“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.“
In response to the burgeoning controversy over remarks by his pastor, Sen. Obama discusses his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright at
Update: “‘I think there was recognition that he’s obviously on the verge of retirement, [that] he’s taking a sabbatatical and that it was important for him to step out of the spotlight in this situation,’ Obama said.” Wright is officially out. With all the bodies dropping in both campaigns now, I’m reminded of D’Angelo’s chess lesson in The Wire: “Pawns, man, in the game, they get capped quick, and be out the game early.” (Although I guess, in this case, Obama lost a bishop.)
Update 2: Sen. Obama also addresses the Wright issue on a new Youtube video going around.
How bad do you think this is for his chances in the general? Because, I’m afraid it’s pretty damned bad. He’s already not doing well with the kinds of demographics who might vote Democratic but might also be more than a bit racist and decide to go to McCain on those grounds. I’m pretty convinced that’s why he couldn’t get over the hump in Ohio and probably won’t in Pennsylvania either.
Wright’s remarks aren’t objectively any worse than those of any number of right-wing loons, but he’s a black man and a left-wing loon, and like it or not, there are huge double standards involved. Anything that smacks of the Militant Angry Scary Black Man™ or the America-Hating Chomskyite Leftist™ is going to be very hard to get away from. Plus even if he does throw Wright under the bus, it severely damages Obama’s narrative about becoming a Christian and how that changed his life for the better. He won’t be able to speak to that now without risking bringing Wright back into the conversation, and he won’t be able to counter the secret Muslim crap by showcasing his church when his church has been discredited like this.
I even wonder a bit about his judgment on this. He writes in Dreams from My Father about being tempted by black nationalist types and rejecting that road, but what about Wright seemed so much different or better to him? I’m sure we’re seeing only the worst side of Wright here, but that side is pretty bad, to the point where I’d think a thinking religious person might not want to stay in a congregation led by such a man. I’m sure there are things here that are seen very differently in the context of the black community, and that a lot of it is explainable and forgivable considering the history of race relations in this country, but that has never been his sole context, and I would hope this kind of stuff would have disturbed him a bit more.
But maybe not being religious, I don’t quite understand how this works. The theoretical religious me would storm right out of a homophobic or otherwise hateful sermon and never come back, but I know plenty of actual good religious people who tolerate this sort of thing because of the other positives they get out of the church, their connections in the congregation and community, etc.
I may be being willfully naive about this, but I don’t see this as being all that bad for Obama in the end.
For one, as Al Giordano said today, it reinforces Obama as both a Christian and a God-fearing man. That should cut into the muslim thing.
For another, I think the more often one attends church, the more likely one is to have sat through some sort of embarrassing or off-putting sermon by the pastor. (I mean, I personally only tend to be in houses of worship at people’s weddings, and even then all the stuff about Adam’s rib and helpmeets seems totally dated and cringeworthy to me.) So it’s a relationship that the vast majority of Americans, being churchgoers, will have an understanding of already.
Plus, from what I gather, Wright has a lot of positive sermons out there about racial healing and social justice and the like. And those’ll get play too if the story continues past today. But I don’t really see it having legs, to be honest. FOX shot their wad with the video, Obama followed the Clear and Present Danger rule and denounced the remarks while saying he is in fact close to Wright. I’m not sure what the next chapter would be, unless there’s footage of Obama at one of the more fire-and-brimstone sermons nodding along.
As far as working-class white racism in Ohio and Pennsylvania, I agree that it probably played some role last Tuesday, although I tend to think tactical voting by Republicans was more important. Regardless, I’m almost positive it’ll be less of a factor in the general election, when the divide on issues between the candidates will be so much starker. And the general election polls in PA, linked below, seem to bear this out.