Nope. That wasn't a speed bump Senator Barack Obama's campaign bus rolled over today. That was his now, apparently, former pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright after the senator threw him under the bus. Not that he didn't have it coming. After all, he dared to defend himself and his ministry rather than fall on the sword for Sen. Obama.
I won't get into the specifics problems with Sen. Obama's statements today. Suffice to say he largely reiterated what and how Dana Milbank and the rest of the media establishment chose to interpret Rev. Dr. Wright's remarks to the National Press Club. I already stated my rebuttal of those interpretations in this post.
What does concern me is the deep sincerity with which Senator Obama made his statements. It is the same honest, no BS tone he uses for all of his other speeches. That worries me. This is, indeed, must be, a purely political move. His campaign staff saw no other option after yesterday. He himself may have seen no other option.
The problem with this is that:
- Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright's comments could not really have been that shocking to someone who has belonged to his church for as long as Sen. Obama has or
- Sen. Barack Obama is an incredibly naive person who is not even capable of seeing a man he has known for many years at face value, much less read what the man's real values are.
If it is number one then this is a man who can make anything sound like it is coming from the "Tree of Hope." That is, on the one hand, absolutely great. On the other hand, it is scary as all hell. When is he being earnest and when is he being expedient if he always sounds as if he is delivering us to the 'promised land', even when he isn't. His greatest differentiation from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was the belief that he wasn't full of crap and he wasn't jaded enough to throw his own values out when it was politically expedient. He may very well have lost that differentiation now. Why?
Because, otherwise number two has to be correct and Senator Barack Obama makes President George W. Bush look like the world's greatest judge of character. I don't think anyone believes this is the case.
This is a man who married Obama, baptised his children, was his pastor for a great many years and inspired the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." Now we are supposed to believe that Obama did not know of his pastor's views? All of this is a great big surprise? Ridiculous.
I can understand if Senator Obama is pissed about the theatrics yesterday, and, from his comments, it appears that he is. But to completely repudiate the Rev. Dr. Wright? You haven't defended him. Why shouldn't he defend himself. I also suspect that there is more than a little truth to the feelings Rev. Dr. Wright implied that Sen. Obama had towards the views of the Rev. Dr. Wright. Did the reverend hit too close to home? We won't ever know because, yes or no, the campaign has to make that implication seem like a smear.
As I have said, the comments don't really need repudiation when they are viewed/listened to in context. Senator Obama and his staff have come to believe that they do, however. They have come to believe that the soundbites cannot be overcome. They have come to believe that it is more important for the Senator to distance himself from his pastor, who, "spiritual mentor" or not, obviously was a major influence on him (see the title of his book), than it is to embrace the man while rejecting the comments. Even better, defend the comments as not being seen in context, as I have done. (I do, however, realize this is far too much to ask a man to do for his pastor when he is running for president.) He almost, vaguely, defended the 'soundbites' in just such a way at the news conference. (Think that that might have been a hint at what is in his heart?) Nope, we're gonna cut bait.
This could, and most likely, to one extent or another, will backfire on Sen. Obama and his campaign. Sen. Obama is too closely linked to Rev. Dr. Wright. His protestations about "not knowing" are disingenuous at best. I think that more will see this as a failure to stand up when he is needed than will see this as a necessary step to be taken if he wishes to win in November. His best hope is that Sen. John McCain will be too embarassed by his own connections to the likes of John Hagee and Rod Parsley to attack him for abandoning his own minister. Or, maybe, McCain will do just that after not abandoning Hagee and Parsley!
I don't agree with everything my pastor says. Never will. He sometimes says some relatively controversial things. Nothing quite like the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright. Nevertheless, even if he did say things that controversial, and I were running for president, I would like to think I would stand by the man. I am not sure I am that strong. I do, however, now know that Barack Obama is not.
Short "Soundbite" version from the AP
Essential Elements version from MSNBC
Full News Conference Video from MSNBC
Comments welcome,
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