NYPost

BUBBA'S THE ONE WHO RINGS UP THE BLACK VOTE

By DEBORAH ORIN

June 21, 2001 -- Inside Washington

NOT Al Sharpton. Not Jesse Jackson.

It turns out America's most powerful black leader is still . . . Bill Clinton, who'll soon open his office in Harlem.

So forget the Al-Jesse feud. Just look at how Dems used Bubba as their secret weapon in this week's special congressional election in Virginia, which pitted a white Republican man against a black, female Democrat.

The Republican won, but Dems did a spectacular job of getting African-Americans to the polls - thanks to 25,000 recorded phone calls on behalf of Dem Louise Lucas from Clinton (not Sharpton or Jackson).

"We did focus groups and asked African-Americans who would be most influential in getting people to vote, and they said Bill Clinton and Bobby Scott [Virginia's only black congressman]," recounts a Dem source.

Sharpton's name never came up in the focus groups. Nor did ex-Veep Al Gore's. Nor Jackson's. "I think most people think he's dealing with his issues," the source said, meaning Jackson's recently disclosed love child.

So Dems delivered Clinton's phone pitch to about 25,000 homes of black voters last Sunday and Monday on the eve of the vote, under the radar screen so that the press - and Clinton-haters - wouldn't find out.

The lists were carefully double-checked to make sure only blacks were targeted - "If we send a Bill Clinton message into a Christian Coalition home, obviously it backfires," the source said.

The recorded Clinton call ended by asking voters to push "1" if they'd vote for Louise Lucas. Clinton got lots more "1's" than similar calls from Rep. Scott or Virginia's black former Gov. Doug Wilder.

Dems say Clinton was key to cutting the gap from 13 points to 4 on election night. Even Republicans say more blacks voted - 37 percent or 38 percent compared to 30 percent of whites. Some Dems claim up to 50 percent of blacks voted.

And Dems weren't alone in seeing Clinton as their best weapon. The liberal group People for the American Way starred Bubba in its supposedly "nonpartisan" recorded calls urging voters to turn out.

So Dems, looking ahead to next year's midterm elections, know their most powerful political weapon is Clinton. The problem is, it's a weapon that can easily backfire.

Clinton wasn't the only one dialing for votes. President Bush made 66,000 recorded calls into Virginia for GOP candidate Randy Forbes, and mom Barbara Bush made 45,000. And their guy won.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001