The Sarah Palin I Know
Posted by Jim Kessler, Vice President for Policy Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:44:00 GMT
Twenty-four years ago, I had my first paying political job. I performed data entry for the Massachusetts Democratic Party. I was paid $5.25 an hour, and I was in heaven. Hey, it beat making mediocre pizzas for $4.75 an hour. The chairman of the state party was Chet Atkins – a great guy and a member of Congress. But as chairman of the party, he was criticized because no African-Americans were on the state party payroll. So he called Mel King, an African-American city councilman and mayoral candidate from Boston and asked Mel to send him his best person to be field director of the Party. “I’ve got just the guy,” said King. “Jim Spencer.” Atkins interviewed Spencer on the phone and he hired him on the spot. That Monday, Jim Spencer showed up for work. He was White.