Great Speech but was it Great Politics?

[kennetha]

Obama gave an amazing and amazingly courageous speech. It definitely increased my admiration for the man as I said in an earlier post. But I don't know whether it was smart POLITICS. That's mainly because I very much doubt that Americans are going to overcome their racial divisions by talking through them or about them at the level of national politics.

Moreover, the president isn't really a seminar leader or the leader of an encounter group. The body politic is much too complicated to be led through an ongoing "conversation about race" by a presidential candidate or even by a president. I'm not saying that politics is irrelevant to racial reconciliation. Not at all. But the way politics can help achieve racial conciliation is twofold. On the negative side, politicians can simply stop exploiting racial divisions for their own temporary political gain. And on the more positive side, they can help us reach consensus on solutions to concrete, shared problems around which people can rally across racial and other divides. We don't have to have a conversation about race in order to agree that our schools are inadequate in an age of global competition or to agree that access to quality healthcare should be a right of all citizens. We don't need to obsess endlessly about racial grievances to agree that our decaying infrastructure is an impediment to a 21st century economy. We don't need to talk about race to agree that our economic future and the future of the planet can be secured only by our going massively green,

There is so much that we can do and agree upon without our having to engage in an extended conversation about race. And if we focus on achieving certain concrete and specific things like this life will be measurably better for many. A rising tide of prosperity shared across racial, ethnic and gender divides will do much to bridge racial divides without our ever having to make race itself an explicit subject.

Again, I don't mean to deny that racial reconciliation is important and desirable. I just doubt the ability of politics and politicians to be the explicit leading edge of a helpful or constructive conversation that is explicitly about race.

There probably do need to be explicit foreground conversations about race. But I suspect that they belong in more "local" less top-down settings, in more people to people settings. The explicit conversation is more a matter for civil society rather than the formal structures of government at this point in our history. If that's right (and I'm not insisting that it is right. I'm just trying out a thought really) then qua politician Obama really doesn't have much to gain and a great deal to lose by presenting himself as the guy who will show us how to talk to each other about race. Making race the explicit text of our political conversations with one another seems bound to divide more than unite.

I read somewhere that his advisers didn't really want him to give this speech. I think something like what I am thinking may be the reason. But again let me make it clear that I'm not criticizing his speech as such. It was amazing and courageous. And I greatly admired it and greatly admired the man that gave it.

[MNDemNY]

1. Obama now "owns" the issue of race.

He can no longer accuse anyone of "bringing race into the campaign".

[kennetha]

34. Of course, owning the issue of race

isn't exactly a good thing, is it?

[MNDemNY]

39. Never said it was.

It is not, IMO.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. You're right.

We should stick with the white candidate who uses the Southern Strategy to remind the bigots that her opponent is black. Go with what's safe and familiar! :sarcasm:

[Ninga]

3. Obama gave the speech he wanted to; he chose not to pander to the political demands.

I think he fully understood the risk, and was willing.

It's called "leadership".

Someone had to step up to the plate and begin. How much longer should people wait? If not now? When?

[kennetha]

4. I did say it was courageous.

You can only show courage if you do something risky. This was inherently risky because the political downside is potentially very great. I' m not exactly sure what the political upside was. I guess SOMETHING had to be done -- because without something being done, race would just take over.

[aquarius dawning]

5. It wasn't leadership, it was damage control and he had no choice but to do it.

[Drachasor]

6. Pretending that speech was the only "damage control" speech possible is missing the reality...

of the situation to an absolutely absurd degree.

[aquarius dawning]

12. hardly. It was lame as is Obama. A man is judged by the company he keeps

and Obama kept pretty shitty company for the past 20 years. This "speech" does not erase this fact.

[LordJFT]

30. is a woman judged by the attorney general she chooses?

[Drachasor]

36. If you think that speech was lame....then I am at a loss for words

[Ninga]

10. What should he have said??

[aquarius dawning]

13. There's not a damn thing he could have said as far as I'm concerned.

[Ninga]

14. Why?

[aquarius dawning]

16. Because words can't unring a bell, they can only cover it up.

[Ninga]

19. OK, help me out here. What did the ringing bell say?

[aquarius dawning]

21. Do you believe a person can be judged by the company he keeps?

[Ninga]

26. Yes. A person can be judged by all the company he/she keeps. What they say, and how

they vote. A person can be judged by their lofty goals, and shortcomings. Their failures and successes, their apologies, or not.


They can be judged by the jokes they tell, or let others tell.

They can be judged by the racial slurs they hear, and do not walk away from.

