In the 2002 race for Pennsylvania's reconfigured 13th congressional district seat, Democrat Joe Hoeffel narrowly won re-election over opthalmologist Melissa Brown.
Brown's signature issue was "Section 8 reform." Essentially, Brown used Section 8, the federal subsidy for low-income housing assistance, as a wedge-issue translating into "Big Government forcing you to accept black people in your neighborhood." (Links to many of my 2002 posts on the Brown campaign seem to be bloggered — this one and this one are working.)
Brown's '02 campaign focused relentlessly on preserving "neighborhood's" and "property values," casting herself as George Wallace in the doorway, defending white neighborhoods from black Philadelphians who wanted to actually buy homes in those neighborhoods and send their children to those schools. (She also liked using Philadelphia Mayor John Street and even Al Sharpton as bogeymen to scare white voters.)
Brown's race-baiting was shameless, aggressive and very nearly successful.
Now, with Hoeffel running for the Senate, Brown is back, taking a second shot at the always-closely contested 13th seat.
So far, "Section 8 reform" has been kept more to the background of Brown's new campaign, where the up-front issues seem to be cutting taxes and "tort reform."
The segregationist doctor's position on Section 8 remains a part of her campaign, however, and we'll be keeping an eye on this race to see if the "protect our [i.e. white] neighborhoods and property values" theme again becomes dominant.
Even in the background, though, here's Dr. Brown's idea of housing policy:
Changes in the program’s priorities must be instituted. I support a yearly background check and a one strike and you’re out policy for serious misdemeanors or felony convictions. I support the new reform change placing a seven year limit on eligibility, excluding seniors and disabled persons. I support unscheduled, unannounced inspections of properties, open transcripts of hearings and market price evaluations to establish rent guidelines consistent with the residential area. An increased [sic] in the number of inspectors and detectives are [sic] necessary to maintain the program. I am calling for a moratorium on any expansion of Section 8 until the above problems are addressed and reform is accomplished. It is only then when attention can be focused on home ownership.
More detectives making unannounced "inspections" of the homes of the poor. The American Dream.
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