Let's see if I get this right. It's late October. I turn on my TV and flip through the channels. On every other channel is an ad with a preacher saying, "God damn America!!" On the other channels there is an ad with a picture of a big Georgian mansion next to another picture of a tenement building. Then a voiceover, "Is this the kind of change you want?"
Sure it's nasty. Sure it's Rovian. But if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee it is guaranteed to happen. Obama will be lucky if he does as well as McGovern or Mondale. Whether you like the Clinton meme of experience or not, you have to admit that Obama's primary appeal is message. And if his message no longer resonates, his campaign has no chance. Obama does not have to be convicted of any wrongdoing with regards to Rezko. Obama does not have to seen in the sermon videos alongside Rev. Wright. If Obama begins to be perceived as just another Chicago politician, it is all over.
And what's worse - it will be all over for the Democratic Party. I don't know what's worse. I am a very, very, very reluctant Clinton supporter. Why? Because I never believed the Obama message to begin with. I always saw political calculation no different than that done by all other politicians. Fine rhetoric, yes. Superb delivery, yes. But no substance. A politician who had no evidence to support the rhetoric. A person advocating profound change ought to have some record of taking risks, but there were none in Obama's resume.
Please do not get me wrong. Hillary Clinton's picture is in the dictionary next to risk aversion. Sadly, it appears that the Democratic Party is faced with the dilemma of which candidate is going to get defeated this fall. Barack Obama will have more delegates and, probably, more popular votes, but he will also have cement overshoes. Hillary Clinton will have - - well - - Hillary Clinton.
I'm mad at Barack Obama for a lot of reasons. First, if Jeremiah Wright is truly his spiritual advisor, then he should not be so quick to throw him under the bus. Sure gay people are expendable. They can be tossed aside for political gain as Obama did in the Donnie McClurkin Gospel Tour. But Rev. Wright was supposed to be one of the people who had profoundly impacted Obama - who had given him the title "The Audacity of Hope". If Obama is so ready to throw away people that close to him, where exactly do his allegiances lie?
Second, where the fuck were Obama's political advisors prior to and during the early part of the presidential campaign. Hello?? Any undergrad student doing a term paper on Obama could easily find the sermons that Trinity United Church of Christ offers on line. You would think that top political advisors might be aware of them BEFORE, not after the Rovian swiftboaters get to them. If that is the kind of advisor that Obama hires, I am more than a little bit worried about his choices were he to be in the White House.
Third, where is Obama's backbone? Why can't Obama defend Rev. Wright and black people across America by saying that, in fact, black Christianity really is different than white Christianity? That no time during the week is America more segregated than on Sunday morning. That the black church is one of the few institutions where black people have had some autonomy and respite from a society that has failed many, many times to live up to its credo - that all people are created equal. But, no. Michelle Obama hinted at it when she spoke about being proud of America for the first time in her life. But she was shouted down. Now, again, Barack Obama has the opportunity to speak honestly about race. And he backpedals.
And the Democratic Party? What chance does the Democratic Party have of defeating John McCain this November with Obama as its nominee? None. With Hillary Clinton? Practically none. I am certain that African American voters will defect in droves if Obama is denied the nomination and it goes to Clinton - especially if Cynthia McKinney is the Green candidate. And I don't blame them. But Obama can no longer win.
God damn America.
It's over. It won't go away.
So where do we go from here?
(Also posted at Daily Kos)
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