Has Obama really been harmed by Rev. Wright?

[It's On A Slab]

Many of us might be able to say the same thing. The HUGE difference is you don't have a choice who your parents/grandparents/kids are or any real control over their actions or words. HOWEVER, you do have a choice of who your preacher is and which church pew you put your rear-end in!

What if your father and mother are deceased? (His have been dead for years).

What if you've known someone so long that you view them as family?

I know folks who are not blood relatives, but I think of as family. I could no more reject them for the stupid things that they've said or done.

 

[It's On A Slab]

Just don't try to tell me after going to a church for 20 years that you didn't believe anything the preacher was saying.

Speak for yourself.

I grew up Southern Baptist.

 

[92tide]

Good... Actually , I kind of want to believe what I said he's thinking. I'm just trying to explain what I think Obama was thinking about what black folks think since he tried to explain away what 'black folks' are doing on Sunday mornings "across America" as being something based on the experiences of their ancestors.

there are still many 'black folks' in those churches that got their .....&s kicked by the authorities for being black. it is in alot of cases, their experiences which are the basis of their bitterness.

huckabee's take on it

 

[Tide n True]

there are still many 'black folks' in those churches that got their .....&s kicked by the authorities for being black. it is in alot of cases, their experiences which are the basis of their bitterness.

huckabee's take on it

Obama didn't. He's had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He's no more in touch with the "plight" of the Black Man in America than I am (this is evidenced by his relationships with slum lords who take advantage of black people in his home community)...and I'm Scotch-Irish. The fact is, he has no reason to listen to that kind of nonsense because he can't relate to it.

 

[Bamaro]

IMO, this whole thing is ridiculous. His preacher said some stupid things - so what. No one needs to agree with everything his minister says. Could he have changed churches, sure, but why? A preacher says a couple of stupid things and now anybody in the congregation who doesn't agree is expected to leave, give me a break. I am not an Obama supporter but this whole thing is crazy.
I still think this is driven mostly by those who didn't like him to begin with and means very little to his supporters. Concentrate on what Obama says and does, not his minister.

 

[92tide]

The fact is, he has no reason to listen to that kind of nonsense because he can't relate to it.

that really doesn't make a lot of sense. you should only listen to things if you can relate to them?

 

[jthomas666]

that really doesn't make a lot of sense. you should only listen to things if you can relate to them?

That's NewSpeak for "Only Listen to Things You Agree With".

That attitude sure makes it easy to dismiss an argument that you don't understand.

 

[dvldog]

IMO, this whole thing is ridiculous. His preacher said some stupid things - so what. No one needs to agree with everything his minister says. Could he have changed churches, sure, but why? A preacher says a couple of stupid things and now anybody in the congregation who doesn't agree is expected to leave, give me a break. I am not an Obama supporter but this whole thing is crazy.
I still think this is driven mostly by those who didn't like him to begin with and means very little to his supporters. Concentrate on what Obama says and does, not his minister.

Every church body and every individual member have to decide for themselves what is expected and/or acceptable from the pulpit. Personally, I like my pastor to keep the vast majority of his sermons focused on the Bible and pointed towards leading me on a better spiritual path. While it is inevitable and probably expected that some secular topics creep in because we all live in the world, politics as a general rule should be omitted (IMHO). One would think that most churches and most US Senators would not sit idly by and here the aforementioned diatribe spouting forth from the pulpit. To each his own, but this is yet another reason that Obama would never get my vote and why I question his patriotism, judgement, and sincerity.

 

[Tide n True]

that really doesn't make a lot of sense. you should only listen to things if you can relate to them?

Did I say that? I'm reading the thread and I can't find where I said that.

What I did say and very clearly meant was that he has no reason to voluntarily sit in a church for over 20 years and listen to that sort of rubbish, only to later:

1) come out and claim that he didn't agree with what was being said

2) have his cronies claim that while he was obviously at least okay with the Reverend's comments because he was a member of the church and friend of the Rev. for 20 years, he should be afforded understanding because of what black people had to go through

He gets no understanding because he can't relate to it. If a 75 year old black man was sitting there saying "Amen," I could definitely understand. I would agree, but I could understand. Obama, though? No way. He has no excuse--either he thinks like the Reverend or he doesn't and he needs to come out and either completely agree with the comments or completely denounce the comments. Either way, his actions speak louder than his words ever will.

