While most conservative bloggers have faulted presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain for criticizing an ad by the North Carolina GOP linking the two Democratic gubernatorial candidates, Richard Moore and Bev Perdue, to Pastor Jeremiah Wright via his former parishioner Barack Obama (whom they both have endorsed), I am kind of ambivalent about the whole hullabaloo.
In an ideal world, McCain would have a point. We should reject the notion of guilt by association. Just because these two Democrats have endorsed a man whose pastor made offensive and anti-American remarks doesn’t mean they share his sentiments. It’s one thing to fault Senator Obama for attending Wright’s church and never challenging his pastor for his hateful remarks, it’s quite another to link those supporting the Senator’s presidential bid to those remarks.
But, we’re not living in an ideal world as McCain should know by some of the recent attacks leveled against him. For example, a number of left-wing groups (e.g., moveon.org) have presumed to establish his guilt by association, faulting him for “refusing to renounce the endorsement of Texas televangelist John Hagee” because of preacher’s anti-Catholic and anti-gay remarks. While “McCain repudiated the remarks as ‘nonsense,’ . . . he declined to renounce the pastor’s endorsement.” But, that repudiation wasn’t enough for the left.
It’s not just the left, CNN made much of a McCain supporter’s use of the B-word to describe Mrs. Clinton.
If the left can attempt to establish McCain’s “guilt” by his association (albeit infrequent) with this bigoted preacher, can’t conservatives then establish the “guilt” of Democrats by their association (albeit tenuous) with a bigoted preacher?
In an ideal political world, we would not focus so much on the associations of the people endorsing various candidates, but on his ideas, experience as well as the people with whom the candidate associates on a regular basis. Sometimes, alas, we do have to leave the ideal world and enter the real world, the rough-and-tumble of politics.
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I’m less-than-impressed with Sen. Obama’s renunciation of Rev. Wright today. Where was Obama’s outrage on any-given Sunday for the last twenty years? The good Reverand’s been saying the same things for years…and Obama’s suddenly noticed? I’m not buying it.
Six-months-ago I thought that perhaps Sen. Obama was a post-Racial politics figure like a Tiger Woods who was worthy of leading our Nation; but now he’s been revealed to be just another two-faced opportunist Black Politician who thought he could have it both-ways. Guilt-by-association applies when you stood by man for twenty-years when you had every opportunity to either speak-up or walk-away.
This is far more serious than the distasteful Right-wing and crypto-racist Evangelical and Fundamentalist preachers claiming support of Sen. McCain. None of them were Sen McCain’s personal mentors nor spiritual advisers for over two-decades. Sharing a podium for political-ends is nothing compared to admitting the man to your home for years, into your family-life, or allowing him to morally-instruct your children by word and demonstartion in the ways of the Lord and Man.
Obama’s problem with Wright is not indirect “guilt by association”, but a direct criticism of his judgement. Obama kept his butt planted firmly in Wrights pews for 20 years where most Americans would have gotten up and walked out long ago.
That is why the issue won’t go away — because nothing he does now can make up for 20 years (right up until today) of horrible judgement. And the only thing Obama has accomplished by finally denouncing Wright at this late date is to obliterate any claim he may have had to integrity.
As for McCain and the NC ad, I would be more upset if I thought the ad was actually effective. Still, McCain’s seeming enthusiasm for throwing conservatives and conservative ideas under the bus will be his downfall. And the more he does it, the more likely I believe his defeat is becoming.
Sorry, but I think “guilt by association” DOES come into play. Snobama has associated himself with angry homophobes, bigots, anti-Semites and terrorists. That doesn’t inspire HOPE with me. Nor does it convince me that he gives a damn about this country.
What’s more, much to the chagrin of the liberal media, Hagee is not McCain’s pastor.
To some degree I sympathize wtih Obama’s plight re: Rev. Wright. I can’t imagine that Wright preached the same bullshit every single week for 20 years. Similar case in point is the church my partner and I attend, a local Episcopal parish. Our pastor went on and on a few weeks back about the evils of guns and how we need to get rid of them altogether. Well, I’m a proud gun owner and couldn’t have disagreed with him more. But that’s only one sermon. We wouldn’t keep going back if it was that sort of attitude every week. I think it speaks more about how the Obamas feel about their church “family” than about Wright perhaps. (That being said, Wright needs to go live someplace where Christians aren’t so welcome, like say Mogadishu, for a while – that’d fix his ignorant ass.)
Regarding the NC ads, to me the problem is more the complete lack of respect for McCain that the NC GOP evidences. I think it says volumes about our politics these days that the GOP in a state feels free to thumb their noses at the party’s presumptive nominee and leader when he makes an attempt to unify the party behind a direction. I may disagree with McCain on a lot of things, but I have a great deal of respect for him trying to curtail the negativity. Just my thoughts anyway.
