Street Gangs Weigh Presidential Endorsements

WASHINGTON (CT) - Several large street gangs in the nation's capital are considering endorsements of several presidential candidates seeking to unseat President Bush in the 2004 election, Campaign Treehouse has learned. As in Washington's law-abiding population, no clear favorite has emerged, though several candidates appear more likely to receive the endorsement than others. A spokesman for the K Street Ganja Boyz says that his gang is currently leaning toward endorsing Senator John Edwards: "I like how he's putting kids first with hiz-ealth care, dogg, and that's da bomb,"Â? he explained. Their rivals, the Corner Pockets, are rallying behind another campaign focused on health care- Congressman Dick Gephardt's. Says leader Mo-K-Ze, "What you gotta understand is, we don't sit around all day waiting to jack people, right? We work. He's the only guy who understands that. He's representing for the worker, man. That's proper." A number of smaller gangs are temporarily banding together to form Gang Members for Dean, one of the many informal Internet-based organizations supporting surging Governor Howard Dean. "Yup yup, like, the Doctor is in, and all that? Yeah, the other Democrats are all wack, man," explained one member. "John Kerry and all that shiznit. Bull, man. We gotta take back the country, Dean says. Well, dogg, we got the streets for ya. Word up." Not all of Washington's gangs are voting Democratic, however. One gang, the Beltway Fiends, is "days away"Â? from endorsing President Bush's reelection bid. "I know he ain't down with thug life,"Â? explains Joe Y., a Fiend war chief, "but damn, man, business has never been better for street gangs since that dude walked into the White House!" To date, only one candidate, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, has announced publicly he would accept endorsements from street gangs, though none has offered to endorse him thus far.