Obama, "A More Perfect Union"

In case you haven't seen it, Obama on race in America:

Comments

[Elatia Harris]

Thanks, Robin. It was harder to find the video than the text today.

This speech should put paid to assumptions that -- all in the name of being upbeat -- Obama instinctively recoils from difficult subjects or balks at unflinching treatments of them. What he said today was honest, and it needed saying -- and not because of Rev. Wright, although Rev. Wright's remarks made a superb occasion for it. I don't know if these words will cost or gain Obama votes, and I can't even guess -- negative indicator that I am. But I hope Americans will feel deeply impelled to vote for leader who can speak truthfully about difficult things. We always need a leader like that, but soon, we may need him more than ever.

[Ruchira]

Also, this speech was not pre-meditated, something that Obama had planned and plotted as a campaign talking point. He wrote it himself and delivered it under enormous pressure when the wolves were at the door and the media was predicting the derailment of his presidential run. Elatia, didn't you say something about being ready for the 3am phone call?

As a person who is neither black nor white and didn't grow up amidst the racial politics of America, I find it a bit confounding that a bi-racial man who grew up in the sole care of a white mother and white grandparents, has to self-identify as black for the comfort of mainstream society. So, it is not really about race, is it? It is more about his skin color. Or is it the "one drop" principle that my co-blogger Anna pointed to? Now he is asked to denounce the community that embraced him as its own in order to prove his true blue American credentials.

Obama was peaceful, graceful and unflinching in bringing up thorny issues. There was no condescension, no malice. I don't know if it will calm his critics. But surely his base is now comforted, enthused and uplifted.

[Abbas Raza]

This is the most moving thing I have heard in my life. I defy the supporters of other candidates to adduce anything even approaching Obama's words.

I am now extremely afraid he will be killed...

[Phillip Bishop]

It's interesting that you say that Abbas, I was thinking the other day about the various transformational public figures in American life over the last fifty years(JFK, MLK and Reagan to name a few) and based on that, it seems almost certain that someone will make an attempt on his life. I just pray that he makes it into the White House before someone assassinates him. I can certainly imagine reminiscing in a café on rue Mouffetard 20 years from now: "Things were pretty bad, but then they killed Obama..."

[MS]

The possibility of McCain winning the election scares me. We are lucky to have a far far better candidate in Obama- and it is time that even apolitical people speak up and intervene.

[Anna]

I too think this was extremely moving - indeed the bravest and most honest piece of oratory I've heard from a politician in my lifetime.

In this speech, he turned a political crisis in his campaign into an opportunity to demonstrate what lies at the very heart of his candidacy - the drive towards seeing things as they are, dealing with reality - however complex, and bringing people together to deal with difficult stuff. To me, he managed to turn this campaign 'problem' into a referendum on the American people. Can we, as a country handle a complex, nuanced debate? Can we deal with what needs to be said instead of always demanding what we want to hear? Are we wiling to accept the reality of what needs to happen if we are to make progress?

I don't know how this will play out - and I'm deeply afraid we will come up short. But part of what made me cry during this speech was the fact that Obama obviously thinks we can. He does not pander, instead he raises the bar. Leading by example, he makes people want to be better citizens, better more thoughtful people. That is what makes him inspirational.

[sifta]

This is truly a historic message, and there's no question that Obama will go down in history whether he becomes the president or not. His bravery in putting this out is remarkable.

Looking at the comments in the websphere related to this issue, I would guess that Obama has not won over the folks that were aroused by the whole Wright flap (which seemingly has all the signs of the Republican machine). Although the bulk of the media and intellectuals will be impressed by this, you can already see the FOX news contingent's response. He threw his grandma under the bus, don't you know.

Agree with Abbas's sentiment, but the Secret Service is no joke either. They will have their work cut out for them.

[JonJ]

Amazing that out of a magnificent speech like that, all some people can take is that he was "disrespectful" to his grandmother, and that he didn't denounce Wright absolutely enough.

It's also amazing, as many people have noted, that Obama has gotten this far on the road to the Presidency. But I fear, looking at the stupidity of the mass of the American public, as it has been revealed in their reactions to the speech, that there are just too many idiots in his path for him to make it all the way. Get ready for George Bush III.

