The Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. came back to the political spotlight this week -- with a vengeance.
Wright, Senator Barack Obama's former and longtime pastor, delivered a barrage of what The Daily Show's Jon Stewart called "mild, medium and spicy" remarks. The reverend represents a larger problem for the Obama campaign than most Democrats realize. The character judgments Obama has made in choosing his relationships constitute the most important benchmark against which voters can measure his ability to lead this country.
Unlike Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain, Obama has no significant political record that voters can judge. He has sponsored no landmark legislation during his Senate career. He has pushed for no major reforms. Despite his touted internationalism, he has less experience in international relations than either Clinton or McCain. In short, he seems to have expended no political capital in Congress, saving himself for the current battle for the presidential nomination.
Further, his political proposals leave much to be desired. The New York Times Editorial Board said it best: "We need more specifics to go with his amorphous promise of a new governing majority, a clearer sense of how he would govern" (Jan. 25).
Political aloofness was an intelligent decision for Obama at the time. But now voters are left with few benchmarks by which to judge whether Obama will make a good president. One of those benchmarks -- and I think the most important one -- is Obama's relationship with the people around him.
Wright and Obama are as close as friends can be. When Obama moved to Chicago, he chose the reverend's 8,000-member megachurch from among the many predominantly black churches on the south side of Chicago. The title of Obama's memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," comes straight out of one of Wright's sermons. The reverend officiated Barack and Michelle's marriage. He baptized their two children. Obama recently remarked that Wright "has been like family to me."
Throughout this time, Wright has been making derogatory remarks right and left. One time he told his congregation that "the government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." He has been accused of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism.
On April 29, Obama decried Wright's words as "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in the truth."A denunciation of Wright's views at any time during those 20 years is different from the denunciation Obama is delivering to the media now. The former would have been personal; the latter is clearly political. The former would have reflected accurate character judgment; the latter has responded to a drop in the polls. Obama is doing the right thing by denouncing Wright's views. But his denunciation came two decades too late. Even The New York Times Editorial Board wrote that Obama's denunciation "took more time than it should have" (April 30).
Obama admitted to knowing some of Wright's statements, but not the "worst of them." On March 18, Obama defended his decision to remain in the church by pointing to the reverend's good character and their close relationship. Obama said he "can no more disown him that he can disown the black community." Yet on March 28, after Wright's resignation, he said he would have left the church had the reverend not retired. Nothing changed during that time except for the rise in public indignation of Wright's attitude. This kind of inconsistency reveals the politician behind the man -- which is especially damaging to Obama's post-partisan, post-politics message.
Many Democrats have complained that Obama should not have to bear responsibility for every opinion of every one of his friends. But Wright is more than a friend. As Obama's pastor, he has served as Obama's moral guide. Obama credits Wright with introducing him to the Christian faith. Wright was, until recently, on the staff of Obama's campaign. He should have been vetted much more carefully.
Clinton and McCain both have skeletons in their closets. But both can point to a long string of achievements and political experiences that overshadow the skeletons in their closets (that we know of). Every revelation of Wright's caliber hurts Obama much more than it would hurt Clinton or McCain
For Obama, the Wright fiasco has emphasized the necessity to take much stronger stances on issues. For us, it should put in question Obama's ability to be an accurate judge of character.
