Hillary had to distance herself from her top strategic advisor when it became apparent he was playing both ends of a trade deal for his own profit. She was faced with a similar dilemma when the news broke that her husband earned a suitcase full of money for pimping the very same deal. A deal, by the way, that Hillary opposes. She would probably further distance herself from Bill too, if she could, but to do so more than she already has would require moving to Europe. However, if history has taught us anything, it's that she is willing to put up with a certain amount of Bill-induced headaches. Nevertheless, it raised the question of where her loyalty may actually lie on the Colombian deal if she became president. As she stumps in Pennsylvania, amongst its shuttered factories and unemployed workers, the last thing she needs to deal with is a perception that she might waffle on the free trade issue. Throughout the week, most polls showed her lead over Obama narrowing, albeit slowly.
And she had a good week compared to Obama.
He took another major hit, this time when he was covertly taped speaking to wealthy backers at a San Francisco fundraiser and he suggested that Pennsylvanians were bitter over their economic plight and were clinging to guns, religion and antipathy towards others as a result. This hit the beach just as the Rev. Wright wave of controversy seemed to be rolling back out to sea, its destructive power finally exhausted.
Needless to say, Clinton and McCain were on it like K-9 dogs at a protest rally. Obama was, "elitist," "condescending," and "out-of-touch." The attacks were as unimaginative as they were predictable. The uproar on Hardball and Fox News rose from deafening to hysterical. Everyone had an opinion and extra chairs were found so that they were all able to share theirs with an anxious nation. Either the controversy would fail to move the needle much or it would prove a serious problem with legs. Or somewhere in between.
The only certainties that the campaign has revealed over the past month is that the media doesn't do nuance and that much of America would just as soon not hear the truth.
The media, for the most part, regardless of which bias they're selling, has chosen to present Wright's sermons and Obama's San Francisco comments as discrete soundbytes. Taken as such, in 30-second increments, it's a simple matter to conclude that Wright despises the white man and that Obama looks down his nose at rural America.
"God Damn America" is a powerful, blanket denunciation of an entire nation, unless one chooses to take the time to listen to the complete sermon. Doing so reveals that Wright is damning America for specific actions -- past mistreatments of blacks, current inequities in the way the American pie is divided between the races, and the killing of thousands of innocent civilians around the world, always in the name of freedom and democracy. These are all facts -- you could look them up. But, rather than admit that a black preacher has every right, even a responsibility, to frame these transgressions for his congregants in a socially and politically active church on the south side of Chicago, it's so much easier to reduce a lifetime of sermons to, "God Damn America" and label him a crazy racist. And cast a suspicious eye Obama's way for not immediately marching up the aisle and out onto West 95th Street in a huff upon hearing such blasphemy.
Just as it's easy to listen to snippets of what Obama said in San Francisco and conclude that he holds himself above the working-class citizens of middle-America. Easy, but intellectually dishonest. Taken in context, Obama is explaining to the wealthy Californian donors why he has had a more difficult time connecting with Pennsylvanians than he has experienced throughout the majority of his campaign. In point of fact, he's actually defending their tendency to vote on "values" issues like guns and religion and gay rights in lieu of their complete lack of any economic stake in America.
No candidate speaks in one voice only. A message tailored to wealthy Democrats in California will necessarily differ from a speech given in a Pennsylvania church basement. The tone and content of a keynote address at a national convention is inappropriate for a town hall meeting in Scranton. All politicians try to connect with the audience in front of them. Take a listen to Hillary's infamous, "Ah don't feel no-ways tahrd" speech in Selma, Alabama. Or the cowboy accent adopted by Phillips, Yale and Harvard-educated George W. Bush.
Clinton and Bush aren't disrespecting Alabamans or Texans. They're trying to make a connection. The same connection Obama was attempting when he described Pennsylvanians and their guns, religion and mistrust of non-whites to a bunch of Californians, most of whom probably have no use for God, wouldn't think of owning a shotgun and live in a Pacific Heights mansion with a black family next door and a gay couple across the street.
Was it unfortunate that he used the word, "cling?" Sure. Rural Pennsylvania embraced God and guns long before the economy tanked. But what's really unfortunate is that much of what Obama, as well as Rev. Wright, said is true. There is a great deal of bitterness towards the federal government amongst unemployed, blue-collar workers. To deny that they don't feel a sense of abandonment, thanks to free trade policies and the government's failure to retrain them for new jobs the same government has promised them but failed to produce, is ridiculous. How could they not, on some level, be bitter? Do blacks have reason to feel victimized by the history of their treatment at the hands of white America? And do they have the right to voice their anger and frustration, whether or not white America is comfortable with, and ready for, the conversation? Painfully, and obviously, yes.
America may not be ready for the truths lying dormant within that debate. Probably isn't, truth be told. But that's what this election is going to decide. The Wright controversy might very well prove Obama's Achilles heel in a general election. The Republicans will surely revive the issue and he will have to explain his association with Trinity United all over again. But, ironically, there's a chance that the firestorm could end up becoming his greatest advantage. If the country is mature enough, the conversation Obama has kick-started, and will necessarily revisit, has the potential to lift him head and shoulders above McCain and partisan bickering and electoral games of gotcha. As an example of the kind of constructive dialogue Obama's race speech can inspire, watch this conversation between Ross Douthat of the Atlantic Monthly and Debra Dickerson of Mother Jones. It's as constructive a seventy-two minutes as you're likely to spend anytime soon.
As I said, this is what could happen on a national scale as a by-product of Obama's candidacy. Could, but I wouldn't bet on it. Not in a country where "elite" is considered an insult.
No comments:
Post a Comment