The "Race" for the President

Barack Obama had three things going for him. First he was new. People were tired of the same old faces. Clinton and McCain have been around for decades and it was exciting to see a new young face. Second, he was black but yet not threatening or challenging in the way of other famous African Americans such as Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Close your eyes when listening to him and he could be your white next door neighbor. And finally, he was charismatic. His speeches were inspiring and exciting. Combined, these three characteristics brought him center stage in the political world and made him a viable candidate for the presidency.

The videos showing Rev. Wright and the subsequent speeches by Obama have tarnished him by impinging on his image of being a new black candidate that didn’t act like the old politicians or the radical blacks. OK so it was inevitable that the “newness” would wear off of Obama. But as we learn more about him the public realizes that the bottom line is that Obama is a politician just like any other politician. He is trying to explain his way out of the problems of his relationship with his spiritual advisor by blaming it all on race. Huh? Basically he is trying to make whites feel guilty for judging Wright and himself harshly since we don’t understand the rage felt by most blacks. And to assuage whites he then compares it to the racism felt by whites towards blacks giving his white grandmother as an example.

Luckily a lot of people aren’t buying that reasoning. There is no correlation between an elderly woman’s concern about being mugged vs. the vile hatred espoused towards whites and America by Obama’s spiritual advisor. He needed to reject and repudiate Rev. Wright which is the one thing he refuses to do. And that worries and scares people. OK I should say it worries and scares white people because they now wonder if he is really no different from Jackson and Sharpton. They now are very concerned about exactly what kind of president he will he be and who he would surround himself with as presidential advisors and cabinet members. And so they begin to look again at Clinton and McCain. Yes they are old faces but there is some comfort in people you know and understand.

The remaining factor that Obama has going for him is his charisma and ability to inspire people through his speeches. Over the past few days he has given a number of speeches to not only give his views on the economy and terrorism but mainly to try to change the subject from his spiritual advisor. But he is not as successful as he hoped he would be as evidenced by declining polls. Yes he can still give wonderful speeches and maybe the MSM (main stream media) is still buying it but a lot of people are now listening to him with a new degree of cynicism and the audacity to challenge what he says.