[Pablo Policzer]

I found this one of the most incredible speeches I have ever seen. One of my students likened it to JFK’s speech about being Catholic: that he should be seen not as a Catholic running for President, but as a candidate who happens to Catholic. No one thought about religion in politics in the same way after that. Time will tell whether Obama will have the same effect on the issue of race. But it was that kind of potentially transformative moment in politics.

[Ruchira]

Senator Obama's race was until now, an issue that was playing mostly under the radar. Also his multi-culti family background made it hard to pigeonhole him. Now his detractors (they are not just Republicans) at last have something specific on Obama's racial/cultural background that they can sink their teeth into. The mostly right wing hate fest that is now running on full gear will strengthen the hands of Hillary Clinton. She can now argue more persuasively to the party leaders and the super-delegates that despite his early wins and message of unity, Obama is no longer "electable" and that those wins wouldn't have happened if voters had known about his "subversive" church and pastor. I am afraid many will go along with this line of fear mongering.

[rhbee]

You don't have a memory if you don't fear for his life. Still, the honest confrontation of one of the core ills of our lives can not be lost or wasted. We have to talk about this tomorrow and tomorrow with our friends, to our antagonists, with our children, and yes, even in line at Starbucks to absolute strangers.

[Salman]

If Obama can manage an economic policy speech, that lays out the issues with similar eloquence and clarity, I think he will surely guarantee his nomination at the very least. I teach at a University, where the biggest issue (in my social circle) seems to be "Well, how is he going to fix the economy?". I think that intellectuals think less of him (compared to Hillary) for all the wrong reasons. (Race is not number one).

Whether, he makes it to the Presidency safely remains to be seen, but I think we (who believe in him) need to do our part in whatever small (or big) way we can.

[JonJ]

Ruchira,

That is precisely how the Clinton campaign will go. Unless I am mistaken, Obama's popularity rating will fall steadily from now on, as will his straw vote standing against McCain, and the Clinton people will argue that Obama doesn't stand a chance in November, so the superdelegates have to throw it to her.

Of course, she doesn't stand much of a chance either, since her negative rating among the population is in the high 40s, and likely will go higher once the Republican hate machine really revs up for the general election. She wants us to think that people can't dislike her any more than they do now, but just wait and see.

What floors me (though I should have expected it) is to go through the left-wing blogs (the so-called "blogosphere") since Obama's speech and read post after post wildly overestimating the intelligence of the American public. These folks are in for a crushing blow, I'm afraid, when they see how much many American whites hate Obama now. They remind me of the famous Gore voter in 2000 who said, "I don't understand why Bush won. Everyone *I* know voted for Gore."

[JonJ]

Ruchira,

That is precisely how the Clinton campaign will go. Unless I am mistaken, Obama's popularity rating will fall steadily from now on, as will his straw vote standing against McCain, and the Clinton people will argue that Obama doesn't stand a chance in November, so the superdelegates have to throw it to her.

Of course, she doesn't stand much of a chance either, since her negative rating among the population is in the high 40s, and likely will go higher once the Republican hate machine really revs up for the general election. She wants us to think that people can't dislike her any more than they do now, but just wait and see.

What floors me (though I should have expected it) is to go through the left-wing blogs (the so-called "blogosphere") since Obama's speech and read post after post wildly overestimating the intelligence of the American public. These folks are in for a crushing blow, I'm afraid, when they see how much many American whites hate Obama now. They remind me of the famous Gore voter in 2000 who said, "I don't understand why Bush won. Everyone *I* know voted for Gore."

[JonJ]

Sorry for the double posting. Some kind of burp in the Intertubes, apparently.

[MS]

JonJ

The trick is to rev up for Reps early on. We don't know who is going to stand for Dems, but we do know that the guy who's standing for Reps has funny views on every important issue from climate change and vaccination to economy. He's trying to ride the hate balloon which has to be pricked at the very outset of his journey.

If he wins, it's going to be Bush's third presidency. In short- disaster.

[Ruchira]

It is going to be Hillary in 2008.

Perhaps when I have more time, I will explain why and how.

It may not be GWB III in her case but it will be BILLARY II. Not that you will be able to tell the difference.

