Elijah Cummings, President Trump and Revisiting "The Urban Agenda"

Before the 2004 Presidential Election, I came up with this idea to try to get a presidential candidate to run on an urban agenda, so it could be articulated and communicated.

I created a blog called "The Urban Agenda" and the idea was that it would be a group blog.

I talked to people like Joe Riley, then the Mayor of Charleston about the idea of an urban agenda as a distinct element of a presidential campaign, and others.

I never could get much of a commitment from other people to contribute to the blog and it died as I directed my attention to this blog, which is why I am so impressed by the achievements of Greater Greater Washington in terms of being a blog produced by a group mostly of volunteers (now they paid coordination).

But the reality is that my idea wasn't realistic.  Not because we can't come up with an urban agenda.  But because people who run for president do so because -- even if they are delusional -- they think they can win.

Candidates aren't interested in running as a novelty, even though the point is to shape the national agenda in significant ways, because these new ideas will merely be co-opted and incorporated into the agendas of mainline parties, which is what third parties were known for in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Their definition of success is winning, not shaping the long term agenda of the nation.

It's interesting to me that the mayors running in this round for the 2020 election, Bill DeBlasio of NYC and Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, aren't running on what I would call an "urban agenda" -- although I haven't read Pete Buttigieg's book. (Mayor Gil Garcetti of Los Angeles considered running too.)

In any case, South Bend isn't that significant of an example of a revitalizing city when it comes to the kind of urban agenda I was thinking about.

When I first came up with the idea, the concept was a comprehensive approach to revitalization and poverty reduction, which would have included investments in housing, transportation, other infrastructure, commercial district revitalization, business development, workforce development, health and wellness care, etc.

Now the agenda would have to include policing, dealing with crime from a public health perspective, but also the "quick draw" culture that seems to result in a lot of unnecessary death.

Trump, Republicans as anti-city

Because Trump is a real estate developer, and many of his projects are in cities, many people thought he would be pro-city, and at the very least pro-investment in infrastructure and transit especially, which is particularly important to cities.

But while he likes "to build," being a bully and narcissist, he can't help but see cities as opponents, because center cities and metropolitan areas tend to vote Democratic, even in states where the electoral votes end up going Republican.

It kills him that most every metropolitan area in the US voted for Hillary Clinton.  To him that's unforgivable.  So he is continuing the anti-city tone of the Republican Party in his Administration, which features hardcore Tea Party representatives in key positions, especially Mick Mulvaney, who is director of the Office of Management and Budget and sets the budget priorities of the Administration.

The Tea Party movement has pushed the Republican Party to the point where it is one of the most conservative right parties in the world ("What Happened to America's Political Center of Gravity?," New York Times) mostly features representatives from rural and exurban locales.


Weighting of political parties on a left-right continuum. New York Times graphic based on data from the Manifesto Project.

(In the new book American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, author Tim Alberta makes the important point that Trump's thrust of "Make America Great Again" is a reformulation but continuation of the "Tea Party" thrust in Republican politics.  "'American Carnage' Explores How Trump Won Over The Republican Party," WBUR/NPR).

Therefore the idea of a campaign run on an urban agenda is all the more relevant given the anti-urban agenda as expressed by the Administration of President Trump generally -- anti-immigrant, reduction in support for transit, reduction in support for cleaner energy, deregulation, reduction in the SALT deduction from federal taxes which disproportionately impacts cities, selection of a Secretary of HUD who is completely unqualified, voter suppression which disproportionately affects people of color and cities, etc.

Trump attacks Baltimore area Congressman Elijah Cummings. Last weekend, Trump tweeted negative comments about Rep. Cummings.

... Cumming (sic) district is a disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.

"Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings' district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States? No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!"

The anti-city anti-people of color bent of the Trump Administration has been reiterated more recently by President Trump in his attacks on Representative Elijah Cummings, of Baltimore ("Better to have a few rats than to be one," Baltimore Sun).

Yes, Trump doesn't care about cities and his closest acquaintances say he is racist, but the motivation of his animus is the fact that Rep. Cummings chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which can't help but hold hearings on various acts of the Trump Administration.

Yes, Baltimore has big problems -- more about that in a follow up post.  Baltimore is also a great place, despite its problems.  As this episode of the PBS show, "Samantha Brown's Places to Love" indicates.



But ironically, most of Rep. Cummings' district is in Howard and Baltimore Counties (in fact, when I did the bike and pedestrian plan for Western Baltimore County, a goodly portion of this area was in the 7th Congressional District). It has a bit of Baltimore sure

What have you got to lose by voting for President Trump?

It brings me back to Trump's challenge to African-Americans in the 2016 Election campaign, imploring them to vote for him, "because what do you have to lose," making the point that in his opinion the Democratic Party hadn't done all that much for Blacks, despite their steadfast support.

Clearly there is plenty to lose ("Trump Asked Blacks, "What Do You Have to Lose? Apparently Our Civil Rights," Black Press USA).

The Hate U Give is a movie you should watch

The Hate U Give is a movie (based on the book by Angie Thomas) running on HBO right now. I was flipping channels the other night, and caught it at least one third of the way in. 

It's about a police officer killing a black youth during a traffic stop, and the impact on the girl who was in the car and witnessed the shooting.

That impact extends to her family, her relationships at the private school she attends on scholarship, and their community.

The dialogue and filming isn't always scintillating, but I think it's a pretty good movie that does a good job of communicating about this issue and turmoil present within inner city communities, which most supporters of President Trump likely have little direct experience with.