Jesse Jackson/Obama Flap
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By now most of the political world knows that Jesse Jackson — in a moment of candor that he did not believe was overheard — made disparaging remarks about Sen. Barack Obama. He has since apologized and reiterated his steadfast support for Obama’s campaign.
However, Jackson’s comments may be more significant than just an embarassing gaffe caught on a microphone he did not know was hot.
As I predicted about three weeks ago, Obama has been poised to really rile up his left-leaning base (see here, regarding Obama’s looming shift on Iraq).
What with FISA, the DC gun ban, abortion, faith-based initiatives, Iraq (the Mother of All Flip-Flops), public financing of his campaign, et cetera, he has really gone back on many promises that he made to the faithful leftists.
And now we have Rev. Jackson saying that Obama is “talking down to black people” when he speaks about the responsibility that black men should take about their children. Mind you, what Obama said is not new or original. Bill Cosby said very similar things, and was predictably blasted for it by many members of the left.
Now, it may be a truism that the left and black voters generally (at least the enormous majority who tend to vote Democrat) will come home and vote for Obama, but how many wounds are his liberal supporters expected to withstand? How long can the supporters who helped him across the finish line (remember, in reality, he barely beat Hillary) be expected to be enthusiastic when he keeps tossing his promises to them overboard?
The calculus of all of this is very difficult.
Obama will never get the conservatives, that’s for sure. The real liberals who are pissed right now will probably stay with him rather than staying home on election day. Moderate-to-left voters probably don’t care. There are maybe some moderate-to-right folks who like the fact that he angered Jackson.
In the end, I believe this little episode (forgotten as it will be in about two days), probably helps Obama — not very much, but it isn’t a hindrance.
In the big picture, however, the consistent pattern of taking the liberals for granted and completely reversing his promises on their pet issues has got to add up at some point.
Iraq was a big one. The next one will be when he says he is okay with expanded oil exploration.
http://www.notwrightforamerica.com nailed this one–this looks like a cynical ploy to make Obama look more moderate. Check out their post today. They’re right–Obama is not WRIGHT for America!
As Chase said, this is nothing new, but its not new for Obama either. When i attended his rally here in VB in February, one of the points he focused on was the abdication of personal responsibility in today’s society. I mentioned it in a post or two here, but it was seen as just lip-service. Still, not your typical lefty rhetoric, but thats one of Obama’s rhetorical styles, and an effective one IMHO.
There was a previous post about his efforts and ability to show he “relates” to his audience, and its tied to that. In his many of his speeches, i’ve found one of his tendencies is to offer simple criticisms of his audience, but in the framework of the inclusive “we”. “We have not done enough”, or “we have neglected our responsibilities as caretakers”. But then he follows that jab with the “right hook of hope”, ie “but we can do better”, or “we have the power to change that”. Again, inclusion, pushing his audience to the idea that they can solve the problems, and that he is part of the solution. As i said, it’s an effective rhetorical structure, or it seems to be, based on audience reaction.
Gypsy Man needs to put down the consipracy theories… and perhaps accept the fact that Sen. Obama is not the 2-dimensional individual he (and many others) want him to be.
Fact is one of Sen. Obama’s consistent messages to all Americans, including African-Americans is personal responsibility - and in particular fathers being involved in the lives of their children. Jesse Jackson on the other hand does not enjoy hearing such messages from either Sen. Obama or Bill Cosby, as he made quite clear…
He would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids. Ah well, there were a number of other things he could have said to get the same effect: http://www.236.com/news/2008/07/10/jesse_jackson_wants_to_slice_o_1_7645.php