It was a great speech. Probably the most honest treatment on the subject ever given by a politician. Neither Hillary nor McCain would have had any credibility giving it.
As for the political impact, it’s hard to say. People who took the time to read or watch the speech probably have the same opinion of Obama as they did before the Wright issue. People who won’t take the time to read or watch it, those that get their news from Faux News or Rush Limbaugh, those that forward glurge about Obama being Muslim, these people weren’t going to vote for him anyway. The number of people that he could bring into his camp is limited, as is the number that have left his camp over the Wright furor. I’m sure he didn’t hurt himself, but I don’t think it will make Joe Sixpack forget the YouTube images.
Bob and Flip - I guess that depends on who you think was his real target audience.
I’m guessing that his primary target was the supers and they read and listen. Maybe secondarily the Editorialists who chew and interpret source information for those who either do not have the time or inclination to digest it for themselves. Is he dealing with issues of racial divisiveness in a satisfactory enough way that they’ll be willing to move along? The supers to move along and start coming out for him in larger numbers and the media to stop trying to make this into an election primarily about race.
Surely. We’re all held accountable for our actions and to a lesser extent our words. (At least, we should be, but that’s not germane to this point.) The thing that gets forgotten most often is that we should be held accountable for our good works as well as our bad. What I’m seeing is that this guy and Obama by association is getting his feet held to the fire for the bad things he’s said while the good things he’s done are being dismissed entirely. Must a person be a paragon of perfection in the entirety of their lives before we can say they’re not a bad person?
The only question we can ask is whether or not the bad someone has done outweighs the good. In Wright’s case, you say it does. Obama says it doesn’t. You’ve known Wright through the media frenzy. Obama’s known him for 20 years. Who do you think has seen more of both the good and bad from Wright?
Well, call me paranoid, but I think Wright-gate was an issue instigated by Team McCain as a way of steering the nomination towards Hillary. The GOP knows that they have shaky high ground when it comes to matters like this. They profit the most from this spectacle when the fight is between Hillary and Obama, and not McCain and Obama.
I’m wondering if Hillary supporters have considered the possible machinations behind the Wright discovery. If they don’t think Hillary had anything to do with it, then that leaves McCain. Why would McCain throw this card out now instead of saving it for later? Like, right after the convention, when the time would be great for derailing Obama’s campaign train and putting a halt to his momentum. If Hillary is such a formidable opponent against the Republicans, why would the GOP go out of their way to increase her chances of winning the nom?
If people actually read the newspapers and actually read the editorials, that might help Obama. I think we who are political junkies tend to overestimate the thought processes people go through to cast their vote. Many voters just want to find a reason not to vote for someone: he doesn’t wear a lapel pin, doesn’t put his hand over his heart, his preacher is radical, etc. Once they’ve found their reason, there is no getting them back.
Well said. I heard a commentator on TV talking in a panel discussion saying she read “The Audacity of Hope” Sermon and thought it was beautiful and moving.
She talked to members of his congregation who said, “We were surprised and a little shocked by some things too” but because of all the good he’d done{Wright} and how much they cared for him they chose not to reject him for those few things they didn’t like.
I thought Obama’s comments about Wright and his white grandmother were very poignant and true. You don’t reject a beloved family member because of a few objectionable things. You love them and take the good with the bad.
and oh, Jon Stewart did a funny bit about it but summed it up very well
“In surprising news today a presidential candidate spoke to us about racism,…as if we were adults.”
I just tried calling into NPR and after finally getting through to “On Point” I was told that too many people were calling in supporting Obama and his speech, they needed some different views. There’s spherical thinking for you.
We are fundamentally imperfect in this country on the issue of race. To help get on the path of perfection we have to acknowledge that which is not perfect. That is exactly what Obama is trying to do, the very thing that is most difficult in this campaign and infact in this country. This country has a hard time looking at that which is real and that is a problem. Obama and others understand that. Obama is not his church - Obama is tradition and is trying to work through the compexities of race. I don’t expect everyone to understand - but if you want to listen you’ve got to hear it. This is a moment in this nations civil religion -and Obama has made a contribution to that with this speech.
I don’t think the calculation you apply is apt. I’m sure David Duke and John Hagee have done plenty of good in their lives. That doesn’t mean that a pol can sidle up to them and not be called on it.
I think they both utter stupidity, while neither of them is stupid (my guess). The problem for Obama is not so much that he had some contact with a man who spews hatred and cleaves division, it’s that he voluntarily looked to this man as a mentor for 20 years. And now he says “I didn’t know he believed that really bad stuff”. There’s not enough roll eyes… And then the attempt at equating his relationship with Wright with that of his grandmother—please, that just shows desperation and for I think the first time that I’ve witnessed with Obama: stupidity. One does not CHOOSE one’s grandmother. The man who has been telling us that sound judgement is so important has just raised his hand and shown that he is as lacking in that arena as the others.