The Politico Braces Us For Tuesday

John Harris and Jim Vandehei of The Politico appraise Obama's situation:

Democrats who worry that Barack Obama is untested can put their concerns to rest.

Nice to see a smiling face!  Hurray, he's being tested!

A successful address would go a long way toward answering Hillary Rodham Clinton’s complaint that Obama has never shown he can handle the rough-and-tumble nature of modern political combat.

A failure could leave many of the white independent voters — a key group behind Obama’s swift rise in national politics — doubting whether he is really the bridge-builder and healer he has portrayed himself to be.

Do or die. Live free or die hard.  Bring popcorn.

In the past, Obama has made racial issues, and his own precedent-shattering status, a minor note in his message. But Obama said Monday he recognizes that there is no way he is going to become the Democratic nominee without a forthright statement about the role of race in American life.

“I think it would have been naive for me to think I could run and end up with quasi-front-runner status in a presidential election as potentially the first African-American president, that issues [of] race wouldn’t come up, any more than Sen. Clinton could expect that gender issues might not come up,” Obama told interviewer Gwen Ifill on PBS’s “NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.”

He has "his own precedent-shattering status a minor note in his message"?  Kidding?  Have they read his 2004 keynote speech which catapulted him to fame?  Here is his intro, just as a reminder: 

On behalf of the great state of Illinois...   

(APPLAUSE)   

... crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely.

My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin- roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.   

OBAMA: But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that's shown as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before him.   

(APPLAUSE)   

While studying here my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas.

Please - he has been running on his biography and, uhh, appearance ever since.  Or dare we ask, why is his campaign historic?

Here is Obama promoting himself to the Houston Chronicle just before the Texas primary:

In a conference call, Obama told the Chronicle editorial board that "more than any other candidate, I can bridge some of the partisan as well as racial and religious divides that have developed in this country that prevent us from getting things done."

Wright is important because Obama has made his image as a racial healer important.

 

 

Comments

[centralcal]

"While studying here my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas."

My Mom was born in Kansas too. Why don't we know very much about his Kansas roots, but we know quite a bit about his Kenyan roots?

White is boring, or what?

[reliapundit@msn.com]

I got a hold of an advance copy OF THIS SPEECH.

Here it is.

"Who ya gonna believe, me or your lying eyes!"

SOME WILL BELIEVE.

BECAUSE... THEY BELEIVE!

[hit and run]

That pic of Obama praying that accompanies the Politico article scares me.

What if Obamessiah is praying for God to damn us.

[clarice]

He went into this with his eyes open
Eyes wide open

[MeTooThen]

centralcal,

Um, no.

Kansas is boring.

No offense.

I was just in Dodge City and Liberal, KS.

Wow.

As it turns out, one of the biggest issues there is illegal immigration.

The meat packing plants are allegedly employing illegals to work.

You may travel the whole of the US of KKKA and never find a more bleak or dismal region than Southwest Kansas.

Just outside of the historic Dodge City are homes that are boarded up, broken down, and utterly dismal.

Outside the cities, it is open space.

Farming.

Ranching.

It is a hard life there.

God Bless them all.

[The Unbeliever]

In the past, Obama has made racial issues, and his own precedent-shattering status, a minor note in his message.

Right, like McCain has made his military service and support of the WoT a minor note in his message. Look, sometimes the layperson's unsophisticated, un-pundited, common sense viewpoint of a candidate's campaign is entirely valid. McCain is running as the grouchy but lovable Military Guy; Hillary is running as the FEMALE Al Gore (now with 50% more Bill Clinton!); and Obama is running as the Magical Ne-- um, I mean, as the charismatic black guy.

If any of these candidates want to run as something else, they need to change their campaigns NOW; but they don't get to complain about problems with their strategy after running almost exclusively on these traits. Obama doesn't get a free pass just because he expects every campaign to be as easy as his 2004 walk in the park.

[Foo Bar]

Or dare we ask, why is his campaign historic?

The campaign of any black candidate that got this close to a major party nomination would be historic- even if the candidate scrupulously avoided running in any way on the basis of his ethnicity. The idea that the historic nature of his campaign proves that he's been running on his "appearance" is dubious logic.

I noticed you tried to make a similar argument when you claimed that when Jesse Jackson said he was making history, it was an implicit admission that he wouldn't be where he was if he weren't black. Tiger Woods could have accurately noted that he had made history when winning the '97 Masters without it being an acknowledgment that he got where he was based on race. I'm not claiming that Jackson wasn't largely where he was at that point based on race. Nonetheless, his "making history" statement was not an admission of this fact.

[The Unbeliever]

Foo Bar: not that I necessarily agree with (what I think is) your underlying point... but if you take Obama's or Jackson's race out of the picture, what exactly makes their respective Presidential bids historic? As a thought excercise, let's complete this sentence: Their campaigns are historic because of the fact that they made it this far...