They can be judged by what they do for the least of us, and what they don't do.

All of the above and more.

[aquarius dawning]

27. Well, Obama kept the company of a loudmouthed American hating bigot for the past 20 years,

And, as such, I judge him to hold similar views and, therefore, I will not vote for him because he clearly does not represent me. It is too late to undo what was done. No amount of bullshitting will change the facts.

[Drachasor]

37. You really have no idea who Wright is, do you?

Why do you base your ENTIRE perception of a man on a few lines quoted out of context. Lines that ignore the years of work and service he did to make America a better place? Are you truly so quick to buy into the media's infantile analysis?

[calico1]

7. I think it was a pretty good speech overall.

But I think it was more a damage control speech than an "inspiration" speech.

And I agree that it was risky. If you are a civil rights leader like Jackson or Sharpton or like MLK was then you can afford to be more risky and push more buttons because you are working for a movement or a group of people that believes in what you do and that you speak for and represent. If however you are running for office, especially THIS office then words have to be measured more carefully .
As evidenced from some comments I read yesterday, the speech played beatifully for the "choir." Unfortunately you need more than the choir to get elected President. AT this point it is too early to tell how this will all play out and what if any fallout there will be.

[kennetha]

8. That the motivation for it was damage control

Doesn't really take away from the quality of the speech. You could imagine a much less bold speech given in the damage control mode.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

9. Unsure on the 'great' politics part except that it showed leadership

I will say that it was truthful/no-nonsense politics tho which i actually value higher then the smart kind.

[democrattotheend]

11. If nothing else

It made his supporters more determined. I was a supporter before but now I am so proud of him and I really feel like this is a rare opportunity that we'd be crazy to pass up. I work in politics full time and I have been hungry for a candidate that I can really believe in. I thought Barack Obama might be special, but after yesterday I know that he is, and I don't know if we are ready to elect him president, but I believe more than ever that his candidacy is worth fighting for.

[RoadRage]

15. I'm happy as hell to be supporting the candidate who puts issues ABOVE politics..

Who makes decisions based on what is right to discuss and talk about above what might be politically advantageous.

We've had years of politicians who say what we want to hear, or what may put them in a good position. Finally.. FINALLY we have one with the courage to do and say what he actually means.

Let's reward him for his honesty and courage.. give him a donation & a vote.

[theredpen]

17. Analysis from a Political Science professor:

Michael Munger:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723442,00.html
"I think Obama is unelectable. He had to distance himself far from Wright. Instead, he was brave."

Now, it should be pointed out that Obama is "unelectable" because he'll be running against a "genuine war hero." :rofl:

But there is a consensus that Obama may not have done the most politically expedient thing, but he did the right thing and the brave thing.

[GoldieAZ49]

18. Political Rhetoric from Obama to salvage his campaign

He did not want race to be the topic of this campaign, with his mentor Wright's beliefs being exposed he had some splain to do on how he is all about unity with this divisive teacher and preacher so closely connect to his political history.

It undermines his whole campaign of Judgement, words matter, the turn the page on politics of old, transcending race, blah blah blah

He answers that by going back to race, his campaign is sinking so he plays the whole deck, lets go all the way back to the founding document and slavery. Good recap of history but did not address his problem.

His judgement is in question and he cannot answer it, has not answered it. He took a big hit in the public trust.


As Obama has said repeatedly in his campaign, it isn't about race. He is right. It is about judgement, decision making, trust to be POTUS.

[kennetha]

20. If you look at it as a purely POLITICAL act

and sort of abstract away from the substantive content of the speech, I can see your point. And I think many will look at it this way. No doubt. But I still think the substance of the speech was honest and brave and showed a very good side of Obama. Still, there can't be any doubt that however substantive and thoughtful the content of the speech was the fact that he HAD to give and the dynamics of his coming to be in this position are not favorable to Obama as pure politics.

[GoldieAZ49]

23. he was in save his ass mode

the question was judgement in his choice of a mentor and continued participation

had he given the speech to rev Wright years ago and helped him get past his anger and stop preaching racial tension and anti American rhetoric it would have shown Obama as a uniter able to help racial reconciliation.

But that wasn't the case, the speech tried to change the topic. The public and the MSM didn't buy it.

He played the race card in a chess game. The chess game is still in play, race isn't.

