The Beginning of the End of Barack Obama’s Presidential Bid

This is what Barack had to say:

Yesterday, we saw a very different vision of America. I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday.

You know, I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I have known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church.

Why, in my opinion, is this the beginning of the end of his presidential bid? Because what Reverend Wright said this time around was more measured, not less, than what he said on numerous previous occasions. Barack has performed a classic flip-flop. For a candidate whose chief appeal has been a step away from the usual, that may prove to be a fatal misstep.

From my perspective, a nightmare is becoming reality. African-American liberationist theology, despite its outrageous edginess, gift for hyperbole, and dissemination of a few, easily identifiable falsehoods, needs to be heard and understood by white America. After these statements by Barack Obama, the possibility of that happening in the future is much diminished.   

Comments

[Justin (koavf)]

John,

You're right and furthermore, America doesn't know how liberal he is yet. If he gets the nomination, the Republicans will do the exact same thing they did for John Kerry: he's an ultra-liberal and he's a flip-flopper. Whether or not that will be an effective strategy remains to be seen. Kerry was as charismatic as a dead fish, whereas Obama is infinitely sexier in addition to looking and talking like a president. Combine that with the issues and misinformation about his race and religious origins and you are primed for all kinds of ill-informed shut-ins coming out to vote against him rather than for McCain.

It's a fun time to be an American.

-JAK

[Wayne Leman]

Tragic. Once again we face the spector of having an election based decided by side issues which have nothing to do with how qualified someone is to be President and lead our country well. It's too bad that all of us can't rise above the level of the mud.

[JohnFH]

I am also hearing from friends on the left who sometimes voted for Ralph Nader in the past that they might not vote at all this time.

I've never understood the "so much the worse, so much the better" point of view. The natural and healthy tendency of a constitutional democracy to alternate between opposing parties is compromised by that approach. In the name of what? Of things getting so bad there will be a revolution? Talk about pie in the sky.

[Justin (koavf)]

John,

I really don't understand the economy of a Nader voter who is staying at home this year, since the man is running again. Unless they became anarchists in the interim.

-JAK

P.S. - I voted for Nader and plan on voting for him again this year, even though I am an anarchist.

[JohnFH]

Good for you, Justin. Some of my friends and family in Italy sat out the recent elections. A lot of people on the far left said, "Sono tutti pagliacci." "They are all miserable clowns." Hard to disagree, but still. I guess Berlusconi is the best clown of all.

[Alan Lenzi]

If I recall correctly, Wright's previous comments that got so much attention were spoken "from the pulpit." They were made to a specific audience in a closed context, a church. The more recent comments were very public and seemed to be intended to provoke the general public rather than to communicate to his congregants. You of all people, John, should know that context is important for analyzing a discourse. Just as you don't see the same measure of restraint used in the two different settings, I don't see the two contexts as the same. In fact, the different levels of restraint are surely related to the different contexts.

Anyway, Obama's reaction to Wright the first time around could be more generous given the context in which Wright's comments were spoken, however extreme they were. In this more recent instance, generosity is not deserved since Wright was intentionally playing the public provocateur, even if speaking in a more restrained manner. In my view, Obama didn't flip-flop at all. But it may very well be the end of his candidacy.

[Alan Lenzi]

By the way, there are several things that I see in Wright's answers to the press questions that we could and should talk about and learn from. For example, there is some overlap in his answers with what I'm reading this semester with my students: Richard Hughes' Myths America Lives By. We need to listen to the voices of dissent and we should talk about American imperialism critically and honestly. But I'm really puzzled that Wright has chosen to "be a Jeremiah" and provoke a firestorm NOW when his community has a chance to see the first black man elected to the presidency, a man who probably HAS BEEN shaped to some extent by some of Wright's more convincing criticisms and comments and will very likely be in a position to translate them into policy and action (while articulating them in a less provocative manner). But let's face it, prophets aren't exactly the most level-headed, rational people around, are they?

[JohnFH]

Alan,

your comments as always are very insightful. The difference in context is important and I overlooked that. I haven't read Hughes' Myths America Lives By, but the title captures a significant reality.

I wish Obama had tempered his criticism of Wright by lifting up some of the things the black church says that white America needs to hear.