Obama, Democrats Try to Leave Race Issue Behind Them
Barack Obama speaks at a town hall rally in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, after delivering a speech on the Iraq War in Fayetteville. (AP Photo)
Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, according to a poll taken at the height of the recent controversy surrounding sermons made by Obama’s spiritual adviser.
The Franklin & Marshall College survey shows Clinton leading Obama by 16 percentage points, 51 percent to 35 percent. The March 11-16 poll of 464 registered Democrats showed that Obama’s favorability ratings had dropped 10 percentage points from a month earlier. (The poll has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.)
But there still is plenty of room for change before the state’s April 22 primary; 13 percent of Democrats polled said they were undecided.
Other recent polls have also indicated that the storm over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.’s anti-American sermons has been chipping away at the Obama campaign. It’s one reason why the Obama team and Democratic strategists who expect him to win the party’s nomination are working hard now to leave the issue of race behind them.
The week-long focus on Wright’s fiery sermons, which Obama decried Tuesday as racially divisive, has made discussion of race issues an inevitable talking point on the campaign trail. Though Clinton has avoided making a political point of the sermons, Democratic strategists are worried that they could become a rallying point for Republicans if Obama becomes the Democratic candidate for president.
“I think he has done enough to survive it and get the Democratic nomination … but this is an albatross that will be around his neck throughout the whole general election,” said FOX News political analyst Dick Morris, a former Bill Clinton strategist who has been a vocal opponent of the former first lady.
“We’ll see how it shows up in polling. … [Democrats] are now very worried about what this does to his chances in November,” said Patricia Murphy, editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com. “That’s the anxiety that this has raised, and even that speech didn’t put those fears to rest.”
National Public Radio national correspondent Juan Williams, a FOX News analyst, said a potential complication following Obama’s speech is the attention that it continues to draw to the issue of race. It poses a problem in a campaign where the candidates are trying to focus on the economy, national security and health care.
“He doesn’t want to be the black candidate in the race, because he wants to be the candidate who transcends race … suddenly he’s back in the box as just a black candidate,” Williams said.
The race issue appears to have had an effect on voters.
A CBS poll showed that 25 percent of those surveyed had heard “a lot” about Wright’s comments, while 33 percent had heard some. Of those aware of the story, 15 percent of Democrats, 36 percent of Independents and 47 percent of Republicans said it made them see Obama less favorably.
A Rasmussen survey taken from March 14-16 of 1,200 likely voters showed 56 percent of those interviewed were less likely to vote for Obama because of the Wright’s sermons.
And for the second day in a row, Clinton took the lead in the Gallup daily tracking poll. The poll from March 15-17 showed Clinton with 47 percent support among Democrats and Obama with 44 percent. The two candidates have been neck-and neck throughout the month of March.
Obama’s speech Tuesday was widely praised as a heartfelt, candid assessment of racial divisions that put bitterness between whites and blacks in historical context.
“With this speech Barack Obama showed he’s ready to be president of the United States,” said Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein. “The question now is, is America ready for Barack Obama?”
But it was also widely noted that Obama will probably not be done with the race issue if he becomes the Democratic candidate.
GOP strategist Angela McGlowan said the pastor flap will help the Republican Party in November, noting that it didn’t take McCain as long to denounce anti-Catholic comments from the Rev. John Hagee, who has endorsed McCain but was never his personal spiritual adviser.
The big question for the near-term is whether the race issue will turn off primary voters. The controversy surrounding Wright came right after former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter, left her role on the Clinton finance committee for suggesting Obama would not be where he is if he were white.
The Obama campaign also took down a posting on its Web site Wednesday in which the New Black Panther Party endorsed the Illinois senator. The campaign said it rejects the endorsement.
Attempting to push forward, the Illinois senator spoke extensively about ending the Iraq war in Fayetteville, N.C., on Wednesday. He continued his assault on Clinton’s vote to authorize the war, and lumped the New York senator with McCain and President Bush for what he said were their attempts to distort his proposals for troop withdrawal and diplomacy in the Middle East.
Obama is not expected to attend Easter services at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago this Sunday, as he is going on vacation with his family. Wright is no longer the pastor at the church, one of the reasons Obama cited in his decision to stay a part of the congregation.
American University professor Jane Hall told FOXNews.com that the race issue is an unfortunate diversion for Obama, who drew supporters hoping this would not be a campaign about race.
But she said the renewed dialogue is not one that’s easy to shake.
“Race is a huge subject. I don’t think we’ve dealt with it enough,” she said. “I think people were shocked by these videos (of Wright), I think a lot of people were shocked … And then when you talk to African Americans, they say ‘Well, you know you haven’t experienced what I’ve experienced.’ So we’re sort of stuck.”
Ok….enough about the race thing…
now the media just can’t come out and tell the whole story on the AP….
this is mostly about “hate” and hate for all the non black citizens of America. This Pastor has had all the opportunities in the world here in America to make something of himself and HAS. He is just a bit older than I am and I enjoyed all the opportunities of America as all others do….I don’t go around blaming others for any failings in my life, I take full responsibility and am here to just take care of my Family as all these whiners should do.
to blame America for one’s failings is ridiculous. This man preaches Hatred and anti American speeches, accusing all of us Americans of having a government that was responsible for blowing up 3,000 of our citizens! How do you think the survivors and the families who lost loved ones in 911 feel about these statements!?When he attacks our government he attacks us…and Obama should tell us that this man is disgraceful and show us all the sermons he attended so we know just what he was AGREEING WITH, while sitting in the pews with this hate monger speaking….I don’t see any of those sermons do you? He’d then put a rest to all of this, but he can’t because for 20 years this is what he has heard. Is this really a lover of the United States Of America? Do we want someone in our highest office making life decisions for us and our Country that actually hates us and America? After all, this is what his “mentor” says…..we need to stand back and see just what this person who acts like the second coming really is….I say he’s a big phony! Worse than Huckaphony was!
