Obama's Albatross

Just a few quick points about the "Reverend" Wright and related topics (as you might have gathered by the infrequency of my posts lately, I (like many others, no doubt) am somewhat fatigued by this interminable campaign):

In my last post, I noted that I could see nothing exactly racist about the Wright soundbites that had received so much attention. I still don't. That said, I am now aware of some comments he made that are inarguably racist (maybe they just don't have video of those?). For example, in one sermon he reportedly attributed much of the world's injustices to the "white man's greed." Obviously, that is racist.

Of course, the logical problem with that statement is not what the majority of white people would probably say it is, which would probably sound something like "white people's greed hasn't hurt anyone." Rather, the problem is that white people hardly have a unique capacity for greed. Avarice is not confined to any particular race, and in fact, I am sure there is far too much of it amongst people of all colors.

Indeed, I've heard that the rev himself has retired to million-dollar+ home in some gated community in Chicago, and, while I've no doubt that he (like many other wealthy Christians) would rationalize his own wealth in some way, one could easily argue (as I know I have on occasion) that such luxury in a world filled with poverty is at odds with certain central tenets of the Christian faith.

Ah, but I have little doubt that, skin color aside, Wright has far more in common with religious charlatans like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Robert Tilton (and similar mountebanks throughout history and around the world) than he does with the average American.

In any case, my attempts to parse his comments with an open mind in my last post should not be taken to have indicated that I didn't have a pretty good idea already of the sort of person being discussed...

Which brings me back to the larger issue of Wright's effect on Obama's campaign. Certainly, I continue to believe Obama when he says he doesn't share Wright's racism, not to mention his wacky conspiracy theories about AIDS or his apparent admiration for Louis Farrakhan. Anyone who has actually listened to Obama address the controversy should be able, if they are honest, to see that his thinking is waaay more mainstream (and fundamentally more sound, I'd add) than Wright's.

Now granted, one could say that Obama's long association with Wright speaks ill of his judgement. To some extent, I think that criticism is valid, but on the whole, I think it glosses over the political difficulties faced by someone with Obama's background.

To whit, less than a year ago, it was widely suspected that Obama might not be "black enough" for a lot of black voters, and indeed, many polls suggested that he had not won most blacks over. Furthermore, as a half-white, Harvard-educated intellectual, those kinds of suspicions were presumably held against him even 20 years ago when he first went to Chicago.

As a politician, then (and yes, he is a politician), it was undoubtedly helpful for Obama to prove his bona fides with Chicago's black community by joining one of its major congregations (and, let's face it, while maybe not *all* black preacher's are quite so, um, "out there" as Wright, a great many of them are). And then, even as he emerged on the national scene, gained some traction in the presidential campaign, etc., he could hardly risk alienating what had become one of his most reliable constituencies (i.e., black voters) by simply tossing the old preacher under the bus. And indeed, he may truly have been unaware of the pulpiteer's more incendiary comments. (Granted, I'm a bit dubious that he was totally unaware that Wright had some fairly offensive ideas -- I think it more likely that he just didn't know exactly how offensive some might sound, and, more critically, that some had been taped.)

Unfortunately, the trick for Obama now is that he needs to do just that -- i.e., disassociate himself from Wright -- in order to avoid scaring off a lot of white voters. And doubly unfortunately for him, Wright has shown himself, with his media appearances over the last several days, to be an even bigger clown, showboat, crackpot, etc. than even many Republicans hoped he would be. He is certainly no friend of Obama's. Indeed, it seems that he is selfish enough that in spite of all his talk about the plight of black people, he would rather scuttle a historic opportunity for a black candidate (and someone who was supposed to be his friend) than let his vanity go unflattered for a while (which would really only involve shutting up at least until the election is over)...

Getting more general, I think it's fair to say that it's been a pretty bad month or so for Obama, and some of it is definitely his own fault. For all his obvious intelligence, for his ability to make an excellent speech like the one he did about race in Philadelphia, he can also do something bone-headed enough to cancel out (or even outweigh?) his eloquence (at least politically) in a few short sentences, like his ill-considered "bitter" comments.

Ultimately, I don't know if these non-issues will be enough to sink his campaign. It would be a shame if they did, because I don't think they have anything to do with the substantive issues, and, as I've said before, I do think Obama is best of the three (increasingly unappealing) candidates remaining. But, I have to acknowledge that these sideshows (Wright and the "bitter" flap chief among them) may have hurt him considerably in terms of electability.

I still think his youth, charisma, and sounder policies could see him to victory over old man McCain. (After all, McCain has his own vastly more relevant albatross: Bush.) But, Obama's road to victory is doubtlessly tougher than it seemed only seven or eight weeks ago, and will probably require significantly more savvy than it would've had Wright and the "bitter" thing not become such issues.