[anon]

In the last two days he's also given major speeches about Iraq and how it relates to national security and the economy.

http://thepage.time.com/full-text-of-obamas-iraq-speech/
http://thepage.time.com/full-text-of-obamas-speech-the-cost-of-war/

Powerful stuff.

[aguy109]

A truly amazing and brave speech. Wow! How often does one see a politician who talks as though his audience were truly intelligent human beings? Before this, I'd only seen brief 10-second snippets of his speeches, now I can see what everyone has been enthusing about.

[Elatia Harris]

At this point, it's not really necessary to hand the nomination to HRC or the presidency to John McCain. Things just aren't that bad yet, and while I sympathize with everyone who feels like girding their loins for those eventualities, I find it rather cynical in both thought and speech. Those of us who genuinely admire Obama for vision and candor have better things to do than to give HRC courage, as she waits for his candidacy to collapse and agitates super-delegates to shut him down, by bruiting about the assumption that he is as bound to fail as she is to succeed. It's a volatile situation, and polls are a double-edged sword.

If Obama is calling on his countrymen who are less educated, certainly, than readers of this blog, and possibly less intelligent also, to form both a new understanding of what race has meant in our history and a resolve to move forward by facing the truth about it, then the least we can do is to have enough faith that the call is not in vain. I think there are some of those famous blue-collar males and non-college elderly white women who may well respond to being asked to look at black people whole, to accept that they are human beings as paradoxical as everyone else.

Not so incidentally, HRC's negatives are mounting even as she preens herself as the safer candidate. Thanks to the release of her WH records, heavily censored by an Arkansas lawyer crony as they are, it is now possible to rule out her having agitated against NAFTA way back when. It should not be too morally uncomfortable to keep hoping that Hillary's ceaseless and escalating lies may cause the electorate more distaste than Obama's truths.

[sifta]

Hi Elatia-

We'll have to see if Obama's discussion of real issues actually takes hold of (a) the news cycle, and (b) the voters. Of course, we'd all love to believe you're right.

However, most people will not bother to listen to these issues and will instead be only exposed to talking points. I have made about 80 calls in PA on behalf of the Obama campaign (most people don't pick up so I spoke to maybe 10 people). Anyhow, I heard a fair amount of resistance even before the Wright thing broke in the news.

It will be very easy for most to simply dismiss whatever is said by Obama or the leading lights of the media, and repeat the right-wing talking points.

So, your vision is admirable, but it will take a lot of hope and some time to get there. We'll see where this stands in a week.

[Elatia Harris]

Sifta (& others),

No question it's difficult. Talking points and sound bites from right wing radio are easy, thinking is hard. There are people in this country who will not take seriously anything a black man says. I don't for a minute underestimate the work that needs doing. I do think, however, that Obama has spoken truly to anyone who /can/ listen. And I think to assume the worst -- that Rev. Wright will be his undoing -- is unnecessary, premature and downright faint-hearted.

If he is suddenly unelectable, then should we not be seeing Limbaugh & Co start to agitate for Republicans/Independants in the final 10 primary states to vote for him instead of HRC? Because -- presto! -- she's the formidable one now? That hasn't happened, and certainly not because right wingers cringe at the racism that would involve.

What I wish is that Hillary's dreadfully nasty bedfellows-in-faith would rate some prime time discussion. Of course, they are not a black church in Chicago -- they are "The Fellowship," sex-segregated cells of powerful right wingers worldwide who pray together about what God wants now that He has given them power. One thing He must have wanted was for The Fellowship to help resettle Nazis escaping justice in Germany -- that's exactly what they did. What is a potential Democratic nominee DOING with this bunch? You can read about it in the September '07 Mother Jones. It's very serious and very bad stuff, and should disturb many of the rather naive mainstream Dems that took "surprise" umbrage at Rev. Wright worse than anything he said from his pulpit. Unless of course Nazi sympathizers are less odious than an angry black preacher.

[Ruchira]

I wish I could be calmed by Elatia's and my husband's words (who incidentally, has recently called me a paranoid conspiracy theorist) that the public and the Democratic Party will see the light and choose a candidate based on character, fairness and decency. But I can see the Clinton camp gaming the system in so many devious ways, that all I hear are my own jangled nerves.

