San Diego, CA (special) -- Although no one described it as such, Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) set about last Friday building a tripartite political alliance among Jews, Latinos and African-Americans in San Diego County.

The four-term Jewish congressmen whose reelection in the 50th District is considered a virtual certainty, called upon attendees of a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's dinner to support the congressional campaign of Susan Davis, a Democrat in the neighboring 49th District, as well as to the mayoral campaign of Oceanside City Councilman Terry Johnson.

Both Davis, who is Jewish, and Johnson, who is an African-American, attended the dinner at the Wyndham Emerald Plaza Hotel at which the San Diego NAACP chapter president, Rhanda M. Trapp, was honored upon completing a pair of two-year terms.

One statement which came close to characterizing all Republican members of Congress as racists may come back to haunt Filner, however. 

The congressman recalled a time "a couple of years ago" when Congress was deliberating how to spend $90 billion to fight crime. Democrats, he said, suggested that one-third be used for community-oriented policing, one-third for preventative programs and one-third for new prisons. 

Republicans, he said, "put all $90 billion into the prisons." He then added: "It is not an exaggeration to say when you look at the prisons today-- I don't have to tell you -- they are not going to be happy until every Black and every Latino is in prison, it seems to me."

Filner also told the attendees that "those who do not understand the Pledge of Allegiance which says 'liberty and justice for all' know how to divide us and conquer us. They are masters of this, and we cannot fall into that. It is hard sometimes to resist. Pete Wilson when he was governor of California tore this state apart more than any other person. He put Prop. 187 on the ballot which said that if you were not a legal resident of this state, you were not entitled to health care or education."

"Now that was aimed at one group," Finer said. "I will tell you, and I say this as a friend, African-Americans voted in that election 2-1 for that proposition because many African-Americans like others who were not Latino non-citizens, said, 'hey I pay my taxes; why should my taxes go for their education?' I mean I heard that a lot. Think about those words and what they mean is racism pure and simple. I don't have to tell this audience about what racism is. But they divided us and they won that election."

In a subsequent election, Filner reminded the audience, "the affirmative action thing came along, and they put it on the ballot." When African American opponents of the measure to end various state-sponsored affirmative action programs went to the Latino community for help in defeating Proposition 209, "they said 'that's for African-Americans, that's not for us. They didn't help us in 187...,'" Filner related.

The congressman contended that backers of both ballot measures "planned it that way, and unless we say 'no' to that and unless we realize that we are all in this together, unless we recognize that racism against one is racism against all, and unless we unite to make sure this country lives up to its ideals, they are going to keep winning. So I plead with you not to let them divide us, not to let them conquer us."

Filner pushed the Democratic ticket in his speech to the NAACP audience, saying that as president, Al Gore will continue making Cabinet-level appointments that reflect America's diversity. Further, he said, Gore's appointees to the U.S. Surpeme Court would be more likely than Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's appointees to consider in "a progressive way" civil rights issues as well as "those of importance to the average American."

In the Congress, Filner said, "it is very close in power between Republicans and Democrats today: 223 Republicans, 212 Democrats." If just six seats changed hands, Democrats would have the majority, and some African-American congressmen would come to positions of tremendous power. "Think of a Congress whose Ways and Means chairman - a committee which controls Social Security, taxes, Medicare, Medicaid -- would be Charles Rangel, a 30-year congressman of Harlem," Filner said. "The chairman of the Judiciary Committee will be that great American, John Conyers, a man who understands civil rights and the understands the Constitution...."

Other African-Americans would fill important subcommittee chairmanships "because those are the members of the Democratic party," Filner said.

"You might not be able to see this on C-Span, in fact I know you can't, but if you get to the gallery of the House of Representatives and look down over the whole group, the Democrats sit on one side, the Republicans on the other -- there are no assigned seats but that is how it is broken down -- if you look at the side where the Republicans are, the 223, there are 219 folks who are white. There is one African-American, one Mexican American and two Cuban-Americans. You tell me how you pick ... people from America and get 219 out of 223 whites? They are selected that way."

Filner said the Democratic party "is not perfect but if you look at our side, we are a lot more colorful. There are about 35 African-Americans, 25 Latinos, over 50 women. ...If you look at the Republicans, out of 223, 210 of them are white males... Excuse my racism, but I can't tell them apart; they all look alike to me.... We (Democrats) have several Asians. ... We are not perfect, but I will tell you that we look like America in a way the other side does not."

Although they comprise only about 5-6 percent of the 49th Congressional District, if African-Americans turn out a solid vote for Davis she could win because her race against incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray is that close, Filner said

"You are not a majority in her district, but you can deliver her district for her," Filner said. "She can win that election and you have a list of things that you might want if she is elected. I mean political power is not just voting or registering; it is making sure that you take the power that is available to you. In a close election, there is a lot of power available to you, and we have a close one here."

Election of Davis, he said, could lead to a Democratic Congress and "we will be able to talk about civil rights, be able to talk about public education that is a high quality for every person, be able to talk about health care for everyone that needs it, be able to talk about those issues which all our families care about."

In Oceanside, where Johnson is a city councilman, African-Americans make up only 8 percent of the population, Filner estimated. "He is not running as an African-American; he is runing as the best person for mayor of Oceanside. Now after all of you march into Susan's office, some part of you should march up to Oceanside -- not too many, you will scare them off," Filner said to laughter. 

"Imagine the impact on San Diego County for all of us if Terry Johnson is mayor of one of the cities of San Diego County. But that is where political power comes from. You figure out a strategy, what can maximize the power."