five years at FAMU. He is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s (MEAC) all-time winningest coach. Tay-

lor also is tied for third all-time in wins amongst coaches at Black colleges.

He also is tied for third in career coach-ing wins among HBCUs. Taylor is tied with Southern University’s A.W. “Ace’’ Mum-ford and is two wins behind John “Big’’ John Merritt.

40 years as coachFrom 1992 to 2007, Taylor was the head

football coach at Hampton University. His resume has 40 years of coaching experi-ence and four Black college football cham-pionships.

Taylor has gone 35-18 in five seasons at FAMU. In 2009, he led the school to a 9-3 mark after taking over a program that was 3-8 the previous year. In 2009 he led the team to an 8-3 record – the first FCS na-tional ranking since 2001. In 2010, the Rat-

tlers were 8-3 and shared the MEAC title with Bethune-Cookman and South Caro-lina State.

This season the Rattlers are struggling with a 3-6 record.

FAMU Director of Athletics Derek Horne said about Taylor’s retirement, “We are proud of what coach Taylor has brought to this program. As an administrator, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a coaching legend who will go down as one of the best ever in HBCU ath-letics. We understand his desire to move into the next phase of his life and we sup-port him wholeheartedly.”

Dr. Larry Robinson, FAMU interim pres-ident, added, “We reached some great milestones during Coach Taylor’s career, including FAMU’s debut in November 2008 on ESPN College Game Day in which FAMU became the first historically black

college or university to host the program. “Coach Taylor has had a storied career

as one of the winningest coaches in Black college football. In addition, he has built character and promoted academic pro-gression of student athletes, always re-minding them that their best contribu-tions will often occur off the field. We cer-tainly appreciate everything he has done to advance the football program. We wish Coach Taylor all the best in his retire-ment.”

The Florida Courier was scheduled to interview Taylor on Thursday about his re-tirement. A story with Taylor’s comments and about the Florida Classic will appear in next week’s Florida Courier and online at www.flcourier.com.

FAMU’s head football coach to retire at end of season

Joe Taylor

J. ANTHONY BROWNTickets are now on sale for Comedy Explosion 2012 at the James L. Knight Center on Dec. 29. Comics such as D. L. Hughley, Rickey Smiley and J. Anthony Brown will take the stage beginning at 8 p.m.

B.B. KINGCelebrate New Year’s Eve with B.B. King at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Au Rene Theatre in Fort Lauderdale. The show begins at 9 p.m.

ERICA RIGGINSThe Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists will host its annual Griot Drum Awards & Scholarship Banquet on Nov. 15 at The Nielsen Company’s headquarters in Oldsmar. A reception will be held at 6 p.m.; dinner and a program begins at 7 p.m. A panel will include Bay News 9 anchor Erica Riggins. More information: www.tbabj.com.

B5FINEST & ENTERTAINMENTSTOJ NOVEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 15, 2012

‘One Night Only’ tribute to actor will air Nov. 14 on Spike TV

By SANDy COHENAP ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

LOS ANGELES – However riotous the Eddie Murphy stories from Arsenio Hall, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler and Russell Brand, the highlight of Spike TV’s tribute to Murphy was the comedian’s duet with Stevie Wonder.

Murphy joined the subject of one of his most classic impressions for a rous-ing rendition of Wonder’s 1973 hit “High-er Ground’’ during the taping of the Spike TV special “Eddie Murphy: One Night On-ly,’’ which is set to air Nov. 14. The Roots served as the house band.

Jamie Foxx, Tyler Perry, Martin Law-rence, Chris Rock and Keenan Ivory Wayans were also among those paying tribute to Murphy recently at the Saban Theater.

Accompanied by a pretty blonde, Mur-phy beamed throughout the two-hour program, saying he was touched by the tribute.

“I am a very, very bitter man,’’ he said with a beguiling smile. “I don’t get touched easily, and I am really touched.’’

‘Comic hero’Morgan called Murphy “my comic he-

ro’’ and came onstage wearing a replica of Murphy’s red leather suit from his stand-up show “Delirious.’’

“He set the tone for the whole industry a long time ago,’’ Morgan said before tak-ing the stage. “He inspired me in a fear-less way.’’

Sandler was still in high school when he first saw “Delirious,’’ which he described as “one of the most legendary standup specials of all time.’’

“Everybody on the planet wanted to be Eddie,’’ he said. “He funnier than us. He’s cooler than any of us.’’

Samuel L. Jackson said Murphy “changed the course of American film history’’ by giving Jackson his first speak-ing role on the big screen, in 1988’s “Com-ing to America.’’

“If it weren’t for Eddie, we might not have all the wonderful films that I’ve made,’’ Jackson quipped.

“He is a true movie star,’’ Jackson con-tinued, lauding Murphy’s performance in “48 Hours’’ and “Beverly Hills Cop.’’ “You became an inspiration for all young Afri-can-American actors.’’

Touched by tributeThe program featured clips of Murphy’s

standup shows, his film appearances in “Shrek’’ and “Nutty Professor’’ and his work on “Saturday Night Live.’’