Hillary shrugged when asked today if her campaign is using the Reverend Wright incident to convince and unnerve super-delegates. Unless I see senior Democrats (where is Dr. Dean?) step in and put the Clinton camp on notice, I don't see how we can avoid a mess. HRC will wreck the party before she will cede ground. Also, with all the money that Sen Obama has raised why isn't his campaign running ads about Hillary's feather light White House resume and her cheerleading for NAFTA? Or her interview on NPR where she said that she knew that the Michigan primary didn't count but she left her name on the ballot anyway?

[MS]

Elatia

Do not pin your hope on people's ability to think. You will be in for a big surprise. We are a strange creature that we ourselves do not understand very well. One thing we do understand know is that-
groups of men do not follow plain reason.

Nor do I share Ruchira's fatalistic view.

Things can change, if we work. It won't if we don't. Optimism that leads to action is the key.

There is a communication gap between the intellectuals and the simple men. If you try to tell a group of people something important that they do not perceive as important- good luck to you.

There is another thing- anti-intellectualism that cuts the base of many candidates. Simple people (as opposed to intellectuals) have a (strange?) aversion towards intellectuals. They have to be communicated at their frequency.

If the ship sinks, it is not only they that will sink. If it sails, it will sail with all on board.

[sifta]

This thread is getting kind of long in the tooth... But, I appreciate your words Elatia. Believe me, I'm not writing off Obama -- that, too, would be foolish.

There is a lot of strength in ideas and beliefs. One man can change the world and has changed the world in the past (for better and for worse). All the same, we should avoid the tendency to live in denial.

Moving from hope to work, my additional point would be that instead of relying on Barack's speech and the existing media channels (TV, YouTube), it is important for the true believers to get out there and carry this conversation themselves to those who might not want to listen.

If the words are so inspiring so as to turn the latte-liberals into evangelists, then we are definitely getting somewhere. Thus, while we admonish ourselves never to underestimate the intellectual laziness of the median voter it also behooves us to turn the lens around (upon ourselves?) as it were. That is, never underestimate the words/action ratio of the median intellectual.

n.b. posts to 3qd don't count as actions :)

[D]

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/9590

Easily the best analysis I've seen of the Obama speech

[Ruchira]

More interesting than Obama's speech is Bill Clinton's comment today in North Carolina.

[Elatia Harris]

Sifta,

I should have said how impressed I am with your volunteer work for the Obama Campaign. I agree with you, commenting on 3QD is not where the rubber meets the road, but it does add to life mysteriously, or none of us would do it. You are making an assumption about me (and others), BTW. Not referring in 3QD posts to volunteer work for Obama's candidacy and related political causes is not the same as failing to do it. Not discussing in this context the sacrifices necessary to support the campaign with money is different from making no donations to the campaign. Finding it amusing to chat with like-minded people is not the same as lacking taste or aptitude for interacting with the as-yet-unpersuaded. Finally, I think most people who have strong political points of view know to ask themselves what they /do/ about it that leaves the world outside their heads any better or different.

[Adam Manz]

I would like to say that I think Obama is a very powerful speaker. I would hope that (being a harvard law graduate) Obama appeals to the intellectual part of this nation. I would also care to think that Obama might be able to convince the more mainstream mentality, and for those who base their anti-Obama rants on his race or the comments of the Rev. this powerful speech might encourage them to actually recognize racism as a fault in themselves. I am manifesting the election of Obama, and having so far called roughly 100 people in the Colorado state (being myself a colorado resident, and a supporter of the Obama campaign) think that Colorado might swing Democrat in favor of Obama. I am doing everything I can to encourage and convince people to convince others of the strength of Obama's ideals and his views on our problems.

I would also like to comment that (to the opposite of Hilary) Obama wrote this speech, instead of an advisor. I fear though, because of his inspirational words, and the ideals that he's hoping he country to strive for, that his life may be at risk. I only hope though that he makes it through the election, and into our more secure national protection.

For those who find their excuse in not supporting Obama in, not his race or his religion, but to what specific party of people he is appealing too (e.i. liberals, radicals, ect.) that it is each individuals choice of who one votes too, and that it is not all 'mob' mentality. I want to thank all the notable ideas and views expressed by my predecessing bloggers, and I wish that they all do what ever they can to help others realize the strength of the Obama campaign.