Mikie Sherrill talked the talk in Trenton, will she deliver? [L.A. PARKER COLUMN] – Trentonian

There’s a white woman on Chambers St.

That observation on July 18 represented fact and surprise simply because Caucasian women never appear in that part of Trenton. Better odds exist for finding a leprechaun riding a unicorn there. Not even white ladies of the dark night venture onto this blighted Trenton street anchored by the infamous liquor store near Walnut Ave.

By the way, generational poverty and political deceit lists as tolerable if a nearby liquor store exists to fuel depression, degeneration and deterioration of human spirit.

The white woman sighting produced a double-take and double back. Went around the block. Parked on Locust St. Then walked up to find New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill — now governor-elect after a major whup of Republican Jack Ciatterelli on Election Day — holding court.

The capital city visit represented a campaign strategy that placed Sherrill everywhere, a gladhanded effort to meet voters where they live, ground zero of grievances, barbershops, on broadways, even in belly of the beast neighborhoods wrecked by decades of poverty.

“We’ve never had a person running for governor on our street before, especially a white woman. I guess that counts for something,” gushed a black male resident.

On that sun-splashed Friday, the press-flesh Sherrill entourage included several other white staffers, plus, Trenton Council members Jasi Mikae Edwards and Crystal Feliciano. Shanique Taliaferro, a Trenton resident and founder of a group called Black Women NJ formed to empower black women, had been a supporter of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate who finished second in the Democratic primary. Taliaferro asked Sherrill to visit her hometown.

So, that’s how this white woman ended up on Chambers St. The black man had one last observation.

“If (Sherrill) wins, let’s see if she keeps her promises. Let’s see if she ever comes back,” he offered.

Yeah, let’s wait and see.

L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com.