Advice for Senator Obama

By: Jacques Berlinerblau

April 28, 2008

Standing on a tarmac yesterday a rather tense Barack Obama said of Jeremiah Wright: "He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign."

True enough. But how exactly should the Senator speak in the aftermath of the Reverend's recent attempts to McGovernize and Mondaleize his candidacy? Permit me to rehearse some possible responses to the existential threat posed by Wright. But please recall that none of the forthcoming proposals is particularly good. Like America's foreign policy options in Iran, the Senator's alternatives in this crisis can be described as "bad" and "worse":

Response One: Tactical, Lawyerly Silence: One course of action suggests that Obama, cognizant of his still substantial lead, ignore the Reverend and his orations. Ergo, he does not dignify with a response. In so doing, he assumes that his connection to Wright has already cost him dearly with white Blue-Collar voters and independents. Trying to salvage what he can, the Senator devotes all efforts to articulating clear, concrete, policy initiatives that will win over voters less appalled by symbolic pyrotechnics.

The downside: It strains credulity to think that the McCain camp won't rehash old YouTube clips of Reverend Wright speaking truth to power. In fact, it strains credulity to think that the McCain campaign won't have a lot of new YouTube clips of Reverend Wright speaking truth to power on hand. Those will require anything but tactical, lawyerly silence.

Response Two: Give the Good Reverend a Tutorial on Politics: In his interview with Bill Moyers (who has developed an allergy to asking probing follow-up questions) Wright lingered on a distinction that he would repeat for days: he was a pastor, but Obama was a (mere) politician.

The Senator should concede the point. Then he should explain why politicians who seek High Office cannot and should not act like Pastor Wright. Politics is about building coalitions. Politics is about compromise. Politics is about picking your battles carefully. Politics is about us, not you.

Taking a page from Hillary Clinton he might explain the difference between fighting the Power and being the Power—with especial emphasis on how being the Power correlates with bettering the lives of one's constituents. In short, Obama should explain why a "Vice President Wright" is an utter impossibility.

The downside: In this race Obama has so aggressively entwined his politics with his faith and his faith with his pastor, that it may be hard to convincingly disentangle it all. So maybe he should . . . .

Response Three: Go Secular: Have an epiphany. Acknowledge that while your faith sustains you and this nation, religion's role in public life can be divisive and destructive. Claim that the whole Reverend Wright flap made you "Come to the Constitution" and that you are reconsidering how you should talk about religion in politics.

The downside: Aside from the fact that going secular will look like flipfloppery, "secular" is still a taboo word in the American political lexicon. Too, it is not in the least bit clear--in fact, it seems unlikely--that a coalition of believing and non-believing secularists is sufficiently organized for mass electoral mobilization.

Response Four: Reclaim the Black Church: Reverend's Wright attempt to associate his plight with that of the Black Church in its entirety stood as one of his most memorable and vainglorious initiatives.

Obama should vigorously challenge the legitimacy of this assertion. He must point to the diversity of the African-American religious heritage. He must demonstrate that the mere politician who gave that sophisticated, thoughtful and un-hateful speech about race in Philadelphia better embodies its complex spirit than the pastor who grandstanded at the National Press Club.

He should repeat like a mantra: "He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign." And to this Obama must add: "and he does not speak for the Black Church either!"

(For more information about religion and the candidates check out Faith 2008 by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs.)

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