Obama's Other Problems Vis a Vis His Pastor

As I have watched some of the coverage of the evolving crisis with Obama's pastor, I am starting to make a few observations about Barack Obama. First of all, he appears to be much better at organizing campaigns and managing controlled environments than he is at crisis management. His campaign was doing great when he had to make a plethora of uplifting speeches and figure out how to spread the money among the upcoming primaries and caucuses. His campaign totally dropped the ball on everything related to several comments his wife made. They never got out front of that story, and they allowed the media and their enemies to define it. That mistake has only compounded this crisis because many of the same enemies are now linking her comments to his pastor's. So far, he appears to be totally inept in dealing with this crisis as well. He put out a long explanation on Huffington Post, a sympathetic blog, and did a couple of interviews. One interview was with Keith Olbermann. There he was preaching to an audience that would forgive him if he killed someone.

Instead, surrogates went out to preach his case for him. What I have seen so far is nothing short of a total disaster. So far what I have seen is filed under the old saying

with friends like these who needs enemies...

On the O'Reilly Factor two Obama supporters essentially said that the sermons were no big deal and that anyone that was offended just didn't understand the perspective of the African American race. To which O'Reilly properly responded that Obama is running for President of the United States of America, meaning all Americans, not just those that understand. Their language was nearly as divisive as the pastor's. Many of his other surrogates tried to minimize the affair by pointing to other pastors that also had incendiary language. (pastors that have supported other candidates like John McCain) That is what Bill O'Reilly refers to as excusing bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior. This sort of misdirection isn't going to fly this time. These other pastors weren't the personal pastor of any other Presidential candidate.

Then, there is this column...

And some want Barack Obama to distance himself even further from his spiritual mentor. Why? Rev. Wright has not said anything that has not been said or is not being said in bars, poolrooms, barber shops, hair salons or anywhere else more than three black people gather.

And don't fool yourself. It's not just the black urban poor, those without jobs, education or hope, who express these comments. Many members of the black middle class have the same sense of history; the same sense of anger.

And it ain't illegal to be angry.

...like I said with friends like these who needs enemies.

Of course, the fact that incompetent surrogates are defining this issue is strictly the fault of Barack Obama. The reason that is happening is because he refuses to do these interviews himself. Barack Obama wouldn't have needed to have divisive surrogates on the O'Reilly Factor if he had come on himself.

Obama must understand that this situation is layered with potential pitfalls. Here is how Michael Medved put it...

Hey, Barack—it’s either one or the other: either you were lying when you talked about your deep, soul-changing involvement in Trinity United Church of Christ, or else you’re lying when you say you never had any idea (until last week) about the crazy and offensive and sickening contents of the pastor’s diatribes from the pulpit.

The problem for Obama is that his explanation doesn't pass the sniff test. If he is to get over this he is going to have to explain himself better. That means, he BARACK OBAMA, is going to have to explain himself. People just aren't buying that he had never heard these comments before. It doesn't seem reasonable for him to be in this church this long as a fairly regular member and never have heard the comments. If he is going to get people to understand, he is going to have to explain the situation better, much better. He can't leave this to divisive, condescending and dismissive surrogates.

Being cast as an anti American is only the extreme outcome and that doesn't need to happen in order for his political career to be over. Right now not only is his judgement being questioned, but frankly the entire theme of his campaign. His whole campaign is based on being a candidate that will bring people together and this fiasco is the exact opposite. Again, if he is going to limit the damage, HE must be the one to explain why he can still be counted on to be the candidate to bring people together. Surrogates aren't going to accomplisht that and so far most are having a counter productive effect.

The biggest potential problem this fiasco has for Obama is that it may set off a tribal war between moderate African American leaders and more aggressive ones. The most troubling news for the Obama camp had to have been the strong rebukes from both Juan Williams and Larry Elder. Here is how Williams put it...

Of course it says something about him. And I think this goes back to what Bill was just saying. He joined this church really to solidify his credentials as authentically black and authentically a part of that South Side Chicago community, because it's the largest church there and Reverend Wright is well known not only in Chicago but nationally.

And he's known for making these outlandish comments. And he falls into a tradition of black ministers who -- you know, they say it's social gospel, or whatever.

But really, what it comes down to is an expression of black nationalism and trying to affirm black folks and say, "You know what? Racism in this country's terrible and it's a burden to be black in America," and all that. But they go beyond the pale at some point, then, and start off with this whole victimization, blaming people, damning the United States. And it goes to the point, then, where I think it becomes sort of -- it picks up and leads to what Michelle Obama said about -- only for the first time has she, this Ivy League-educated prominent American lawyer, proud to be an American because you're having support for her husband.

I think that's wackiness. But yet that's the kind of thing that spirals out of this. And I think it's very key here that, unlike the notion that Barack Obama wants to advance that he didn't -- or wasn't aware of it, I find that unbelievable -- or that this is a crazy uncle speaking out, this is a man who he chose to be associated with.

It's not a family member. He chose to be associated with Reverend Wright and saw advantage in it. And that's why he exploited it up to a point when he realized, especially when he was announcing, that he couldn't have Wright by his side for the announcement in Springfield and now seeks to somehow distance himself.

But it speaks to his character, and it speaks to the judgment which is the basis on which Barack Obama has been running his campaign. So I think it could be a big problem.

Here is how Larry Elder put it...

“How can Barack Obama dis-invite him … and now claim he had no idea that Jeremiah Wright made all these incendiary comments? It doesn’t work,”

If this becomes a battle between moderate African American leaders like Williams and Elder and more extreme ones like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, then it matters not who wins because Obama loses.

These are all legitimate questions and he, BARACK OBAMA, is going to have to address them directly. If I were Obama I would immediately schedule interviews with O'Reilly, Williams, Elder and even Mike Wallace. Obama needs to get in front of as many undecided voters as possible. He isn't going to do that in controlled environments like the Huffington Post or friendly environments like Keith Olbermann. This situation is going to require him going into a difficult atmosphere and answer difficult questions, and answer them head on. This scandal is on the brink of spinning out of control and if he doesn't get out front of it soon his entire political career will be over.