On Religion and Politics: Obama v. Wright
A Rasmussen poll of likely voters suggests most of us (6-in-10) believe that Obama's "denouncement" of Rev. Wright this week was a move of "political convenience." Most (5-in-10) believe Obama was not surprised "by the views of his former Pastor." (Wright has recently retired.)
Color me among those who believes all of the events of the past week were orchestrated for political convenience. Let's flashback, shall we, to April 2007, and the closing two paragraphs of this New York Times article (empahsis addd):
Mr. Wright, who has long prided himself on criticizing the establishment, said he knew that he may not play well in Mr. Obama’s audition for the ultimate establishment job.
“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.”
And now it has. A reversal of Philadelphia.
The NYT reporter, Jodi Kantor, noted in 2007 how inextricably linked Obama's campaign was to religion from the get-go.
For example, Obama "began his presidential announcement with the phrase 'Giving all praise and honor to God, a salutation common in the black church." It's been widely reported that Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope (which helped launch his presidency and make him a millionaire), owes its title to a 1988 Rev. Wright sermon. Obama's conversion is tied to that sermon as well. Twenty years ago.
The controversy isn't new either. Rev. Wright was slated to give the invocation when Obama announced his candidacy, but his appearance was canceled.
The Obama website has a page devoted to religious testimonials. Rev. Wright has been removed; however, his words were reportedly on the page when it launched. (The Internet Archive website is down, so I cannot confirm right now.)
The Clinton campaign has a faith page, but no testimonials. A Google search yields no such results for McCain's campaign.
About's guide to liberal politics, Deborah White, writes:
Try as I might, I don't understand what the nutty, narcissistic antics of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's former pastor, have to do with determining Sen. Obama's fitness to be president.
Politics of convenience is politics as usual.
Thus, what is important is not the Reverend's "antics" but the candidate's reaction, given that his campaign rests almost 100% on the idea of inclusiveness; his political (and literary) career is grounded in this church; and his rhetoric is the politics of change.