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No matter how they spin it, Obama’s campaign has a problem over sermons

There was a blog excerpt in our local newspaper today in which the blogger (not a local blogger) tried hard to explain that Obama can't be held accountable for the extreme ideas of those with whom he associates. THEY are accountable for their expressions of hate or whatever, not Obama.

Strictly speaking that blogger is right. But -- the case of inflammatory, even hate-filled remarks by Obama's pastor of 20+ years, that doesn't work. Pastor Wright is someone Obama has called his spiritual mentor. At the very least, he was the spiritual leader where Obama spent a good deal of his life and listened to a great number of sermons.

It's unfortunate that this whole mess has surfaced. In real life, I'm sure Barack Obama, a duly elected and very courageous, active U.S. senator, has no agenda involving hatred toward America, toward white people or any ethnic group. It's insane to attribute the hate-filled statements of Pastor Wright which are making the rounds via media and Internet in any way to Obama.

At the same time, the average person seeing and hearing any of those videos cannot help but wonder 1) exactly how has 20 years or so of sitting at the feet of this "spiritual mentor" affected Obama's attitudes and behavior, and, 2) how is it that Obama only distanced himself from these remarks and videos AFTER they hit the media and the Internet?

As for the first point -- we cannot begin to know that any more than we can know how the various pastors and spiritual leaders in ANY candidate's life had truly shaped that candidate. As for the second point, I've read at least one online source which says Obama started the "distancing" process a year or more ago, but that it wasn't a big issue in the media at the time.

What will happen to Obama's candidacy? Who can tell at this point. Should the inflammatory remarks by Pastor Wright have any serious influence on Obama's run for the presidency? Certainly not any more than John McCain's acceptance of Pastor John Hagee's endorsement for his candidacy. Which is not to say the two situations are the same, though they certainly are similar.

We have this major flaw in our presidential selection process in America: We cannot really decide whether we're electing a president or a First Moral Leader. In some elections it becomes a big problem, others not so much.

Should be interesting to see which position we're holding an election for this year.
[tags]Obama's pastor, Obama presidential candidacy, morality and presidential elections, opinions about candidates, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]