Obama’s friends should zip it
With “friends” like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and, now, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama certainly doesn’t need any enemies. Just as the controversy ignited by Wright’s inflammatory remarks from the pulpit died down – after Obama finally disassociated from his longtime church pastor – along comes Pfleger, the white pastor of a predominately black Roman Catholic church. So when he was invited to speak at the same Chicago church where Wright made desultory statements including “God damn America,” did Pfleger learn from history? No way. He attacked Obama rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, saying her eyes welled with tears before the New Hampshire primary election because she felt “entitled” to the nomination and didn’t like “a black man stealing my show.”
Not content to shove only one foot in his mouth, Pfleger opened wide and thrust the other one in, too: “She just always thought that, ‘This is mine. I’m Bill’s wife. I’m white.’ … And then, out of nowhere, came ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama.’ And she said, ‘Oh, damn, where did you come from? I’m white. I’m entitled. There’s a black man stealing my show.”
Pfleger then mocked Clinton, sobbing and wiping his face with a handkerchief. Then he noted, “She wasn’t the only one crying. There was a whole lot of white people crying.”
It defies logic how this tirade was, in any way, going to help Obama. Although he appears to be on his way to becoming the Democratic nominee, Clinton remains a formidable force within the party, with a base of voter support – white and black – that clearly rivals that of Obama. Insulting those voters does nothing to help Obama prevail in the November election against Republican Sen. John McCain, which is where the focus of all Democrats should be.
Because Pfleger pulled another Wright, Obama found himself distancing himself from his second minister friend in as many months, saying he was “deeply disappointed” in his remarks. He went on to say that as he travels the country, he’s been “impressed not by what divides us, but by all that unites us.”
The Clinton campaign, as could be expected, seized the moment to note that, “Divisive and hateful language like that is totally counterproductive” in efforts to bring the party together and has “no place at the pulpit or in our politics.”
Democrats need strong showings from both Obama and Clinton supporters in order to recapture the presidency. They may yet learn the hard way that alienating one camp or the other is a prescription for disaster on Election Day.
If they really want to help, Obama’s friends like Pfleger learn to zip their lips for the next six months.