I don’t agree. And according to African-American pundits I’ve seen, neither do blacks. Obama showed exactly the proper decorum, defending the man as a man while condemning his statements up until the man made it impossible to defend him further. Once he said he spoke for blacks and the black church, he effectively divorced himself from Obama, the congregation, and the vast majority of African-Americans.
Meanwhile, Clinton still has said practically nothing about her dealings with The Family. Of course, her press minions and white bigots have not demanded that she do so.
No, your article was about both polls. From your article, “A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that some voters feel McCain better reflects their values than the Democratic candidates.”
Among registered Democrats, he’s gone from a one percentage lead, to one percentage point down. An insignificant change, statistically and otherwise. The same analysis is true of the general election match-up. The one statistically significant thing, and the thing that is relevant now and not in six months (and hence subject to significant change when people are actually challenging McCain), is that Obama’s lead over Clinton is growing.
OK, my bad. The part I quoted in my original post was from the CBS poll. I overlooked the NBC stuff.
Yes and no. The superdelegates should be looking at November, and they’ll have to commit within 2 months. So, the timeline is a lot shorter than 6 months. It was noted in my local paper today that Obama made his press conference after getting numerous messages from SDs. They seem to be getting nervous.
If he can do well next week, then I think we can declare this latest “scandal” over (provided Wright doesn’t continue to make an issue of himself).
I don’t have any quarrel with any of that. I just think that actual support among the voters is as important (even to the superdelegates), as who the voters predict will prevail, or the latest 1-point movement in the general election head-to-head match-ups (which the supers are sophisticated enough to realize mean very little at this stage).
I disagree. It’s not illogical to judge people by the company they keep. The longer the relationship exists the greater the association. You can argue the logic of it until the Sun explodes but that won’t change the reality of it. Public opinion is a fact of life and Senator Obama is distancing himself from Reverend Wright because of the statements Wright has made.
If Obama can get through NC and IN, he will not have jettisoned Wright totally, but in the fall he will at least only have one candidate drenching the airwaves with insinuation and tut-tutting. After a while, having cut ties, this becomes old news. If Wright keeps seeking out headlines, I think at this point it will serve to distance Obama from Wright, not to tie them together. A public feud with Wright may actually help Obama at this point if he can get out of the primary with the nomination.
However, right now, it is hurting him with undecided white folks. And it must be a significant thing if they are turning to Hillary at this point in the game- everybody always knew her all along, these folks are looking hard at Obama but then choosing the devil they know. As an Obama supporter, that gives me pause.
Endorsements are easy to walk away from with a 1-line statement. 20 year political personal/relationships are not.
Not sure I’d use the word “actively seeking”. McCain does not have a religiously conservative base. He’s not going to turn down the votes but he’s in a position to walk away from an endorsement that hurts him.
No he actively sought Hagee’s endorsement, has attempted to defend some of his more outrageous comments and has appeared with him on stage during the campaign.
That’s just it though, he hasn’t walked away from it. And doesn’t the fact that he doesn’t need it make it worse? You’re saying he doesn’t really need Hagee, and yet he went out of his way to secure his endorsement and he continues to praise Hagee?
I think in a post-Huckabee world, we will not be seeing much of McCain and Hagee again. He’s already distanced himself from Hagee’s controversial statements, and agreed that it was probably a mistake to seek his endorsement. I think he learned the hard way in '00 what happens to Republican candidates who shun the religious right in the early days of the primary process.
Doesn’t have a whole lot of choice. Got to have all of the Bush base, even though it ain’t squat any more, he still has to have it. Got to jerk off both Grover Norquist and Hagee, and then appeal to the middle, somehow. As well, he is married to Iraq, and if that goes south, he goes with it.
The Dems could nominate Carrot Top and he’d still have a tought row to ho.
Again, easy to walk away from an endorsement, harder to walk away from a 20 year relationship that includes a position in the campaign as an advisor.
It’s also a dangerous game to play the “who is endorsing you”. Lists start forming. Who does Louis Farrakhan support? Who does Hugo Chavez support? Who does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad support? The list gets stupid real quick. You’ve seen them on the Internet. Very dangerous game to play.
Did anyone see the one last week where Obama was being sworn in as prez, and Hillary is leaning out over the crowds saying “I, Hillary Clinton, swear to uphold the consitution…”?