Murphy insisted before the tribute that he is retired from performing.

“I’m just a retired old song and dance man,’’ he said, adding that he only makes rare appearances these days. “That’s what you do when you’re retired: You come out every now and then and talk about the old

days.’’ The 51-year-old entertainer took the

stage at the conclusion of the tribute to say he was moved by the honor.

“This is really a touching moving thing, and I really appreciate it,’’ he said. “You know what it’s like when you have some-thing like this? You know when they sing happy birthday to you? It’s like that for, like, two hours... and I am Eddied out.’’

Lots of laughs, love for Eddie Murphy

tootie jeff

LIONEL HAHN/ABACA PRESS/MCT

Eddie Murphy, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, poses at the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California in 2007. He won for his role in “Dreamgirls.’’

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest? E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier.com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

FLORIDA'Ssubmitted for your

approval

Meet some of

finest

Miami native Jeff Cosmo, an actor and model of Haitian descent, is a graduate of the University of Florida. He is pursing a long-term goal of acting and modeling, He can be

reached at http://facebook.com/jeff.cosmo.

Nineteen-year-old Chantay of Tuscawilla, Ala.,

goes by the name of Tootie Sweets. She is pursuing

a career in modeling.

Phaedra’s goal: Be ‘Vera Wang of funerals’FROM WIRE REPORTS

Last season on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Phaedra Parks, an entertain-ment attorney, launched her mortuary

business. This season, she decided to expand in an even less sane di-rection.

“I am very interested in being the Vera Wang of funerals, so I don’t want to limit my morti-cian practice to just peo-ple. I want to expand it to everything that can be buried,” she declared. “I see pet funerals as the

new horizon for funerals and funeral services.”

Wang is a popular fashion designer known for her wide range of haute cou-ture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.

“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

‘Five Heartbeats’ actor hits cop car, charged with DUIFROM WIRE REPORTS

Actor Michael Wright, Eddie King Jr. of the “Five Heartbeats” movie, was ar-rested in New York on Nov. 4 after he hit a police car in his 1978 black Rolls Royce.

Wright was taken into custody after reportedly crashing his car into another

vehicle, which was oc-cupied by two police of-ficers.

TMZ reported that Wright hit the police car when trying to park his 1978 black Rolls Royce in Manhattan. The “Sug-ar Hill” star failed a so-briety test when asked to take one after the cops detected the smell of al-cohol.

The 56-year-old actor was later arrest-ed on suspicion of driving under influ-ence. No one was seriously hurt in the accident, but the two officers were tak-en to a hospital nearby as precaution.

Phaedra Parks

Michael Wright

TOjB6 TOjFOOD NOVEMBER 9 – NOVEMBER 15, 2012

BY SUSAN M. SELASKYDETROIT FREE PRESS (MCT)

It’s no secret that pumpkin is the ingredient du jour. You will find it everywhere. At popular coffee

chains, pumpkin is in everything from lattés to muffins to breads.

In the fall, grocery stores devote more shelf space to canned pump-kin — and often it’s on sale. Don’t confuse it with pumpkin pie filling, which also comes in a can.

One of the most popular uses of pure pumpkin, of course, is in pumpkin pie.

But there are plenty of other ways to use this antioxidant-rich ingredi-ent.

You can make pumpkin soup or stir some into stews and chilies.

Swirl pumpkin into plain nonfat Greek-yogurt. Add some to mashed potatoes. Use pumpkin to replace some of the fat in cookies, muffins and breads.

Good for youIt’s all good. And, for the most

part, good for you. Adding pumpkin to recipes adds vitamins and anti-oxidants and provides a good dose of fiber.

A half-cup of pumpkin has only 50 calories, less than 1 gram of fat and 4 grams of dietary fiber.

Mayssoun Hamade, clinical man-ager and registered dietitian for St. John Providence Hospital in South-field, Mich., says pumpkin meets the U.S. Department of Agriculture vegetable requirement of eating 2 cups of orange vegetables weekly.

“The two things that pumpkin is high in are vitamin A and beta car-otene — an antioxidant,” Hamade says. “They protect the body and the cells from getting damaged.”

Cheap by the canPumpkin is available year-round,

but it’s during the holidays when producers, such as Libby’s, say they see a jump in sales. Libby’s sells more than 80 percent of the com-mercial pumpkin products.

Pure pumpkin is what you get af-ter cooking sugar or pie pumpkins (don’t use jack-o’-lanterns) until their inner flesh is soft. Once soft, the flesh is mashed or processed in-to a purée.

You can make your own, but it’s just as cost-effective to buy the canned.

For example, a 15-ounce can of 100 percent pumpkin is about $2. Larger 29-ounce cans are about $3.

A pie pumpkin weighs about 4

pounds and averages about 79 cents a pound. Once you roast it, the flesh softens and shrinks some, yielding about 2 ½ cups of pumpkin.