(1) despite a remarkable lack of experience?
(2) as a person of faith?
(3) as the national thought leader within a particular subject?
(4) at their age?
(5) with all their baggage?

Your Tiger Woods example holds up because Woods can claim #4. The rest seem mildly silly to claim when speaking of a race for President. I wonder what, if not race, Obama and Jackson were thinking of?

[wvs]

Is there such shame in being biracial that BHO and Halle Berry deny it? Wouldn't pride in being biracial go a long way to help heal the racial divides?

[Foo Bar]

if you take Obama's or Jackson's race out of the picture, what exactly makes their respective Presidential bids historic?

My point is not that their race isn't largely what makes their campaigns historic. My point is that it doesn't necessarily follow that they are/were running based on their appearance.

Since any black person who got as far as Obama has would be making history, if making history this way necessarily meant running based on appearance, then that would mean it would be impossible for a black candidate to run successfully without running based on appearance. I don't think TM wants to argue that.

Note that I am not denying that Obama makes reference to the implications of his ethnicity from time to time. A "minor note in his message", as the Politico piece says and as TM attempts to dispute, sounds about right to me.

[The Unbeliever]

My point is that it doesn't necessarily follow that they are/were running based on their appearance.

Ah, I see your point more clearly, though I continue to disagree with it. But now I'm quibbling about how much is "much", and I am not yet drunk enough to attempt Clintonian hair splitting.

[Drama Queen]

"...Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." I bet Barry and Michelle's daughters aren't singing this in their Sunday School class!

[Terry Gain]

His statement tomorrow comes 20 years too late. Anyone who accepts what he says now with the spotlight on Wright, rather than his actions in attending church to hear Wright spew this anti-white venom, is a fool.

America a magical place? Not in the eyes of Wright or Michelle Obama.

Obama hopes to connect with his supporters -the stupid and self loathing.

[glasater]

"Thus, nothing could be more dangerous to Mr. Obama's political aspirations than the revelation that he, the son of a white woman, sat Sunday after Sunday -- for 20 years -- in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable. His pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a challenger who goes far past Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in his anti-American outrage ("God damn America").

This is from Shelby Steele.

[bgates]

FB, we could have said 8 years ago that it would be possible for the first serious black candidate to run on something other than race, but we can't say that today, because the notion of "the first serious black candidate" has crystallized into the person of Barack Cipher Obama. The word made flesh, you might say. He is basing his run on two qualifications: he was bold enough to give an anti-war speech in 2002 in a state Gore carried by 12% and Kerry won by 10, and he's black.

As to the idea that his race isn't part of his campaign because he doesn't mention it out loud at every stop - c'mon. Are Dem voters such enlightened post-racial sophisticates that they wouldn't notice if he didn't tell them?

[kim]

Thanks, Glasater, for the link to Shelby Steele's glimpse into the soul of Obama, a sight Obama himself is afraid to behold. If his speech tonight is the fluff it promises to be, he'll become a parody. If he really takes a look at himself, he may become formidable.

But why would a formidable healer sit passively in that church for the formative years of his adult life? Is he just a hypocritical church attender for social and political reasons, or is Wright's message engrained in him?
======================================

[Donald]

kim,

Because he's not formidable. He's a creation of the press. Period. Just another hate whitey-whitey (Half!).

[kim]

Yeah, Donald, I know. He is shallow, pretentious, and probably quaking in his boots as we speak.
=============================

[kim]

Watch him dissemble tonight; it might be a very good show. I'm tempted to watch, though network television invariably blanches.

Courage, kim; it's important.
==================

[Jane]

I think it would have been naive for me...

He's naive, he lacks judgment, but hey he didn't vote for a war he wasn't eligible to vote for - so who cares about that other stuff?

I'm gonna watch his speech to look for something authentic. I'm not holding my breath.

[MarkJ]

Born in a hut in Hawai'i,
Prettiest state in the land of the free,
Made a nice living through bi-raciality,
Ran for pre-school prez when he was only three

Ba-rack, Barack Obama
King of the wild frontier....

[capitano]

Here's a preview of the speech -- set to music.

[Pofarmer]

Outside the cities, it is open space.

Farming.

Ranching.

It is a hard life there.

We call that heaven on earth.

The cities you can have.

[jeanneB]

I sincerely hope Senator Obama recognizes that his challenge goes far beyond Reverend Wright. If he is, indeed, a post-racial messenger he's going to have to take on all the grievance peddlers who preach black nationalism/separatism.

"Hope" and "Unity" cannot be achieved as long as blacks are being indoctrinated to believe "whitey" is his oppressor and responsible for all his ills. Reconciliation cannot be one sided.

