This endorsement is certainly good news for Karl Dean, but how much will it help?

Twenty-seven African-American ministers endorsed Karl Dean for mayor of Nashville at an event today. The preachers put their support behind Dean, a former Metro law director and Davidson County public defender, during a reception at Harper’s restaurant on Jefferson Street. State Sen. Thelma Harper, whose husband runs the restaurant, also attended the event, as did retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice A.A. Birch Jr., who recently made a TV ad endorsing Dean.

What percentage of African-American voters will turn out now that Howard Gentry is not on the ballot? Will it decrease, as some expect, or will these voters return to the polls to make informed choices in the runoff? Among a population where churches matter as community organizations even more than they do among society at large, how much of an impact will this support for Dean make?

As Sean and others have observed, as many as 100 local African-American ministers had previously endorsed Gentry. Do the other ministers plan to make endorsements, or did they decline to endorse Dean? Twenty-seven is a significant number, but I’m still wondering exactly how significant.

I don’t blame anyone who’s bought a lottery ticket recently for being upset about the glitch that kept many participants from winning. When you think about it, though, is that really all that different from usual? Regular lottery customer Robert Johnson was referring to the recent error, but he could just as easily have been describing lotteries in general:

“That’s a whole lot of money. A lot of people lost a lot of money.”

I’m not opposed to lotteries on ethical grounds, but I do think they contribute to reduced wealth for many low-income families and individuals. Each adult citizen has the right to determine how to use the money they earn, but a disproportionate number of people who are struggling to make ends meet spend significant percentages of their money on lotteries each month. In the long run, I believe this adds up to a lot of poorer non-winners and a tiny fraction of lucky ones. Isn’t that how a lottery is supposed to work?