by Eric Ture Muhammad
Staff Writer

WASHINGTON(FinalCall.com)�The fix is in, charged former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, to an impressive group of Black leadership Jan. 4 during a National Emergency Summit on Voter Rights Denial at Howard University School of Law. The summit was convened by the National Black Leadership Roundtable.

Mr. Jackson, whose three terms as chief administrator for one of the largest cities in the South, said he wants to throw his hat into the ring to be considered for head of the Democratic National Committee, but the party secretly has selected big-time fundraiser Terry McAuliffe.

And Mr. Jackson is not alone in his charge. He is joined by members of the Congressional Black caucus.

"Brothers and sisters, reach out to your DNC members and tell them that you support Maynard Jackson for the chair of the Democratic National Committee," Mr. Jackson appealed to the attendees. "It will work if they know that you care and know that you are awake on this issue."

Mr. Jackson, the CBC and others charge that Mr. McAuliffe was allowed to replace outgoing head Joe Andrews in a secret deal between power broker members of the DNC, void of public knowledge until a week after Mr. McAuliffe had successfully lined up backing. The 451 Democrats nationwide will cast their votes Feb. 3 in Washington at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Jackson said the Democratic Party is the apparatus for delivering of votes, money, jobs and "everything that is important to us. But I also want to know, whose party this is? I want to know if this is our party, or has it been taken over by the few money interests who kept on saying �keep on raising money.� We had all the money and just lost the White House," he said.

He insists that the party ignored the South�s Black belt during the presidential race and lost the first (Mississippi) and third (Georgia) largest Black voter populations by refusing to advertise aggressively in them.

"We have neglected our roots and I intend to take us back there, reorganize our party and lead us to victory this year, in 2002 and 2004," he said.

"We have discovered that Terry was called in, along with Joe Andrews, by a certain person (unidentified), who said, �Joe, you are out, and Terry, you are in.� They gave him (McAuliffe) a week before anybody knew about it. Meanwhile, my opponent was allowed to campaign secretly amongst some of the most important Democrats, including organized labor, and line up commitments unopposed.

"The single biggest problem that I have is people now saying to me, �Maynard, if I had only known. But now, I am committed to Terry McAuliffe,�" the former mayor said.

Calls by The Final Call to Mr. McAuliffe and DNC Chair Joe Andrews were not returned.

According DNC insiders who asked not to be identified, there were at least five U.S. officials who were a part of the meeting deciding the McAuliffe appointment.

But California Rep. Maxine Waters speaks unabashedly: "There is an attempt to anoint Mr. McAuliffe to this position without consultation with the Congressional Black Caucus, Black leadership or any member of the DNC�s executive committee," Rep. Maxine Waters told The Final Call in an exclusive interview.

"I think it�s important for us to say to the Democratic Party that we gave you 91 percent of our vote in this last election; we have increased the vote by 65 percent in Florida with significant increases in other parts of the country. How dare you make decisions about who is to run this party without any consultation with those who make up the strong base of this party," she said.

Mr. Jackson said if Mr. Andrews wanted to retain his post it would have still been his unopposed. But after witnessing the shenanigans in Florida, he is concerned if the same is about to happen within the DNC.

"I and others were poised to support Mr. Andrews as chair when, lo and behold, he announced, �guess what, people. I am not running. Terry McAuliffe is going to be the new chair of the DNC,�" Mr. Jackson recalled. "A deal had been cut and it was cut somewhere where we were not present. People in power always protect their power. White folks in power are against anybody white, brown or Black who will challenge their power."

He compared the effort to place Mr. McAuliffe as DNC head to the fruit of a poisonous tree. "If the tree is poisoned," said Mr. Jackson, "the fruit is going to be poisoned too. If we have a process that is unfair, tainted and poisoned, the results of that process and the candidate who is born from that process will also be tainted.

"All I am fighting for is a fair and equal opportunity to be able to present my case, not during a time that it was covered up and nobody knew a deal had been cut," he said.

He informed the audience that Mr. Andrews is also the campaign manager for Mr. McAuliffe�s candidacy. Georgia Governor Roy Barnes and Ms. Waters serve as co-chairs for Mr. Jackson.

"We are constantly dismissed. Not asked to be a part of the decision making, not included with the design of where we are going, but called in at the last minute to organize and to work and to lead. I can�t think of a better place than to make the fight there in the Democratic National Committee," Rep. Waters said.