On the 40th anniversary of the assassination of MLK, my musings take me to draw comparisons between the Obama campaign and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MDFP).

To those who are unaware, the MDFP was formed by Blacks and Whites in Mississippi as a challenge to the All-White Mississippi national convention delegates. Black Mississippi Democrats were disenfranchised by the racists in leadership of the party. My comparison is not to accuse the Democratic Party of racism, but to compare the grass roots nature and enthusiasm of the MDFP and the Obama campaign with the old guard nature of the Clinton campaign.

Like the established Mississippi Democratic Party, Obama's main challenger, Hillary Clinton could tap into a built in support system. The Mississippi Democratic Party was the one officially recognized by the National Democratic Party. Senator Hillary Clinton began the Presidential campaign as the inevitable candidate. Her advantages included ready access to the support of Superdelegates and elected legislators. Clinton had the support of many of the old guard.
Govs Rendell, Spitzer, Corzine, O'Malley, multiple Senators, and Representatives like Barney Frank were all in the Clinton camp. A significant portion of the Congressional Black Caucus like Rangel, Jackson Lee, Tubbs-Jones, Lewis, and Meeks were all Clinton supporters.

Obama had to build a nationwide organization. Just as the MDFP had to rely on small donations, Obama developed an online donation system gaining support from individuals rather than relying on large donations. The national Democratic Party was surprised when the MDFP delegates showed up in buses after surviving on bologna, bread, and water damanding a place at the table. The current Democratic old guard has been surprised by the ability of Obama to raise tremendous amounts of money outside of normal sources.

The power of the grass roots nature of the Obama campaign has blunted efforts of big bucks donors who support Hillary Clinton from bullying Rep Nancy Pelosi on Superdelegate rules. Obama's grass roots supporters responded to the deep pocket donor threat of withholding cash by donating money to the DNCC. The actions of the MDFP led to a difference in tinking about the Democratic Party's Black voters. Hopefully Obama's approach will blunt the need for massive need for monetary infusions from large donors and a greater ability for the people to directly fund politicians.

The MDFP was offered two token positions in the national Democratic delegation as appeasement. Since the MDFP had 65 delegates to be seated, the offer was respectfully declined. Similarly, Sen Obama responded to a comment by Sen Clinton suggesting that he could be a VP choice on her ticket by reminding everyone that he was not running for Vice President.

My musings end returning to the memory of Dr King. I realize that MLK, who spoke out against the Vietnam war and suggested that American was often too arrogant in it's approach. In today's MSM, MLK would not be memorialized. His speeches would be trimmed to an anti-American snippet and played in a repetitive loop. MLK would be given the same treatment of as the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

History repeats itself.