Well it’s official. The polls show that Obama was not fazed at all by the Reverend Wright debacle. A recent Pew Research poll, the same polling company that indicated a week ago that Obama WAS indeed hurt by the over-hyped story, NOW has a poll that shows he not only survived the mess, he shows the highest positive marks of any Presidential candidate and if the election were held today, he’d win.
While last week’s anti-Obama Pew poll, as duly noted in my previous articles, was taken before the historic “Profiles in Courage” speech, it was pounced on by conservatives and Hillary supporters alike as indication that Obama was on his way out. Once again, the media trumpeted this message through their loud speakers with no justification and attempted to bring down the Illinois Senator and potential President with an intense fervor, despite the fact that the only ones saying the issue was relevant were those on the Right. The issue did indeed, thanks to loud-mouthed fat Republican shock jocks, began to catch fire in a Swift Boat fashion. The racist Right suddenly felt emboldened to talk about race as if it were 1948 again. We all expected Obama to distance himself from the Rev. Wright like so many cowardly Dems before him, including Bill & Hillary. Which would have opened the flood gates for Repubs to use racial division in the General Election. Suddenly, this great nation risked re-opening old scarred wounds.
Then something amazing happened. Obama did the unexpected. He stepped up to the plate larger than any politician has in these times; he gave a speech on race AND religion that was mature, honest and frank. While the speech itself was not profound, or even the best speech I’ve heard Obama give in the last month, it was the simplicity, elegance and nonchalant manner that may prove its greatest strengths. It was a reminder of how far this great nation has come, when a politician of any flavor of race or religion can stand up and speak of race and religion as if it were not a college football game. It was not about sides and winning and losing and blame. No Monday morning quarterbacking, that task has fallen to the Righties that judged him. It was a true blue moment for the candidate, who put his own vulnerable self in front of that firing squad we call a media.
The reactions were swift and loud. RACE! RACE! RACE! Damn I almost thought there was a NASCAR accident of epic proportions, or even a terrorist attack the way the headlines exploded. The media acted like juveniles, questioning every step of the way, carrying on like a bunch of spoiled children coming up with excuses before school. The echo chamber reverberated with the naive questions of a child. The baulk jocks felt even MORE emboldened, sensing blood, they moved in for the kill.
Then came what I consider the real miracle. The American People did not fall for the trick. They began talking about race in new and seemingly enlightened ways. Pastors from the Right did not jump on the issue, the Left was not fooled (except for a few Clintonites) and the vast middle really didn’t seem to see race as all that important. People talked of race for a day or two in new and interesting ways, however the blood pressure of the country remained normal, even as Righties stoked the flames for boiling White America’s blood. Clinton hopefuls began to back off the issue as conservatives stepped up their witch hunt. New Mexico’s Governor Richardson boldly endorsed Obama, signaling his survival. The issue began to subside.
Just when Righties were loudly shouting about how Obama was a racist, evil man who could never reach white America again, the story went into complete remission. Easter, illegal State Dept. Passport file breaches and a plethora of other far more relevant issues consumed the Obama race issue. It simply died on the vine, just as all of the Bush scandals did, something we’ve known all too well here on the rational Left, by way of the ADD media’s uncanny ability to follow the shallow path to distraction.
Did it hurt Obama though? This was the question no one could answer. Pew’s first poll said it did, despite its pre-Obama-speech status. An ABC/Gallup poll showed Clinton on the rise. Than magically, an Easter weekend later, with polling data taken even before Hillary told a tall tale of arriving at a Balkan Airport in a scenario comparable to a Harrison Ford movie, the support for Obama surged.
Along comes the new wave of polls. There will be more to come no doubt. Likely a NewsMax (Right Wing News front) poll that will say race DID hurt Obama. Meanwhile, a brand spanking new Gallup Poll shows Obama opening up a huge lead.
Today’s poll only confirms that Obama not only survived, it virtually guarantees he will be the next Democratic nominee for President. Her bragging about sniper fire was not the reason she will inevitably defeated, it is but a mere reminder that she is not as experienced as previously believed. The nail in the coffin will come in Pennsylvania.
One thing is clear, however, from these new polls. While the middle and the Left were not fooled, many on the Right are “deeply disturbed” by the issue. The creation of a singular Republican talking point was successfully carried out. Why does this matter? Well ultimately, it doesn’t. In the General Election, only a miracle or tragedy could save John McCain from defeat (I’m sure it’s something buzzing around the Right-Wing think-tanks). Most Republicans are not bothered by this as they generally hate McCain and this will put him to bed. However the Republican party leadership DOES fear that McCain will be humiliated, blown out like Mondale in what could virtually wipe out what remains of their ailing party. The use of this race issue may save them from that fact as Rush “to judgment” Limbaugh and Sean “vanity” Hannity pound the race issue into Republican ear drums. It’s already begun. This may motivate their base just enough for McCain to carry the south and avoid utter catastrophe, saving the party from a fate worse than death: irrelevance.
Expect Republican nastiness in the times to come, don’t expect however, the American people to be fooled this time. If we are REALLY such a great nation, than the time has come for us to expect more of ourselves.