Wright Hurts More Because Of Obama’s Inexperience
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, RepublicansThe obvious storyline award of the day goes to GOP Sees Reverend Wright as Pathway to Victory. Really? Because I thought the GOP would just let the issue rest.
Many will fault Republicans for harping on the Wright issue. I, for one, think it’s a distraction from the real questions regarding Barack Obama’s experience and liberal policies. But I can’t fault Republicans for using this association to their advantage. Democrats have long used religious extremists on the right to rally their base and excite fund raising. Turnabout is fair play.
The question is: will it work? It may, not because a huge number of Americans will be lured in by this specific story but because, with Obama being so inexperienced and having such a slim public record, any clarifying detail will be magnified in voters’ minds. It’s not that a huge percentage of people will say “Obama is a bigot and an America hater because his pastor has made inflammatory remarks.†But this Wright story is bound to color many people’s perceptions of a politician they simply do not know very well.
The risk of running for president after so little time in the national spotlight is that you don’t always get a chance to define yourself. You leave a lot of room for your opponents to raise questions and manipulate perceptions. And you sure as heck leave yourself open to misconceptions when you overtly associate with people known to have less-than-mainstream viewpoints.
If the Wright story ultimately takes Obama down it will not just be because Republicans exploited the story. It will also be because, with such a slim public record, Obama doesn’t have the cover of a long, respected career to stand behind.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Well yes. What has he done to show us who he is other than speak. How can Obama reconcile spending 20 years in this church sitting on his hands while Pastor Write preached in his such hateful ways as the congregation cheered him on? Or was it that he had his fingers in his ears? No wait he admitted he heard some of this stuff. If the man was appalled by what he heard then why didn’t he grab his daughters hands and walk out of the place or at least confront the pastor after the service. Otherwise I must conclude he agrees with the basic world view of this church. Certainly the rest of the congregation cheered him on and patted him on the back so it’s an accepted theme.
So Obama either agrees with world view of this church or he has no back bone to stand against it or to try to change it.
No he is not Martin Luther King. King was a doer. Obama is a talker.
By the way, I’m a proud Dem and not at all racist. Although, I may be a bit idealistic about race, I think you can’t end racism by accepting it from your friends and family and even your Pastor without challenge.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
it won’t hurt Obama. For one, people already know about this and the full media attack for 5 days leaves little for the gop to go full out on it.
People are also sick and tired of the attack and divide mindset. They are on to these kind of tactics.
Actually the whispering campaign of him being a muslim plant was damaging and now that can’t be used. Everyone knows he’s not now.
Last, they roll out Wright and the democrats roll out Roberston, Falwell after 9-11 and what they said. You roll out all the crazy right preachers like hagee. They want to go there and the democrats will go right back.
Plus, the democratic blogs are very noisy and persistent and are itching for a fight. They are gearing up for the general now.
And unlike 2000 and 2004, they are influential now.
It will be a different ballgame this time.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
That is my worst fear. Assuming Obama wins the Democratic nomination, this would be the first time in a long time where we had two seemingly decent candidates running. I would hope both McCain and Obama would curb the dogs and run a real campaign.
So far, Obama has been running a fairly clean race despite Clinton nonsense…it’s a shame that thus far McCain seems willing to let the Republican smear campaign run free…
I won’t condemn him for that–I am not sure anyone could shut down some of the right wing bile machine, but I was kind of hoping he would stand up and say something by now just as Huckabee did. I mean, after what Bush did to him in 2000, I would have hoped for more.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:23 am
uh, gerryf- McCain did exactly what you are saying he should have done. First, he denounced Cunningham for the tactic of using “Hussein” in a drawn out fashion to create the fear of Muslim connections. Then, when interviewed by Sean Hannity recently, he said uncategorically that he doesn’t believe that Obama shares the views of Wright; Hannity was trying to set him up to say something negative about the guilt by association, and McCain clearly refused to do that.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:23 am
The fact that he has no experience is actually what got him this far. The fact that there is no poltical record which can be scrutinized by opponents and the media, the way his personal record regarding Dr.Wright has recently come to light, is why he has a chance to win.
He is in this thing for no other reason that he makes people feel good about themselves when he gives speeches. If he had an actual voting record, then he would stand for particular issues than many people would disagree with. Without experience, Americans can simply project their hopes and dreams onto him, as if he was a saviour of Washington, without any of the headaches or hangups that come with making difficult or unpopular political decisions.
People don’t look at the nutrition labels when they buy stuff. They look at the shiny packaging. That is all Obama is – a polished, good looking, charismatic empty suit – which is exactly what the people want.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Since judgment has been presented as the quality in Obama that mitigates his youth and relative inexperience, yes, this hurts him.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:16 am
GerryF: “right wing bile machine.”
It’s that kind of characterization that makes liberals come across stupid.
You and others are mad that your candidate is under a microscope. Btw, he brought it on himself. Poor judgement, association with bad people and groups, talking from both sides of his mouth.
Republicans are not making the stuff up. Even democrats that engage their brain (i.e., Julie in this thread) can’t wrap their heads around Obama’s double messages.
As an aside. What do you think of the Black Panthers endorsing Obama? Hahahaha…this is getting better by the day.
Yes. Obama rushed – when it became public – to remove the endorsement from his website, but when one of the Black Panther members was interviewed last night on Fox and Colmes’ fill-in brought up that Obama rejected the endorsement, without flinching he responded: “That’s politics.”
All these nutcases must not realize the more they talk, the harder the case that Obama is hiding some personal agenda.
March 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
My last sentence should have read, ” the stronger (not harder) the case that Obama is hiding some personal agenda.”