Why Obama's claim about not knowing is believable - an "inside the beltway" perspective

[democrattotheend]

As far as we know, these few soundbytes are the only ones that have surfaced out of hundreds Wright has given. Thus, it is entirely plausible that Obama did not know about them until he began running for president, for reasons I will explain below.

When someone begins a campaign, especially at the presidential level, one of the first things they usually do is hire a research firm to conduct self-research, perusing through voting records, business transactions, personal finance, and associations such as church membership to find any vulnerabilities the candidate might have. If, as Obama claims and as is likely true, these few statements were isolated incidents, it is entirely plausible that he would not have known about them until he had that research done.

Given everything else we know about Obama, it simply does not make sense that he would have associated with that church if these statements were typical of his pastor. First of all, we know that Obama has had political ambitions for a long time...he had to know that joining a church with a pastor who regularly made controversial statements would be a liability. Second, given Obama's life story, it does not make any sense that these statements would be a reflection of his own views. His upbringing was so different from most African Americans, and he is essentially an American success story. Nothing in his books or anything he has said indicates that he is anything other than proud of and grateful to this country for giving him the opportunities he has been given.

From what I understand, this church is known for its commitment to social justice, and Minister Wright is known for preaching tolerance toward gays, an unusual stance for a black minister. Given that whoever found these statements probably went through hundreds of sermons and only found these, it is possible that these statements were isolated incidents and not reflective of the church as a whole. In any case, I certainly do not believe they are reflective of Obama's views, and Obama is the one running for president, not Jeremiah Wright.

[tabatha]

1. good points

[Saturday]

2. I actually don't think they're reflective of Obama's views either.

But I can not believe that he had no idea of his mentor's feelings. It's totally unbelievable. The lie is the problem. The cover up is the problem. There were more tapes played on FOX tonight and my gut tells me Obama is going to somehow be shown to have been in church when one of these sermons was taking place.

[democrattotheend]

5. I doubt it

I can't imagine his campaign did not check on that before he made the claim.

What motivation would he have had for staying with the church if he knew about this stuff? He didn't just wake up and decide he wanted to be president yesterday...

[OhioBlue]

I agree completely

I hope KO or someone in the media plays more of Pastor Wright's sermons so that we can get a better idea of the truth.

I ventured over to Faux News to watch the interview on Hannity & Colmes. They played an interview with the Pastor. He came across as very intelligent and likable to me, even tho Hannity tried his hardest to put him in the worst possible light.

[oasis]

3. Knowing Obama, he likely attended the church in order to boost his street cred.

This coincides with your observation about Obama's political aspirations.

[lligrd]

4. Yep, These Few Quotes Were Taken From The 20 Years

he has been preaching. I'd say that the preacher doesn't have such a bad record after all when compared to most posters here.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

6. I Agree. Problem Is, Will The American People.

When they hear how closely connected they were and that he's been there 20 years, and then they hear him say he's never heard such things, I'd wager a majority of people are simply not going to believe him. If that's the case, all of his credibility goes bye bye, as does his presidential aspirations. He may have a huge problem here getting people to believe him.

[democrattotheend]

15. You may be right

But hopefully this will blow over. I am worried but I'm sticking by him...I don't believe he should be judged for a few loony things his pastor said.

BTW, I know you are a Clinton supporter, so I appreciate your being fair-minded about this.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

17. Just For The Record,

I support them both, at this point almost equally (though today has given me a bit of worry, to be honest). I stand more on the Hillary side here merely based on the fact she's wayyyyyyy outnumbered here lol. But at the end of the day, I love them both.

It actually hurts me to see Obama going through this right now, to be honest. He's a good dem and he's run a damn good campaign. He's worked his ass off and deserves to be where he's at. I'm in total shock at this story and never thought in a million years we'd be confronted with some nightmare like this in our primaries, but this story is definitely a bad one. Depending on what happens in the next few days, this literally could be strong enough to sink him. I hope with every bone in my body that this doesn't come to fruition and that he climbs out of this slightly wounded, but recovered. He's worked way too hard and accomplished way too much to have some ancillary thing like this take him down. It would be one of the greatest political injustices I've ever seen. But that doesn't mean it can't happen, and that depresses me. I mean that sincerely too. I don't know for sure the full gravity of all this yet. The media attention over the next few days as well as the next round of polls will show where this may go. But I hope to hell with everything in me that this disappears, and we get back to the back and forth tit for tat day to day Hillary vs Obama stuff. I mean that with all my heart. But this story definitely has me worried, and the way I hear the pundits talk about it leads me to believe they're not letting it go any time soon. What also bothers me is the poll on DU right now asking if DU'ers believe him when he says he didn't know. It's the first poll I've seen here since it's been down to Hillary and Obama, in which the negative choice for Obama was picked by a majority. In this case, a 2-1 majority. That means even the Obama supporters here, who are as dedicated as they come, are bothered about this story and questioning it. If that group here can be bothered by it, that may not bode well for how people out there would perceive it. I say that cause at the end of the day what this will come down to is if people believe him or not as it relates to his knowledge of the pastor's rhetoric. If they don't believe him or find him credible on it, he's in a load of trouble.

