NY(10) – Kevin Powell’s Brooklyn Zoo …

At first glance, Hip Hop Scholar Kevin Powell’s re-run for Congress in New York’s 10th District teases the eye for a laugh.  This was, after all, the cat who pulled out of last year’s mid-term race against incumbent Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) before the ballots dropped.  It was a sad showing for a self-professed New School candidate that we hoped would have shaken things up a bit on the political radar.  Didn’t happen. 

So, when we see recent fundraising e-flyers circulating through our inbox, we’re like … lol – this guy is running again?  Didn’t appear as though he could run a campaign if his life depended on it.  Perhaps he should stick to writing books.  Because if you can’t figure out how to take out the laziest cat to ever have a seat in Congress, you’ve got problems. 

Our assessment in his first flirt with campaign politics is that Powell didn’t realize that Towns had the reliable senior vote behind him in that district (old folks always vote, and they seem to always vote for who they know: the incumbent).  Meanwhile, Kevin was too focused on the “hip hop/gen x” crowd vote which really isn’t all that reliable on many levels.  Too many of them smile in your face, give you public props and tight hugs, but lunch on the way to the polling station.  We don’t live in Brooklyn, but the writing was on the wall …

But, checking out Powells website (www.kevinpowellforcongress.com) we see signs of a net-rooted force to reckon with, if played right.  Towns obviously doesn’t have this level of sophistication and could see early retirement if he doesn’t light a fire under his House Chamber seat.  There is definitely an energy there we’re seeing that we didn’t see before.  New web look definitely turns a few heads, and he’s making solid use of the myspace/facebook/flickr/youtube tools.  Still, the jury is still out on net activism translating into electoral wins.  You might be big man on campus with your website, but that doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t direct folks to the ballot box. 

We dig the new energy; skepticism remains on the coordination.  We have to see it to believe it.  He gets kudos for prominently placing domestic violence on his platform.  That’s THE number one public health issue impacting Black women and it’s about time somebody ran on that.  Suggestion: also focus on batterer’s abuse and manipulation of the court system, thereby extending the violence even after the woman manages to escape.  You’ll find some alarming stats nationwide and in Brooklyn. 

Definitely a race to look at in 2008 – we hope.  Note to Powell: don’t let us down … again.    

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