Reply #151: Predictable, but messy... [View All]

[Sybbis]

I have a problem with Obama and the McClurkin thing. It was wrong - period. He was advised ahead of time what the issue was with the guy and he chose to give him a platform. His statement at the time and his statements since then have been weak and embarrassing. He's trying to steer a middle-ground course. Although it is difficult to make his case to political junkies, it's playing well enough with non-junkies and superfans.

I believe he used McClurkin on purpose to strengthen his appeal to church-going black women (and to a lesser extent men) in S. Carolina. They were the key, he had to take their votes away from Hillary Clinton. That's the only thing that makes sense of this mess. To have pulled McClurkin from the appearance would have hurt him in that primary and he wasn't willing to do it. Not pulling him has hurt Obama nationally with the GLBT community, their families and friends. He was willing to do that.

Now he is effectively boxed in. He cannot apologize. He still wants religiously conservative blacks to vote for him. He still wants liberal GLBTs to vote for him too, but he can't get one without offending the other. He is willing to sacrifice the GLBT vote in order to make his stand for the churchy black vote in the South (and elsewhere) on Super Tuesday. It's obviously calculated and there's no getting around it. The thing is, he's a POLITICIAN so how is this a surprise? They all make calculations, it's in the job description. Obama's a good guy but he's running for office. He cannot come out and say why he did what he did, but I would wager that it has nothing to do with any personal homophobia on his part. It's politics.

The reality is that while I like him a great deal, Obama was never going to get my vote on Tuesday. It's Hillary for me and has been from the beginning. As far as Obama, McClurkin and the GLBT vote - any Republican will be a thousand times worse than Barack Obama on the issues facing that community. It's a no-brainer to vote for Obama if he takes the nomination and that's true for the GLBT community and the churchy black vote.

If John McCain, Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee make the next Supremes appointments - we're ALL screwed.