Posted by
Andrews on Friday, March 21, 2008 10:26:27 AM
In this whole incident with Rev. Wright one thing surprises me, that Obama was not better prepared for the whole affair.
Now, it isn't as if Obama is really the naif he pretends to be. He is an Illinois politician from Chicago, and one does not attain the positions he did without an understanding of how politics works. He must have been aware that not only would Wright be a liability on the national stage (and an article
I quoted earlier proves he did know that), but he must have known someone would bring it up and he would need an excuse.
And the best he could come up with was "I wasn't there"? Followed by "crazy uncle Jerry"? And them the man running as a racial healer settled on "racist Amerikkka" as his final explanation? It all screams last minute excuse making. Which makes no sense. The man had months, even years, to prepare. He knew he was running for president a long time ago, yet he didn't prepare a plausible cover story about Wright? It just makes no sense.
Now, I am willing to give him something of a pass on Wright. Perhaps he does not believe what Wright promotes. I am ready to believe that Obama is just an opportunist who latched on to Wright for political reasons while he was running in Illinois, knowing that his conciliatory persona may turn off certain black voters, and Wright's militancy would help win them back. So I am not certain that Wright's beliefs are necessarily shared by Obama.
But if he is that savvy, then he should have been prepared. He should have begun distancing himself the moment he formed a presidential exploratory committee, should never have given Wright a committee post on his campaign, should have prepared a great cover story, and, most important of all, should have joined another church. That would have been the politically wise thing to do.
Now, I am sure that Obama's followers will say the fact he did none of those things shows he is not an ordinary politician. My response is different. His decision not to prepare shows two possibilities.
Either Obama really does believe what Wright does, and he only renounced him reluctantly when forced to, or else Obama is the sort of politician who either lacks foresight, or else one so confident in his own power over the voters that he thinks he will not need a prepared response.
Racist, stupid or arrogant, those are the three explanations. Not one of them makes me want him as my president.