Obama struggles to limit damage in pastor row as white voters slip away
The Guardian are leading today with a story which implies that the endless replaying of those speeches by Reverend Wright are having a terrible effect on the candidacy of Barack Obama.
Perhaps it's a slow news day and the Guardian are simply making too much out of this, but it is undeniable that this represents the darkest period in Obama's bid for the White House."That minister, that was terrible, all his sayings. He's preaching hatred," Vento said. "The thing I didn't like about Obama; you're telling me for 20 years you been going to that church and you never heard that?"
Vento, 68, was speaking about Obama's former pastor and spiritual adviser, Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons have been aired repeatedly on US television denouncing the US as racist.
The clips have alienated the white voters, such as Vento, that Obama needs in his next contest with Hillary Clinton, to be held in Philadephia and the other towns and cities of Pennsylvania on April 22. But it goes further than that. The danger for Obama is not just that he could lose badly in Pennsylvania but that senior Democrats will wonder whether the loss of white votes could cost him the November general election.
It's worth bearing in mind that Obama was never, ever, going to win Pennsylvania, but the danger at this moment in time is that a result that most of us could have predicted starts to look as if it is happening because of Wright's comments.The latest poll in Pennsylvania by Public Policy Polling puts Clinton on 56% and Obama on 30%. The same polling organisation showed her having overtaken Obama in North Carolina, which is also still to hold its primary: she has 43% to his 42%.
Phil Singer, spokesman for Clinton, told reporters: "It's no secret that the Obama campaign is in political hot water."
That is certainly the impression that Clinton and her supporters would like to foster.
The Guardian report implies that there might be enough discontent amongst super delegates that they would seriously consider giving their votes to Hillary, which is where I start to think that this must be a slow news day story, as it is to me unthinkable that the super delegates would ever behave in such an undemocratic fashion.
What is undoubtable is that Obama is being severely tested here and that these are the darkest days of this campaign.
No-one who has listened to Obama's speeches could ever believe that he shares the views of Reverend Wright, which is what makes the sudden media obsession with them so unfair.In Chickie's and Pete's restaurant and sports bar in Philadelphia, John Fernandez, a chiropractor, said Obama must have known what Wright was preaching. "How can you be that tight and not know or share some of those opinions? I was leaning toward him a little bit, but that took it over the edge," Fernandez said, hollering to be heard over the din of the bar and televised basketball game. "You got to go to another church, or you share those opinions."
He described Obama's Tuesday speech as "great damage control" and "a beautiful rebuttal", but he was not won over. Fernandez said he wondered whether Obama shared the opinions Wright expressed.
American elections always appear to be fought on everything but the issues, and candidates are always eventually defined on ridiculous points such as whether or not they are "flip floppers" or whether or not Al Gore claimed that he invented "the internets".
We now find ourselves at one of those points, where people appear to be seriously considering whether or not Barack Obama is a racist who carries an abiding hatred of whites. Anyone who has been paying more than a milliseconds attention to this election will know that this is simply nonsense on it's face, but sadly that is what we are being told is disturbing certain voters in the US.
I feel sure that such stories are par for the course in an election that is dragging on because Hillary is not yet prepared to accept the numerical certainty of her loss. Indeed, she is dragging this on in the hope that scandals such as this one will deliver her the victory that the votes have so far been denying her.
American elections often turn on such nonsense. I really hope that this one doesn't. If the voters reject Obama as a dreamer/optimist who is unready for high office, that would be one thing, and one would have to accept that.
But to portray the man as a secret racist who hates whites would be simply too unfair for words. And yet that is what Hillary and her supporters are secretly hoping for.
One can only hope that Americans aren't stupid enough to fall for such an obvious caricature.
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4 comments:
We now find ourselves at one of those points, where people appear to be seriously considering whether or not Barack Obama is a racist who carries an abiding hatred of whites.
I haven't heard or seen anything implying Obama was a racist. What I have heard and seen is people questioning his judgment in remaining a member of that organization and associated with Wright for twenty years. Since nobody seriously believes that he didn't know what Wright's views were or that he was espousing those views in the church, his continued support of the man and the organization certainly seems to indicate to many a lack of judgment over a sustained period of time.
I haven't heard or seen anything implying Obama was a racist. What I have heard and seen is people questioning his judgment in remaining a member of that organization and associated with Wright for twenty years.
And do you also question the judgement of McCain as he accepts the endorsements of people like Hagee or when he aligned himself with people who make the kind of statements that Jerry Falwell used to make? Or is this "judgement" something which you only expect from Democrats?
If he had a close and continuing personal relationship with those people over a period of twenty years, I would certainly question his judgment on the issue.
I think you've got that exactly the wrong way round. Knowing someone for a long period of time makes one more able to tune out the views they have which you disgree with. For instance with my father there are certain subjects that I won't even bother approaching.
It is far worse to embrace people who hold repugnant views simply because it is politically expedient to do so. That shows a distinct lack of character. And yet that is what McCain has done. Barack Obama was brave to stick by Wright and to make the argument that Wright's anger is the anger of that generation of blacks who suffered as they did. He also pointed out that Wright's anger ignores the fact that the US has changed to such an extent that Obama is running for the Presidency. So Obama offers understanding of a viewpoint which he personally does not share. That's called empathy, and it's a great quality in a politician.
Of course, the people McCain is embracing are people that he, himself, has previously called "agents of intolerance".
To attach yourself to homophobes like that simply to endear yourself to the Christian right is spineless and shows that the "straight talker" is nothing of the sort.
Obama had the courage to stick by his minister, McCain flip flopped for political advantage and embraced two men he has previously abhorred.
One position has honour, the other does not.
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