Obama's Speech -- Visionary or Dumb?

First thing every morning, and often thereafter during the day, I check out Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, and recently I saw these opinions of Barack Obama's speech on race.  I'm inclined to agree with Marc Ambinder, who I used to find really really annoying when he wrote The Note in that over-caffeinated, smart alecky style still maintained by his successors.   But here Ambinder reads like Walter Whitman next to the always effete Andrew Sullivan when he writes:

If the media focuses more on the Wright defense-by-renouncements and then juxtaposes them with clips of Wright's comments, then I think the trouble remains.

I know what he means.

"Methinks he doth protest too much" thought I as I heard Obama mention Minister Wright about 27 times. It was Obama's "Sister Souljah" moment--and he cut a duet with her.  Old school is repudiating the person your opponents will use against you, in that highly effective way they have of scaring voters about Democrats, New School is not caring and speaking truth to power.  You know, a lot of my crazy left wing clients in the 1980s used to say that about how they were fighting Ronald Reagan...

On the other hand...maybe I should do what Obama askes and look beyond that aspect of his speech and listen, really listen, to what he says about race.  OK, he's eloquent and persuasive and totally right, but does that make him qualified to be president?  I remain torn, and reminded of what a politically highly influential friend of mine said in the winter of 1992:  "Either Bill Clinton will be the best Democratic president of the United States, or the last one."

HeadlineUpdateUpdateHeadline

The day after I wrote the above, Dan Balz nailed what I was trying to say in this column.  Good job, Washington Post.   

Comments

[supra shoes]

By doing we learn.