Sadly, though it looked briefly like the moment would pass, Reverand Wright is back in the news. Indeed, he's positively dominating the Monday news cycle and is going to be a hot topic with the herd whether Obama wants it or not, and whether there's another debate or not.
Today, Obama's statement was this:
"Some of the comments that Rev. Wright has made offend me, and I understand why they offend the American people. He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign," Obama said.
"Many of the statements that he's made, both that triggered this initial controversy and that he's made over the last several days, are not statements that I have heard him make previously. They don't represent my views," the senator added.
To coin a phrase, he can do better. Rev. Wright's reappearance is actually an opportunity for Obama to recapture the momentum in the race and put this thing to bed on May 6. Here's how...
Race is an issue in this campaign because it's an issue in America. Like it or not, our political partisanship has a racial element to it. Four years ago, John Kerry won 88% of the black vote. An even higher percentage of black voters seem likely to vote for the Democratic nominee this year. Obama's relationship with white voters is the subject of a particularly vapid cover story in Newsweek this week. No matter how hard we try, this issue isn't going to go away. With that premise, a response is necessary.
How should Obama respond? His response today, was, in my opinion, a bit too defensive. It won't change the story, end the story or get him back on message. He's done a tremendous job so far of juggling America's (and the Democratic Party's) racial knives. Now, he needs to to take the last and final strong step.
Obama's response should be to go on offense. Being strong in response signals to the media (and the public) that you're in charge. That you can use the situation to your advantage. Any response should reinforce your message, and, if the response can be strong, on-message and put your opponents on the defensive, then it goes from being good to being a game-ender.
Obama's message is, in a word, unity. He argues that our government can best respond to the country's problems when our politicians work to respond to the country as a whole. It's a post-partisan message, made more effective by his biography, personality, and record. This message has brought out huge numbers of new voters, young people, independents, and "Obamicans." In other words, this message has produced a coalition that can win in November.
Rev. Wright's statements are directly contrary to Obama's message. Obama should denounce them, forcefully. He should challenge Rev. Wright on the merits, and say that his words are detrimental to the black community, to the Democratic Party, and to America. His pitch should be generational - he can tell Rev. Wright that there's a new generation of leadership in this country that is more concerned with healing our racial divide than exploiting it for political and personal gain. It's a "Nixon goes to China" moment within the black community. He doesn't need to condescend to anyone. Rather, he can tell the black community what it already knows - that they're too smart and there's too much at stake for them to allow the fears of the past to cloud the possibility of the future.
This kind of response would have a tremendous political effect. The MSM would eat it up, calling it the "Sister Souljah moment that we've all been waiting for." They'd laud Obama's daring and independence. And, best of all, Obama would be right back on message: denouncing old politics (whether black or white), acting as an agent of change, and giving both black and white voters a reason to believe in him and to vote for him.
Best of all, a strong denouncement of Rev. Wright would set up Obama for a strong closing week leading up to the May 6 primaries. He can attack Clinton for being the other side of Wright's coin - more interested in exploiting divisions than healing them. He can attack McCain by contrasting the way he (Obama) has denounced Wright with the mealy-mouthed good-cop/bad-cop shitck McCain has pulled with Rev. Hagee and the NC GOP. Rev. Wright, Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain are an "Axis of Intolerance." Obama's staff should then spend the next 48 hours combing McCain's donation lists and endorsers. With the kind of record McCain has in the modern GOP, Rev. Hagee isn't likely to be the only agent of intolerance in McCain's corner. Where Obama denounces divisiveness, McCain embraces it.
So, here's how it would play out. Tuesday: denounce Wright. Wednesday: link Wright's words to Clinton and McCain and the old politics. Thursday, pivot and tie the rhetoric to policy. Unity is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Only when the black community, the working class (of all races), and the ever-squeezed middle class (of all races) put their commonalities ahead of their differences can they unite to effect change in Washington. Only the combined political force of these groups, of this new coalition, can turn our economy around, can make health care affordable for all, can end this disasterous war in Iraq. Like Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain, Rev. Wright has done some good in this world. Their time, however, is past. Their politics don't work for working Americans.
You have asked much of us, Sen. Obama, and our answer has been, time and again, "Yes, we can." Now, as the power-holders in this country ally against you, in the last competitive week of the Democratic primary, we ask, "Can you?"
I hope the answer is, "Yes, I can."