If you were wondering when the rightwing was gonna go after swiftboating Barack Obama, you might want to check out the WSJ's version today. The interesting thing is that, as I cruised through the progressive blogs today, I didn't see anything in the way of a defense, or even a mention of it happening. It seems eerily similar to mid-August 2004.
It seems as if Obama's choices are pretty limited:
A) Ignore it, playing it down when possible; answer/denounce only specific cases; and try to attack McCain as having a similar problem to minimize the fallout.
C) Throw Wright under the bus (on this last point, see TPM post here, from when I earlier wrote this, that seems to come at the issue).
One broad theme I've noticed with the wingers covering this (and they all are) is they all work this in: "The media have largely ignored Mr. Obama's close association with Mr. Wright." Same old, I know, they did with the SwiftBoats and JK, its' ammo works too. Anyway, discuss.
Update [2008-3-14 18:42:43 by Todd Beeton]: Senator Obama has posted an eloquent explanation of his relationship with Reverend Wright at Huffington Post. A silver lining of the controversy, of course, is that when the story is pushed, the effect is to remind people that Obama is a Christian; the smear merchants can't have it both ways -- he can't be a Christian and a Muslim. Well, they'll try to of course. But also, Obama gets to say things like this:
I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.
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