 

[cbi1972]

The quandary Obama now faces is deciding which groups to pander to, how to change his tune, and with what timing.

It's tough I tell ya.

 

[92tide]

Did I say that? I'm reading the thread and I can't find where I said that.

you may not have meant that, but you said

The fact is, he has no reason to listen to that kind of nonsense because he can't relate to it.

by the rules that have been inherently established in this thread, i get to judge you on what i understood you to have said, not by what you meant

or completely denounce the comments.

he did. you are imposing that the only you will accept his denouncement would be that he had left the church x numbers of years ago. it is an impossible standard. it is very similar to the "have you stopped beating your wife yet" line of questioning.

He gets no understanding because he can't relate to it. If a 75 year old black man was sitting there saying "Amen," I could definitely understand.

but this whole incident is in effect "relating" obama to wright's actions

 

[92tide]

The quandary Obama now faces is deciding which groups to pander to, how to change his tune, and with what timing.

It's tough I tell ya.

that is a quandry that every candidate for political office faces

 

[jthomas666]

Either way Josh, if your pastor did make those types of comments and you did not immediately go seek another church headed by a more loving man, you're no better than your former pastor.

1. My name's not Josh.

2. After the pastor made a series of homophobic statements, I didn't have to seek another church because he was reassigned (though we did later change churches, it was for different reasons).

 

[It's On A Slab]

Geez, for a thread that VJ and I almost locked yesterday, this turned out pretty good!

 

[Tider@GW_Law]

Based on the most recent poll numbers, it does appear that Wright's statements have harmed Obama's campaign.

The March 14-18 national survey of 1,209 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters gave Clinton, a New York senator, a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over Obama, an Illinois senator. The poll has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

 

[Tider@GW_Law]

Also, Obama admits that the Wright incident has "shaken me up."

"In some ways, this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional candidates," the Illinois senator told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
Obama declined to speculate on whether the controversy surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons may damage him politically, but said his campaign does best when it doesn't follow the "textbook."
"If I was just running the textbook campaign -- doing the conventional thing -- I probably wasn't going to win because Sen. [Hillary] Clinton was going to be much more capable of doing that than I would be," he said. "We had tremendous success, and I think we were starting to get a little comfortable and conventional right before Texas and Ohio."

 

[It's On A Slab]

Based on the most recent poll numbers, it does appear that Wright's statements have harmed Obama's campaign.

These polls were conducted after the Wright flap blew up, and before Sen. Obama had a chance to address the issue the other day.

Also, the release of Sen. Clinton's White House years now indicate what we knew all along....she was a NAFTA cheerleader. Who knows what else we'll find in the coming days.

I'll be interested to see what these polls look like in 1-2 weeks.

 

[BamaNation]

I could no more reject them for the stupid things that they've said or done.

Me either, but, then again, I'm not trying to get elected on a unification / change theme.

Associations DO matter. They matter in personal relationships. They matter in business relationships. They matter in religious relationships. And, all of those most certainly matter in political relationships. Frankly, I'm less concerned over the Pastor Wright comments than I am his seeking approval from the weather underground lead terrorist.

 

[92tide]

Frankly, I'm less concerned over the Pastor Wright comments than I am his seeking approval from the weather underground lead terrorist.

wow Tom Tomorrow had you pegged two weeks ago

 

[LCN]

I'm shocked at some of the crap in this thread . If he were white and did not denounce the man 75 times a day , he'd be finished . He lied about his knowledge of the remaks then , sat down and began writing for 2 days as to how to excuse his lies about it and his 20 years of support for such statements and beliefs . He did not denounce his preacher , he excused him . Open your ears , people .

Remember what he desires and give it to him . Don't judge him based on color , judge him based on his inexperience , bad judgement , extremist connections and ability to lie to your face . He's a black supremist and a liar . Add to that , an outstanding BS artist . Wake up people and smell the crap that being shoveled .

Has it hurt him ? It's a death blow for some and an affirmation for others . In time , those in the middle will provide the answer to the question .