Though academician Cornel West has yet to file with the Florida Division of Elections, he nonetheless is presenting as a presidential candidate this year.
And a purportedly nonpartisan group is going to give him speaking time this month, remarks that at least in theory could benefit his long shot effort to hit President Joe Biden from the Left.
West, along with "best friend" Robert George, will keynote the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) event on June 27 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orange County, where the two will present "opposing views."
Time will tell, however, if some of West's more outside-the-mainstream viewpoints will be fodder for the FAC conference, which is purportedly devoted to policy issues affecting counties amid Tallahassee's persistent drive toward preemption of local powers.
He notably has defended the "counterterrorist response" of the Hamas attacks on Israel last year.
"I don't believe in killing an innocent anybody," West told CNN last month. "But you don't start with those voices without coming to terms with the vicious killings and occupations that's been going on for 75 years, and then you get a counterterrorist response to that."
A former professor at Harvard and Princeton, West addresses a potpourri of cultural topics academically, and has taught classes ranging from philosophy and religion and African American history to "empathy" in a class co-taught with pop singer Pharrell Williams, best known for the ubiquitous earworm "Happy" that former Gov. Rick Scott and other politicians favored once upon a time.
West has also defended protests on campuses involving students and outside provocateurs, events that have been squelched in Florida by the Gov. Ron DeSantis regime.
"I was at Columbia a couple of days ago, and it was peaceful and the police came anyway. So, I mean, it's these brothers and sisters and siblings, they're peaceful, and I thank God they can send them a message that people can see their witness and still, at the same time, not have to engage in the kind of ugly clashes that we've seen," West said in Pittsburgh this month.
Perhaps that's the "empathy" he taught about coming to the fore.
Nationally, it appears voters are rejecting West's vision. He's no higher than 2% in surveys that include his name.
But in Florida? A group devoted to localism is giving him a platform, and it will be interesting to hear how unvarnished his message is. And how local officials who don't share his views receive it.
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