I was wondering how long it might take for Barack Obama's principled approach to politics to begin giving way to the pragmatics required to win again John McCain, much less exercise effective leadership in Washington. Looks like it's happening already: CNN has reported that women wearing headscarves were prevented from sitting near Obama at a rally, in order to combat the perception that he is Muslim.
Although "Presidential campaigns routinely invite audience members they believe will enhance the image their candidate wants to convey on TV to stand behind the candidate at rallies," the practice does run counter to Obama's message of unity and diversity.
The campaign has admitted as much and apologized for the incident, saying such actions are "not the policy of the campaign... It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for this behavior."
Thursday, June 19, 2008
It Starts.
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4 comments:
Disappointing. Not as disappointing as the public financing fiasco and the weak excuses that came with it. I hate to quote Jeremiah Wright, but, "He does what politicians do." Same ol' same, but a little amatuer feel to it.
Don't worry. The other side has more than its share to complain about too. So much for change from either side of the aisle.
I'm not so sure... between the two of them Obama is definitely the change candidate, if only because of his refusal to take money from special interests. But what this shows is that he is also willing to play politics. I think it's heartening, actually - an uncompromising purist would not survive as President. What we need is a visionary who is also able to prioritize his values.
I like the fact that he can apologize when he makes mistakes.
Dio & Charli,
I don't disagree. He is obviously the candidate of change, and I'm certain we need that, though I'm cautious about his brand and his overly-heady rhetoric...but I'm listening.
I most appreciate your measured responses/praise concerning the Senator. It is refreshing to hear realistic praise of Senator Obama as opposed to some of the overblown things I've heard from the Chris Matthews of the world (he's bigger than Kennedy, he's a jedi knight, he's not human, blah, blah, blah). A respected professor of mine *wink* once encouraged me to go left and I responded to her that I would if it weren't for those in the periphery (I'm about straight down the middle in my views) and the outlandish things they sometimes say. It's nice to hear your down-to-earth observations about the wingless, oh-too-human Senator Obama.
It's what fence-sitters like me need to hear.
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