Reverend Wright: More Than a Jewish Problem for Obama
Posted By James BesserPolitical Insider: Reverend Wright: More Than a Jewish Problem for Obama
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The Rev. Jeremiah Wright isn't just a Jewish problem for Sen. Barack Obama.
For months, Jewish Democrats have wondered whether controversy over Wright, the fiery and newly retired pastor of Obama's church in Chicago, might have an impact with Jewish voters in the primaries and in the November election.
Wright is an admirer of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan; he has supported divestment against Israel and said that "racism" against Palestinians is the result of Zionism.
That may worry the campaign officials who do Jewish outreach, but the Wright problem, which exploded into the headlines last week after new video clips of the pastor's inflammatory, anti-American sermons surfaced, could have a much bigger impact.
In a nation where some voters may already be uneasy about the prospect of the first African-American president, Wright's radical views and the fact Obama once described him as a mentor may tip the balance for many - despite Obama's increasingly active rejection of those views.
Fearing just that, Obama reacted aggressively to the barrage of reporting about Wright, even submitting a lengthy blog entry to the Huffington Post in which he said "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."
But he also declined to renounce Rev. Wright himself.
"Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn."
(Watch Obama respond to questions about Wright in this MSNBC interview)
That may be enough to calm committed Democrats, but will it work with nervous swing voters? And how well will that response work when Obama is confronted with ads by independent Republican organizations featuring video clips of Rev. Wright's tirades against a "racist" America?
"Any rational voter will exclude all incidents that are not in the control of the candidates themselves," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "It's ridiculous to hold Obama responsible for the statements of his preacher. Yet it has been done, and it will be done throughout the campaign. That's because voting is half rational, half emotional. And that's the pity of it."
Be that as it may, Democrats are uneasy about the Wright factor in a contest in which race will be a big joker in the political deck.
Scary
04/17/08 @ 01:58 PM | Posted By A Thought People who see hatred for Israel and the U.S. in the New York Times and in most other forms of media reporting in the U.S. are extremely unbalanced themselves. The vocal few who scream that Israel is constantly under attack by those who question its actions and policies, obviously do not read the variety of perspectives in that are presented in the main Israeli papers. Yes there are anti-Jewish reports and articles, but most are just trying to show a variety of perspectives. I am tired of this vocal few reactionaries being the face of Judaism in the U.S., it offends me to my core. Mr. Besser's article was a wonderful and balanced perspective that asks questions and addresses upcoming challenges. I may not be an Obama supporter, but I think comments like Abraham Stubenhaus' are highly ignorant and offensive.