The people who think that Wright preaches his piss and vinegar very rarely are simply not informed.
Wright’s view of society is a direct function of his theology which is Black Liberation Theology. It’s premise is that blacks are brutalized in a White soceity and that they will not have their human diginity until they (the blacks) get their national independence and sovergnity.
I would imagine Wright preaches his nonsense very consistantly because it’s the bread and butter of his entire view of life.
What got Obama upset today is not Wright’s theology. Not Wright’s disgusting views about America, etc…
You would have to be on drugs to go to that church and not know what that church is about.
Do a little thought experiment… recall the video of his sermons.. and pay close attention to the video of the members of the church. They are PASSIONATE ,.. they are INVOLVED.. they are STRIDENTLY in agreement with Wright… even on the Sunday after 9/11
Do any of you think you could sit in a crowd like that if you DISAGREED with the basic validity of what was being said? And bring your family?
When you think about it in thsoe personal terms like that.. how can anyone come to the conclusion that Obama is sincerely surprised at what Wright has been preaching his entire career?
Obama is angry that he is exposed. That is why he’s angry.
Perhaps Obama thought that Wright would join with Obama in an unspoken agreement that Obama would have to say certain things against Wright to get elected, and Wright would just have to “take it†in order to help Obama.
Perhaps Obama thought that Wright would compromise his theology of blacks being the forever victim and help a member of his very church become the most powerful man ion the world.
I guess Wright believes his own theology a lot more than Obama does.. and now Obama is angry.
With all due respect, the National Party does not have the right to tell a State Party what they can or can not do (except with regard to elections for POUS). The REINO McCain would have been better served if he had kept his mouth shut. The REINO McCain is incapable of missing a chance of attacking Conservatives. Within the first year in office everyone that is a Conservative will wish that Pres. Bush was still in office.
Well, maybe.
This does not really work if the association were with the KKK, extreme gay bashing, radical Islam, or other abominations.
Obama has carefully veiled his persona. Obama would go nowhere if he campaigned as being a proud empty suit. Yet he tried to sell us on being a person who sat is Wright’s church for 20 years and never got a clue from the nutty, race centered diatribes that came from the pulpit.
Now, Obama says that everything Wright says contradicts everything he believes in, was raised to believe and that he knows fundamentally. What happened? Epiphanies don’t usually take a 20 year warming up period.
As to attacking North Carolina candidates because they have aligned with Obama, I can only say that some mud sticks to the target and some sticks to the one throwing it.
McCain has “taken the high road” in a ham-handed way. I think he should stay out of the mud. But that means he should carefully craft his point of view. He should have said, “I won’t judge Obama and his relation with Reverend Wright. I know I wouldn’t have lasted through one sermon.” That makes the point.
Instead, McCain trashed his important grassroots in North Carolina. That is flat-footed stupid. McCain is supposed to be a seasoned politician. He had best sit down with a good numbers man and get a clear picture of where and when he needs to keep his high indignation response in low gear.
I would not be surprised if Reverend Wright continues on a race centered rampage to gin up a type of agitated race reaction to the whole 2008 election process. McCain would be wise to keep his mouth as sealed as possible on the whole Obama v. liberation theology affair. The democrats and Hillary have a tiger by the tail. We may yet see Sharpton, Wright, the Nation of Islam and lesser players in stoking the instant mob psychology come calling. High gas prices, increasing food prices, recession talk, etc. are all added fuel if we have a summer of political discontent.
Guys, don’t misread my post. Here, the issue was ads attacking not Obama, but Democratic candidates for North Carolina governor.
As I said in the concluding paragraph to the post, it is an issue to look at the “the people with whom the candidate associates on a regular basis.” Emphasis added.
Since neither of these candidates associated with Wright, there doesn’t seem to be an issue here, but many on the left would make an issue of it were it to be Republican candidates endorsing a man who attended Hagee’s church.
I agree that the ads went too far with the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” approach to tie NC Democrats to Jeremiah Wright. And if McCain had limited his criticism to something like “I don’t think it’s fair or right to play this kind of guilt by indirect association and I won’t be doing it in my campaign,” I would have had no quarrel with him on that.
But McCain’s egomania and desire to play to the elite media led him to step in it. The way he denounced the NC GOP, he once again showed the sanctimony and arrogance that makes it impossible for me to vote for the guy. This impression of arrogance was only increased when it came out that he had never seen the ad.
McCain declares he hasn’t seen the ad and won’t. The simple fact is that he doesn’t give a damn about that ad, he just wants to poke the supposed hillbillies to polish up his centrist cred. It stinks, I don’t like it but it doesn’t matter. Get used to the crack of McCain’s butt and say your mantra…. “It’s for the general. It’s for the general…” and hope that after that he is a bit more accomodating. But don’t count on it.