1 Boring Old Man

Obamas try to change conversation

Sen. Barack Obama sought Wednesday to regain control of his campaign narrative, as he and his wife reminded voters that the Illinois Democrat is the one running for office, not Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. A day after angrily breaking from his Chicago pastor, Obama pushed an economic message, talking about jobs and gas prices, touring a metal manufacturing company and packing a university arena as he so often does…

"I think it’s offensive and outrageous," the former first lady said in a Fox News interview with Bill O’Reilly."People have to, you know, decide what they believe," she said, before alluding to one of Wright’s more controversial suggestions. "I sure don’t believe the United States government was behind AIDS." Even without Clinton’s mention, it was clear Obama would continue to be burdened by Wright, someone he said he believes is distracting the electorate from more important topics.

"You have been forced to basically turn your back on someone who had been a good friend for a long time," Marc Bilodeau, an Indianapolis economics professor and Obama supporter asked during a small-group event under a park pavilion. "I wonder if you could tell us how much a toll this takes on you." Appearing at his side, Michelle Obama emphasized that her husband should not be judged by the words or actions of others.

"If anybody looks over the course of this year, you won’t have a question about who Barack is," she said. "He has been very consistent, not just this year, but throughout his entire life." Michelle Obama, who conducted several interviews during the day, also offered her familiar refrain about wishing he was in another line of work. "I’m the cynic in the family. This is the hope guy," she said. "I’ve spent my life trying to convince him not to be a politician. It’s like teach, write, sing, dance. I don’t care what you do. Just don’t do this. These people are mean"…

"What we want to do now, though, is to make sure that this doesn’t continue to be a perpetual distraction," Obama said. "It is true that part of the job when you’re running for president is that anybody who is tangentially, you know, even remotely, associated with you is somehow fair game."

Obama said it is "unfortunate" that is the case, although he understands it is part of the process…

I want to free associate about it for a minute. This as-of-yet unformed way of including the Wright story in his narrative cannot be Spin. Spin is an attempt to lead people to think about a thing in a certain way, usually by the use of logical fallacy, innuendo, or appealing to underlying prejudices. Democrats don’t do spin well. It can’t be with continued logical or moral arguments. Once is enough for that approach. All it does is give the experts something new to spin. Spin is out. Logic is out. Two speeches about exhausted the emotional turmoil part. His speech on race was strong and doesn’t need repeating. His emotional reaction was genuine. Nothing more needs to be said about it. Right now, the current Spin is that it took him 28 hours to react. He addressed that once, "I’ll be honest, I hadn’t seen it." But he might be able to say something more about that. But only once.

What I want him to find is a way to include the Wright contraversy editorially in his everyday speeches. In other words, talking about it as a part of his campaign history, something still on the table but also in the past. It has to be truthful. Integrity is what Obama has for sale. It can’t be attacking. It can’t be excuse making. But it can’t be ignoring. I’ll have a first shot at it. " One  Some things  we’ve  I’ve learned in this campaign. Race is a part of the American dialogue. Healing our continuing racial divide cannot occur if we don’t talk about it. The same thing goes for gender, something my Primary opponent has had to deal with. I think America would be best served if everyone took a look at how that effects their opinions – and found a way to make choices based on the person rather than the category." The contraversy about Reverend Wright brings up how important religion is, and probably alway has been, in American political life. For me, religion is part of my private life, and part of my moral life. I make no apology about that. But that aspect of my experience is informed by the teachings of my religion about love, tolerance, hope, and responsibility for my own behavior – not blindly following the direction of any religious leader. Religion, to me, is not about judging others. It’s about looking at myself." "Religious leaders are human beings, as we’ve seen. I would urge every American to struggle, as I have had to do, with their own conscience and beliefs." "We’ve been assaulted for the last years with a barrage of what is called spin. I’ve taken a number of hits by the spin masters, but I’m trying as hard as I can to play it straight. I don’t like to see American people manipulated. I don’t like being manipulated either. If you think I’m doing that, let me know and I’ll promise to look carefully to see if you’re right.  If I’m serious about ‘yes we can,’ I have to stay part of the ‘we.’"