[Rainbowreflect]

22. I can only say what difference this speech made in my household.

Since the dem candidates dwindled down to 2, I have supported Obama and my husband has supported Clinton. Although we both strongly agree that we will vote for the nominee no matter what.
Yesterday my husband was home during the speech and I requested he tape it for me since I was at work and could only catch bites and pieces.
Well, sweet man that he is he taped it for me and started watching it himself. After it was over he watched it again. He then called me and said "he hit that one out of the park." He went on to say that he had never been so impressed with a politician's honesty and dealing directly with such an important issue. He did say that he feared that most people will only hear the sound bites that the media wants them to hear. He believes that it people would listen, really listen to what he said they would see what a leader he is.
Now you know why I married him! ;)

[Skidmore]

24. Wow? Are we channelling Joe Scarborough, or what?

I think it was both. The president should be setting an agenda addressing the future. It should be an agenda that moves all people forward and with dignity. No president should lead his/her nation or party in discriminating or bigotry. Now this man set a bar yesterday for all of us. He put us in the position as a party and a people to choose more of the same or a different course for everyone. He roundly condemned politicians and the media who have exploited issues and driven wedges between groups which really do have the same interests but have been taught that the label means more. It is up to us to make that speech a political reality. It is up to us to find it within ourselves to change ourselves and our nation. It is our job as citizens to select a leader that will take us to a better place. No president can do it alone. This is the essence of government of the people. This is the essence of a movement...for change, for democracy, for freedom, for equality. Of the people, by the people, for the people. Those who sound like Scarborough or Buchanan or any of the power structure who espouse otherwise would take from you the choice of leadership to accomplish those goals.

[goclark]

32. His speech today on Iraq was eloquent as well

He looks like a President should look

He communicates like a President should
He thinks like a President should think
And he speaks in 21st Century terms

He educates
He walks the walk and talks the talk of a REAL leader

Something we have not seen for many,many years.

As I think about the truly great Presidents, they stand the test of time.

If Bill Clinton keeps walking down the road he is on now,he will not remain in the GREAT category. In fact....

[Skidmore]

38. I missed the speech today.

I was out running errands and will try to find a copy later to look at.

[insanity]

25. I think we need to have a lot of open discussions

For too long the American's have been treated like idiots by their leaders.

Racial reconciliation, class, gender gaps, health care, personal choice issues, etc..

We might be able to get something out of an adult discussion.

[ORDem]

28. Yeah, right, we should just all ignore race in this country and STFU.

:eyes:
"That's mainly because I very much doubt that Americans are going to overcome their racial divisions by talking through them or about them at the level of national politics."
:eyes:

Keeping our collective heads in the sand, that's an HRC supporter for you.

:dem:

[kennetha]

29. You are a nasty, nasty person!

What a way to twist my words. I didn't say anything about keeping our heads in the sand. I distinguished the role of civil society and the smaller scale role of person-to-person conversations vs large scale politics in bringing about racial reconciliation. I said concrete, specific achievements around things that bring us together across racial divides will help more. I said politicians should stop exploiting racial divisions for short term political gain.

How in the name of whatever you hold holy does that add up to "keeping our collective heads in the sand?" care to explain that?

[gravity]

31. It is definitely a politically risky thing to do

but I think it could prove favorably to Obama in the end.

One thing that he accomplished is that he took control of the discourse of the nation. Instead of the endless playing of Wright's clips, the media has something else to talk about. Obama clearly laid out his position on the issue which would end the speculation about many of these race issues.

Most journalists are intelligent people and understand what Obama is talking about. They are portraying this in a positive light and will be talking about this for the next week. It will probably be the front pages of Time and Newsweek giving his campaign some positive coverage and highlighting the complexities of his speech and race in America. They will control the discourse of mainstream news, so it will probably be positive in the long run now that this Wright thing is settles. RW talk will still drag this to the ground, but their listeners aren't going to be swayed over to begin with.

This speech also demonstrates that Obama is willing to take a stand for something that they believe in, something that many democrats fail to do. He was calm, direct and honest talking to the American people, presenting himself as a true leader, which is refreshing to see in 21st century politics.

The biggest concern is if the message will resonate well with white working class voters. Obama has shown that he empathizes with many of their feelings about race which could help calm their fears.

I think his move will be a success in the long run. Obama will face more racial attacks in the future, so he needs to address this before it gets out of hand further.

[kennetha]

33. I doubt that working class whites

will give Obama much of a second chance. I think he would need to totally distance himself from Wright to convince that crowd. But he can't do that on pain of looking inauthentic. Authenticity is one of his main strengths. He's pretty much stuck with Wright and Wright is nothing but a turn-off to working class whites, I would guess.

[gravity]

35. We have 8 months until the GE

A lot can change in that time frame