“The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago,” Obama said of the man who married him.
[From Obama denounces former pastor – Barack Obama News- msnbc.com]
Thanks a lot, Hilary, for bringing things to this point with your relentless dwelling on Rev. Wright. Thanks a lot, Barack, for not letting a decades-long close friendship get in the way of your presidential bid.
Apparently if she can’t beat him, Hillary will turn Obama into someone like her, someone who will say or do anything, regardless of issues of personal integrity, for the sake of his political career.
I’m of a slightly different mindset on this one–at least with regards to who to blame for this. I tend to think that this is more Rev. Wright’s fault than either Obama’s or Clinton’s.
In my mind, the scenario goes like this: If you are associated with a political candidate and your words have caused the candidate trouble, you have some options as to what you do next.
1. Be quiet until the middle of November. This is probably the best option.
2. Give one apologetic speech and then be quiet until the middle of November. Also a good option, even if it does bring everything up again briefly.
3. Go on national television, give a speech (or speeches) explaining how you’ve been wronged, and then actually expand on your previous (controversial) positions when it will hurt the candidate (and implying that the candidate secretly agrees with you to boot). This is the worst possible option. It is also the one that Rev. Wright chose.
Rev. Wright could have said “I will explain myself later when it won’t hurt Obama at all,” but he didn’t.
As such, I’m not sure that it demonstrates a lack of integrity nearly as strongly as it demonstrates poor judgment on Rev. Wright’s part.
You know, that makes a lot of sense too, especially now that I’ve learned a little more about what was going on with Wright.