No, mainstream news media people…..this is a lot more than race. It kicks us all in the gut and it won’t go away. This man has shown himself to be a radical as at least 4-5 times more, as radical and criminal associations to Obama have surfaced the least of which is the Black Panther organization. I lived through those times and tthank God they are gone….and over with now…this is not progressive people, they want to take us back so they can play the victims games again with their hate and rantings….let’s not dredge it all up again…as that’s what they will do with Obama in the white house….is this what we all want for us? Where will it lead us once this radical takes office and declares him in charge of us. Wake up out there and vote Hillary and then McCain!
Ask yourselves these questions….Do I want a President who secures our Country from attacks?
Do I want a Socialist Country where hate reigns? Or do I want a democrat society as we are who are the strongest in the World…with a President who loves it and will defend us to the end?
I don’t believe the issues with Rev. Wright are about race, I believe it is about judgement and integrity. Mr. Obama made a couple of contradictory statements and he showed that he would say and do what it takes to get elected. Most people running for office would do that, but he has been claiming he is different. He had a very good image going but I believe that is gone now. It is sad to see that it was false hope.
I used to think that Americans were the leaders and fathers of democracy. But the present race to the white house has opened my eyes to a lot of things. The Bill Clinton (sic) will do anything to get to the White house, if there were from the 3rd world, it may include sacrificing a member of their family.
The have turn Obama into a Chameleon. Not too long ago we heard news that he was a Muslim, now that they have bad stuff from his Pastor, it’s convenient for him to be a Christian attending the same church for the last 20 years.
I have never seen anyone who can say that they control what their Pastor, Imam or the Dalai Lama says. This is not a defense for Obama, but we all need to cut him some slack.
this is getting out of hand ,
Someone commented that Clinton “cherry picked States” and that she thinks some voters are more importatnt than others. Both are true. It’s a numbers game. If you can’t carry the big states in the general election, you can’t win. It’s not “fair” or “right”, but that is the way the system is setup. Obama has won more states and more delegates, but they are smaller and less important states. By “less important”, I don’t mean that the people there are less than human, or anything crazy like that. I mean for example, North Dakota, doesn’t count as many points as California, and Obama has won more states similar to North Dakota than he has won similar to California. Hilary has won all the big states except Illinois and Misouri, and they really tied in Missouri.
Now that race is a factor, you can figure how the votes will be cast. They will have to give Obama the nomination because he has more delegates and because of people like Al Sharpton, despite the fact that his electability is questionable now. Obama will win most, of the black vote and less than half of the white vote and even less of the Latino and Asian vote. McCain will win a tiny part of the black vote, most of the white vote and most of the Latino and Asian vote. Since there are more white and Latino voters than black voters, McCain will win. Also, McCain is not saying anything bad about Obama or Hilary. McCain is at least acting like he “transcends race and gender” and his platform is only about the issues, which is what Obama wanted his platform to be about.
In my opinion, if this were 2 people of the same sex and race, what would happen is this:
Candidate 1 has more delegates, but won mostly smaller states, and has a public image problem that allienates the largest group of voters, and the polls show that voters think that candidate 1 is less experienced.
Candidate 2 has less delegates, but won most of the big states that would be enough to win the general election, and has only allienated a small group of voters, and the polls show that voters think that candidate 2 is more experienced.
The super delegates would cast their votes for candidate 2 because that person can get more votes in the general election.
Pardon my spelling.
I’m at work and don’t have time for spellcheck
If Obama gets the Democratic Nomination, I will be voting for John McCain.
I would not trust Obama or any of his decisions. I think a person becomes who you choose to be friends with and hang out with. So that is really scary.
With regard to Obama & Jeremiah the bull frog ‘er terd ( fecal particle)… sleep with feces and you’ll surely awake stinking!!!
It would be importatnt for senator Obama to point out that the Clinton campaign throughout these primaries have cherry picked States. Over 40 states have voted to date with Obama winning twice as many states as Clinton. The clinton campaqign simply ignored some states saying either there were too small to matter or were red states.Therefore according to the Clinton campaign some democratic votes are more importatnt than others. Michigan and Florida violated DNC rules thats two states out of many if she truly cared for voters rights she would have ran a 50 state strategy as opposed to the 6 or 8 state campaign she has ran thus far….Go OBAMA
Obama you still have the media on your side. The media thinks Hillary being in the White House while Bill is doing things in other rooms is more important now then what you have going on. This campaign is a big joke. The media will do anything to turn the bad news away from you put it on Hillary. This has to be the lowest they have gotten so far. You want CHANGE but I don’t see how that is going to happen with YOUR past Rev. Wright saying the things he said. Then Jessie Jackson had not comment when asked about it. Jessie Jackson for the first time had nothing to say. Oh yes, it was not a WHITE person who said it. It had to be the first time I have ever seen him with a long face and could not talk. I think and hope you just open the doors for anyone else but you for President. We have not heard from your wife lately, is she taking speech classes?
He MAKES race an issue by harping constantly that it should not be an issue!