Chili and muffinsHere are few ways to use pump-

kin:Chili: Brown 1-pound bulk spicy

Italian pork sausage (or turkey sau-sage) in a large pot; pour off fat. Add 1 cup chopped onions, 1-½ cups chopped bell peppers and cook un-til softened. Season with chili pow-der, cumin and crushed red pepper flakes to taste. Stir in 1 ¾ cup canned great northern beans, 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) fire-roasted diced to-matoes, 1 cup vegetable broth and 1 ½ cups pumpkin. Simmer 20 min-utes. (Recipe adapted from www.bonappetit.com.)

Mini muffins: Mix one devil’s food cake mix with one 15-ounce can (about 1¾ cups) pumpkin. Scoop batter into mini muffin tins. Bake according to package directions.

Pasta sauce: Stir 1 cup of pump-kin into 3 cups of pasta sauce for a thicker consistency.

Pumpkin pureeBake: Preheat the oven to 350 de-

grees. Cut sugar or pie pumpkins in quarters and remove all the seeds and fibers. (Save seeds for roasting, if desired.) Place the quarters flesh-side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast about 45-50 minutes or until the flesh is tender.

Purée: Scoop away tender pump-kin flesh from the skin. Purée it in a food processor or mash it by hand until smooth. Cooked pumpkin can have a lot of moisture. To remove it, line a colander with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Place the flesh in the colander and press on it to remove excess moisture.

Store: Freeze any leftover canned or homemade pumpkin purée. Place it in a plastic sealable freezer bag and squeeze out the air. Press the bag so it will store flat, label, date and freeze. You can keep the purée about 6 months. Thaw before using.

PUMPKIN MAC AND CHEESEServes: 8 (about ¾ cup

servings) / Preparation time: 30 minutes / Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

2 cups dried elbow macaroni�

2 tablespoons unsalted butter�

2 tablespoons all-purpose �flour½ teaspoon salt�

½ teaspoon ground black �pepper1 cup heavy whipping cream�

1 cup skim milk�

4 ounces Gouda or fontina �cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin �purée1 tablespoon snipped fresh �sage or ½ teaspoon dried leaf sage, crushed½ cup soft bread crumbs�

½ cup grated Parmesan �cheese1/3 cup chopped walnuts�

1 tablespoon olive oil�

Fresh sage leaves, optional�

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain pasta, and then return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add whipping cream and milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in the cheese, pumpkin and sage until cheese melts. Stir cheese sauce into pasta to coat. Transfer macaroni and cheese to an ungreased 2-quart rectangular baking dish.

In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, walnuts and oil; sprinkle over pasta. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with sage leaves.

PUMPKIN SHRIMP CURRYServes: 4 (generously) /

Preparation time: 10 minutesTotal time: 50 minutes2 tablespoons olive oil�

1 cup sliced onion�

1 tablespoon minced ginger�

1 tablespoon minced garlic�

1 plum tomato, chopped�

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin �purée2 cups vegetable broth�

1 cup unsweetened coconut �milk1 ½ teaspoons curry powder�

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper �or to taste1 cup butternut squash, �roasted and diced1 pound shrimp, peeled and �deveined1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice�

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and ginger; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in plum tomato and pumpkin purée; cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry powder and cayenne pepper; simmer for 20 minutes. Add the butternut squash, shrimp and lime juice. Simmer until shrimp are cooked and squash is warm. If desired, serve over steamed rice and top with cilantro, lime zest and fried shallots.

PUMPKIN BANANA BREADMakes: 1 loaf (12 slices) /

Preparation time: 10 minutesTotal time: 1 hour 10 minutesFloured baking spray�

1 mashed ripe banana (about �¾ cup)1 cup pumpkin purée�

¼ cup canola oil�

1 large egg�

2 egg whites�

2 cups all-purpose flour�

2/3 cup sugar�

1 teaspoon baking powder�

½ teaspoon baking soda�

½ teaspoon salt�

½ teaspoon nutmeg�

½ teaspoon ginger�

1 teaspoon cinnamon�

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8 ½-by-4 ½-inch loaf pan with floured baking spray.

In a large bowl, place mashed banana, pumpkin purée, oil, egg and egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to banana and

pumpkin mixture and beat until just moist.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick placed in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool slightly before cutting into slices.

SPICED PUMPKIN CUPCAKESMakes: 36 / Preparation time:

15 minutes / Total time: 50 minutes

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour�

2 teaspoons baking soda�

2 teaspoons baking powder�

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon�

¼ teaspoon nutmeg�

¼ teaspoon ground cloves�

1 teaspoon salt�

2/3 cup chopped walnuts�

1 cup raisins�

1 can (15 ounces) pure �

pumpkin (about 1 ¾ cups)

1 cup sugar�

1 cup dark brown sugar�

1 cup canola oil�

4 eggs�

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 standard muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Add the walnuts and raisins and gently toss with the flour mixture. This will help prevent the nuts and raisins from sinking to the bottom.

In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars and oil.

Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the flour mixture in three batches, stirring with a wooden spoon just until combined.

Fill muffin cups about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes and cool them completely.

Frost and decorate as desired.

Pumpkinnot just for holiday pies

PUMPKIN MAC AND CHEESE

PUMPKIN BANANA BREAD

PUMPKIN SHRIMP CURRY