If Obama is to remain credible, he's going to have to universally renounce black separatism and address its corrosive effect on African American progress. He can tell us all day long that HE doesn't subscribe to it. But as long as he tolerates it among others, he will be seen as ignoring a major obstacle to racial reconciliation.

He has a wonderful opportunity. This could be his "Nixon goes to China"....or "Sistah Souljah". Rather than retreat to the role of a black man scolding whites and blaming whites for racial discord he would surprise everyone if he instead scolded blacks for failing to grasp the olive branch when it's offered. Now THAT would be earth shattering...and admirable.

[Neo]

So the questions for Senator Obama, who certainly as not only a member but a prominent member could get the kind of attention from the UCC leadership that would bring change, would be these:

* Do you agree with the UCC's position on FALN? Do you agree with the Reverend Paul Sherry, the then-President of the UCC, that these terrorists should have been granted clemency?

* How about the honoring by the UCC of your Chicago constituent Alejandrina Torres? Should a maker of bombs, caught on a surveillance tape, be honored by our mutual church in any form or fashion? Do you or your wife Michelle share with the Reverend Linda Jaramillo an admiration for Ms. Torres as a "role model"?

* Do you or your wife know Ms. Torres, have you met her or had any contact with her in any form? Has she or her husband or any of their associates been supporters of your campaigns for state senator, Congress, the United States Senate or the presidency?

* Have you ever met Ms. Torres's husband and worshiped in the UCC church where he was a pastor?

* Have you ever at any time led or participated in a movement within the UCC to change the policies of the national leadership on FALN or, for that matter, anything else?

* Do you think President Clinton did the right thing pardoning these people? (Hmmm, come to think of it, there may be another candidate in this race who has some insight on the Clinton administration and FALN pardons. As a matter of fact...no, never mind. Ms. Burlingame's piece on the subject covers that ground.)

* Would you, as president of the United States, pardon those terrorists still behind bars?

It is very safe to say that the United Church of Christ is going to prove to be a veritable field of political landmines for Obama.

Stay tuned.

How many rocks are there to turn over ?

[MeTooThen]

Pofarmer,

Me too, then.

Heck, I'm in Wyoming!

But still, Kansas is hard living.

Too hot.

Too cold.

Twisters.

Too dry.

Too wet.

Well, to me it seems that way.

Just sayin'.

[MeTooThen]

TM,

A brief note.

Things are going very well indeed for Barack Hussein Obama.

Today he will secure his position as the nation's first racial healer.

And soon be on his way to a glorious reception in Denver, and beyond.

Just watch.

And enjoy!

[Appalled Moderate]

Obama is in a tighter spot than he need have been, because he told a whopper when he said he was not aware of this side of Rev. Wtight's ministry. If he persists in that story, he invites the news media to place him at some speech where Wright said something equally onbnoxious. This isn't going to be that hard. There are going to be tapes or transcripts, or even hard copes of early sermons. Somebody will go through the effort of going through all those. (My United Church of Christ church always had printed copies of last week's sermon available at the next week's servioe. I imagine a large church with a well-known pastor would have the same)

So, if Obama does the standard politician thing, thre's going to be a slow drip, drip, drip, and he will be a damaged candidate, who might pull out the Democratic nomination, but lose a 49%-51% vote to McCain. And no pretty words on race will save him.

But Obama could use this speech to roll the dice, and strike a diferent rhetorical track. In this case, he acknowledges he knew something of Wright's race baiting. He asserts that he ignored it because of the good things he had done for him over the years. He receites the things he learned from Wright's ministry. he expresses his knowledge of the things wrong there. He weaves all of this in a more general narrative on race in America, and how the African-American might view it.

Perhaps, Obama takes on political correctness as it applies to one's associates. He perhaps admits he is naive about how the press depicts associations, and how others might see his associations. He tells about how, in almost any ordinary person's life, one has associations of all sorts of people with all sorts of views, including views we have learned to condemn. We love these people anyway, and learn, somehow to discard the bad. Then we ask why the press insists that political life must always be different than real life.

This approach is a gamble -- it says take me as I am, and trust me that this is something you want. It requires a certain degree of what Mr. Fournier would define as arrogance. But if it works, it works big.

[Appalled Moderate]

MeTooThen:

The way you describe it, Kansas sounds a lot like Atlanta. (Well, Kansas has less traffic)

[DER]

Rocks turned over? Turn over rocks, find worms. Obama? Was the Columbian terrorist drug dealer death(s) a cover up for socialist works in his past(Chicago workers) and who made the trade from socialists land people to drug dealers that got them all killed? Another Congressman on a visit to Columbia? Was the Chez chick really a spy? They are really good at it, they knew about the Afghan spy before anyone else. Was the global socialist thing Obama like the Fiji thing was Shays and the China socialist political democracy thing Kerry?