I'm burnt and emotionally exhausted. This is the LAST thing I wanted to see out there for either campaign. I just hope to hell it was just a bad day today, with tomorrow being better, and by the coming week all being moved on to the new issue du'jour. Here's to hopin so, anyway. Have a good night. I gotta get some sleep...

[K Gardner]

7. Also, its more than a bit strange that Obama had been running for and elected to

political office in Illinois for years, all while being a member of this church, all AFTER some of the comments had been made..

and nothing ever surfaced when he ran for Illinois Senate OR U.S. Senate.. or when being looked at to give the Convention Address or in the runup to the race this year?

[2rth2pwr]

8. If he couldn't figure out what was going on in his own church

after 20 yrs, I don't want him near the White House.

[ProSense]

10. Moronic. Hillary can't figure out what's going on in her campaign. Has she paid her suppliers yet?

n/t

[democrattotheend]

11. This is not what was "going on" in the church

These were a few statements that stepped over the line out of hundreds of sermons this guy has given. It is not Obama's job to police his church or his pastor.

[Upton]

12. Fess up, you never wanted him near the WH before this

[ProSense]

9. There is a reason the tape strings together a comment from 2001 and 2003. n/t

[democrattotheend]

13. What do you mean?

[mrcheerful]

14. Well golly geees Beaver everyone knows that once one gets out of sunday services

they forget what the guy up front said 2 minutes before game time. Heck most of the baptists I seen in my home town forgot everything by the time they hit the end of the parking lot. That said, remember Dem's will get raked over the coals in moderen amerika. If their sisters brothers first cousin 23 times removed ex wifes mother in law from her third marriage said something that could be taken as racist, sexest or anti amerikan you can bet it will be a dirrect reflection on whoever the Dem's put out to run. It's retro Regan, accuse the other guy of everything you believe, have done or stand for no matter how silly because the amerikan sheeple will flock together against it.

[LadyVT]

16. Did you see the 3/1/07 interview with Wright on Fox?

His personality just shines on through. It's impossible to miss it. It's his CHARACTER.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

18. re: joining a church with a pastor who regularly made controversial statements would be a liability

It's not like the man hasn't written extensively about his life. Why guess?

It's wrong to say, "he had to know that joining a church with a pastor who regularly made controversial statements would be a liability..."

He joined a church to gain more street-cred in a specific community on the south side of Chicago... a community he went on to represent politically.

Joining a church with a pastor who regularly made those kind of controversial statements was an asset, not a liability.

The fact that it sucks for national politics doesn't change the fact that it was a pitch perfect choice for his political ambitions at the time.

(It's like the Iraq speech. It is painted as politically courageous, but it was politically mandatory! He was in a state senate race and his state senate district was like 70-80% against the war when he gave that speech. It was roughly as courageous as our every-four-years political tradition of praising Ethanol in Iowa)

[democrattotheend]

19. If that were the case

Wouldn't he have left years ago, before he ran for Senate?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

20. No, because he has come to genuinely love Pastor Wright and the Trinity church

And I admire him for his loyalty.

His sincere pain at having to distance himself from Wright shows on his face during all these interviews.

My comment referred to why he joined, not why he didn't leave. I have no doubt that he was, after 16-17 years, truly fond of the church. And it seems that his wife is quite devoted to the church. It's his spiritual community.

I do not think Barack is a bad guy, and I do not take joy in this Wright business. It's a very human story.

I happen to believe that Chelsea Clinton was timed for Bill's run for Governor after he was bounced out after his first term. When he announced that second run Hillary Rodham was Hillary Clinton, her glasses were gone, her hair was big and southern and she had a newborn infant.

Yes, I am that cynical.

But I am touched by Barack's quandary in the way sincere love blinded him to what this relationship could do to the hopes of millions.

He seems a good man, by politician standards.