Reply #23: Unfortunately this is true.

[TragedyandHope]

...the kind of people who'd vote for McCain don't really get offended by the kind or things Parsley said. The people who are offended by Parsley would NOT vote for McCain anyways.

This is the kind of thing white politicians and preachers have gotten away with for years and in fact, I suspect this kind of garbage may strengthen their base and even bring over borderline sympathetic voters. A fiery negro preacher spouting inflammatory rhetoric is far scarier for closet racists (you know, the ones who have black friends and deny there is still racism in the country after everything was fixed in the civil rights era) and provokes a much stronger gut reaction than the equivalent words spoken by a white preacher. This just illustrates the undeniable double-standard that still exists in this country.

In this case, the ingrained racist reaction to this footage threatens to completely overpower the record of accomplishments and years of speeches and positions the candidate has taken to the contrary. So, a handful sound bites can sway a certain susceptible fraction of the public that refuses to think for itself and forms all its opinions bases on a few spoon-fed headlines from the media.

However, since Iowa, I think that the country as a whole has shown that it is better than this and is eager and willing to move past this kind of divisiveness. I think Obama will surely weather these attacks, despite the overblown media coverage and any future 527 replays.