I think all the feds skipped the Obama thing and that's why they found files on him on the terrorist laptop the day before he was killed. They found the names of every DEA agent last time. Obama set up. Terrorist drug dealers. Everyone is skipping the dead drug dealing terrorists.

[michaelt]

What?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

What?

+1

[SteveMG]

The lyrics are the key; not the music.

My guess is that press will, as usual, swoon over the latter and not look into the former.

[MarkD]

Nothing the man can say tonight can overcome the fact that he acquiesced to 20 years of hate.

What can he say? I didn't know? I didn't agree? I only gave him $20,000? I only pretended to go along, because it helped my political ambitions? I was lying then, but I'm telling the truth tonight? I'm telling this story now because I was caught?

I wouldn't take this sort of excuse from my kids, and I won't take it from a man who wants to be President of the United States. States.

[fdcol63]

Instead of denying that he'd ever heard Wright make these comments, he could have confronted the issue head-on, and said something like this:

"Yes, I was very aware that Pastor Wright has said these things and holds these beliefs. Each time I was aware of this, I told him how much I disagreed with his sentiments, and tried to point out all the ways in which we should strive to reconcile racial divisions and promote healing and better understanding among all ethnic groups in America."

"Out of respect for our long friendship and his service to the community and to me and my family, I tried to explain to him why I decided to stay within the Church, rather than just leave, in the hopes that I could convince him, and others in the Church who shared his divisive beliefs, about how wrong I believed they were on these issues."

"And I tried to work within the congregation to change some of the core elements of the Church's mission statements and 'About Us' items posted on Trinity's website, because I believed they promoted racial stereotyping and division, rather than healing and inclusion."

But he didn't. He was caught off-guard because he had scrambled to promote his "Christian" beliefs to counter accusations of being Muslim.

However, his vaunted silver-tongue and "articulateness" will ensure that those who want to believe in him will continue to do so.

[Appalled Moderate]

MarkD:

He can say this: "I look at what I was before I knew him, and what I was afterward. I look at what he gave me, as a man. I on't look at hate, ecause I did not see hate from him. I knew he said what he said, and told him what I thought of it. But things of value I received from him were far more than any harm I felt he might be doing."

Where he goes from there ...we'll see.

[Sue]

I think the speech is scheduled to begin in just a few minutes. I keep noticing that some are saying "tonight". I don't want you to miss it.

[Sue]

Fox is live streaming it on their website.

[Sue]

I don't think he is going to take the advice given here. He is going to go down the it is everyone else's fault for not understanding the Rev. Wright and how blacks are not offended, yada yada, yada...

[MayBee]

My bet is that he goes lofty.
Say in general that Wright speaks for many in America that are angry and feel pain, then he'll tie that into all the people in America that need help and healing in (George Bush's) America.
But he, himself, Barack Obama, black man in America, loves America.

And everybody swoons because he has such a cadence that Ezra Klein wets his pants, and middle America once again feels that we should purge ourselves of our racist feelings for ever doubting, for not understanding that we deserve the anger of the people we've hurt.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

We know Barack reads Mark Steyn, cause now he's ending his speeches; 'God bless you, and God bless America.'

[clarice]

Well whatever he says about his relationship with wright, wright cannot contradict it easily. Like the gal rumored to have been Kerry's squeeze, he's been hustled off to Africa.

Dana Milbank had a great piece today in the Wa Po about a debate in which Eagleburger (for McCain), Ann Lewis (for Hill) and ex-Amb Kurtzer (for Obama) discussed their candidates position on Israel--let's say the latter received a very chilly reception.

I so not see anything Obama says today changing Jewish voters thoughts about him--or Hispanics or Asians.

[Donald]

Apalled, you might want to open your eyes. Atlanta ain't Dodge City Baby.

[Jane]

You know from where I sit, Obama's campaign has done more to chill race relations than anything I can remember. I could have lived a long time without being exposed to the hate of Mr. Wright.

Frankly he makes me skeptical, particularly if he is a moderate as Donna Brazille says.

[Sue]

Wonder if Obama has donned the lapel pin? He sure has gone overboard with the flags.

[Sue]

He's late starting. I wonder if he is backing out? ::grin::

[Sue]

Ahhh...they are attempting to get the teleprompter set for him. He can't give a speech without the words being pre-written, as we have all witnessed.

[Sue]

Via Hot Air, Drudge has the transcript of the speech.

[Neo]

I've always told my kids that when you are in a tight spot you have 2 options .. claim ignorance and take your lumps hoping they will be small .. or .. go for the jugular and make them back down.

As far as Obama, my money is on a sprinkling of the first followed by a large serving of the second option. Look contrite but attack your "enemies".

The real downside here is that he may hang on to his current base, but with harmony on the skids, he should expect no more.

[Sue]

If you've read his speech, I'll give you an "I told you so" in advance.