hile there was much angst among some groups about the absence of minority-oriented television shows for this fall season, there was hardly a whisper about the starker absence of African-Americans and Hispanics running for high office: governor, US senator, or president.
The growing diversity of our nation is virtually nonexistent when it comes to candidates seeking those offices.
There was a time when African-Americans and other minority groups ran for high office if only to break ground for future, more viable candidates, just as various ethnic groups have done over the years.
Yet no popular, or even relatively popular, African-American, Hispanic, or Asian is a candidate for any of these offices.
Even the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, twice a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has given no indication he may run again, if only to influence the presidential debates on various issues.
True, Alan Keyes, a black Republican, is running again for the GOP nomination. But Keyes's conservative views do not make him popular with most African-Americans, nor does he have the credibility to be a viable candidate.
One deterrent is the fact that it takes millions of dollars to win elections to these offices, a sum that most African-Americans and Hispanics find impossible to raise.
Or perhaps it is a sense of futility that has set in among potentially viable African-Americans and Hispanics after seeing some of them run hard but unsuccessfully, or rarely last more than one term in office.
Former US Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, the first African-American senator since Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, won her election with strong support from minorities and women, only to lose her reelection bid after she became embroiled in controversy.
And L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who in 1990 became the first African-American to be elected governor, lost his reelection bid after he became involved in a controversial relationship with a woman he brought into his administration. Wilder lost a subsequent bid for US Senate.
In addition to the intense public and media scrutiny these elected officials received, high-profile blacks and Hispanics in the Clinton administration also became involved in controversy.
Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was indicted by a special counsel on such charges as receiving gifts from companies his office oversaw. Although he was eventually acquitted, Epsy was forced to resign because of the charges. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman is under federal investigation for alleged influence-peddling, which she staunchly denies. Henry Cisneros, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, recently pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge to avoid prison time on charges of lying to the FBI about money he paid to a former mistress.
Of course, a number of elected or high-ranking white officials have also been charged with crimes over the years, including the president himself. But there is a perception that a very high percentage of the few blacks and Hispanics who attain higher office end up facing charges or are under intense, often negative, media scrutiny. This tends to discourage other blacks and Hispanics who might have quietly considered running.
Despite a growing number of African-Americans, Hispanics, and women in the House, few have considered running for the Senate, a governorship, or the White House. Currently there are 39 blacks in Congress; 38 of them are Democrats and one a Republican. There are 19 Hispanics, 16 of them Democrats.
In the House, the lack of diversity among the Democratic leadership has become an issue, and efforts reportedly are being made to correct the problem.
But there is no visible effort among any groups to develop African-American and Hispanic candidates for high office.
When Andrew Young, who had been mayor of Atlanta, ran for governor of Georgia in 1990, he was a viable candidate, but did not have enough of a coalition to win statewide. Most pundits said that one reason Young lost was because he could not maintain a strong black base while courting the larger white vote.
Another former mayor, Harvey Gantt of North Carolina, ran two strong campaigns for US Senate in 1990 and 1996, only to lose both to incumbent Jesse Helms. Gantt's coalition of black and white supporters made him a viable candidate, but not strong enough to overcome the legendary Helms, who brought out his large white base with strong appeals.
For a black to win statewide offices such as governor or US senator, he or she must not only be a strong candidate, but must also attract a coalition of black and white voters large enough to win. And once in office, that candidate must work hard to maintain, if not build upon, that fragile coalition - a lesson that eluded former Wilder and Moseley-Braun.
But with Wilder and Moseley-Braun absent, there appears to be no viable African-American or Hispanic candidate on the horizon for governor or the Senate as we approach the 2000 election.
Some political analysts believe it may take four to eight years before another African-American comes along who has the appeal, and the coalition, to win such office. Perhaps then will an African-American be well-positioned to make a strong bid for the presidency.
That day appears to be a long way off, but it may come sooner if coalitions of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and whites begin now to expand their horizons, find strong candidates, and reach for higher goals.
Robert A. Jordan is a Globe columnist.
