Obama again shows GOOD JUDGEMENT to "Skip" State of the Black Union

[Sensitivity]

When Essence Mag is featuring a “Why Obama should NOT attend” article, we know it is time for Obama Bashers on DU to kindly STFU.

Obama is in an intense political contest in Ohio in which he is behind an opponent with enormous built in advantages of name recognition, established reputation, party support and a distinct ethnic bias in her favor.

Obama has been able to make headway by grass roots organizing, town-hall rabble rousing and rallying masses of supporters in mega events. His personal leadership is key to his success. For him to de-focus from his objectives, to abandon what he know he has to do for his team, in order to go to N.O. to pay homage to the “State of Black America” talking heads, would be ridiculous.

The Obama campaign needs OBAMA. The same may not apply to the Clinton campaign.
Again, Obama has shown good judgement.

Excerpts from Essence article below:
http://essence.typepad.com/news/2008/02/roland-s-mart-6.html

Roland Martin
February 11, 2008
Why Obama should skip Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union

Here is my analysis of the situation, and hopefully it will put this presidential campaign and the delicate task of navigating the waters of black politics in perspective.
1. Clinton MUST attend. She led Obama in all of 2007 among black voters by huge margins. But that trend has shifted -dramatically. At best, she's polling at 25% among African Americans. Her acceptance is critical because she needs to capture 30% to 40% of the black to really stop Obama.
The perceived racial slights toward Obama by Clinton campaign surrogates, as well as her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has done significant damage in the black community. His attempts to explain the comments haven't mollified African Americans. Her appearance at the event can help her restore her standing among a vital Democratic constituency, which she will need to turn out en masse if she wins the nomination.
Also, her campaign doesn't have the cash Obama has. She needs any free media. And if Obama shows up, that means all the national media will be there, and the stage is set for her. Tavis said on the air that he would push for the candidates to debate the issues. She's called for more; Obama has only accepted two.
Smart politics on her part, and if I were advising her, no doubt I would tell her to attend.
…….
2. Obama must look forward, not in the past. The Louisiana primary, which he won handily, was on Saturday. Why go back to Louisiana for an event on Feb. 23? That is not to dismiss the needs of people along the Gulf Coast. But the only way he can truly help them is if he wins the nomination and the White House.
Obama needs to be solely focused on Texas and Ohio. Those two mega-states offer a huge bounty of delegates, and he needs to win a large state to move ahead of Clinton. She polls strongly in both states, and they are a huge part of her winning strategy; so much of her time will be spent there in the coming weeks.
……..
3. He can't be defined again as the black candidate. Some will say he must avoid black folks to be more palatable to whites and Hispanics. I disagree. But you can't deny the reality that he's running for president of the United States and not president of Black America. The week of the South Carolina was all about race, and he knows that is not a winning discussion because of this nation's history. His campaign successfully beat back that issue since South Carolina, winning nearly all-white states like Utah, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Delaware, Connecticut, and Nebraska.
For Obama, time spent courting Latinos in Texas is more important.

[goldcanyonaz]

1. Pssst, I think the cats outta the bag in regards to Obama being black.

[Skip Intro]

6. I'm thinking there's probably not a name-recognition problem for him either at this point.

seriously, what a dumb argument for him not attending...

[Sensitivity]

14. Psst, I know you understand the difference between being Black, and a candidate for Blacks

Just stop the dishonest b.s. please.

[ClassWarrior]

16. It's kind of subtle point the author's making. I guess I'm not surprised...

...that some people just are too slow to really understand it.

NGU.

[UALRBSofL]

28. The issue with Tavis Smiley is Obama doesn't need to attend because

He has the vote of the AA and it would be in Obama's best interest to campaign instead of attending a monumental event such as this, because it's all about Obama and his political ambitions which Smiley implied was self serving. Obama offered MO in his place but Smiley refused. This event is about pride, about honoring leaders of America and recognizing there accomplishments. This is why Hillary accepted. This isn't the first time Hillary attended this event. This really shows the human side of Hillary. It reflects her love and understanding of people. It shows she is supportive of peoples rights and ambitions to make change in the world. This is the Hillary I know and why I support her.

[goldcanyonaz]

30. Yes, and unfortunately my community has thrown Hillary under the bus.

He can do no wrong, and she can do no right.

She's still fighting for me, and for that she will always have my vote.

I'm not easily swayed by something shiny and new just because my skin color is the same as his.

[GarbagemanLB]

38. No, she's attending because she wants more than 10% of the black vote. Nothing 'human' about it. nt

[Honeycombe8]

43. Link to Tavis Smiley being upset w/Obama? They're friends, and as far as I have seen or read...

there is no indication that Smiley is at all upset w/Obama. I've seen references to OTHER people saying they wouldn't blame Smiley for being upset w/Obama, OTHER people criticizing Obama for not going to the event, OTHER people guessing what Smiley meant when he didn't accept Michele as a substitute, etc., etc.

But to my knowledge, Tavis Smiley has not expressed that he is upset with his good friend, Obama, in the least.

[babylonsister]

Rec'd. nt

[wndycty]

2. Tavis got upset when Jesse Jackson brought the crowd to its feet talking about Obama. . .

. . .LOL

It was as if the crowd was saying we LOVE YOU TAVIS, BUT WE LOVE BARACK MORE!

[tishaLA]

11. Yes he did. And told them not to be "divisive"

Poor Tavis. He likes dissent...as long as it doesn't dissent from him.

[wndycty]

13. Let's see how he handles Stephanie Tubbs Jones

She is speaking now.

[Cameron27]

15. Thanks for the heads up,

she's great.

[wndycty]

18. Why did you need the heads up? Surely this is an important event. . .

. . .and that is why Hillary is there, right? I would think here supporters would be glued to the TV watching this important event, or do they only care about it when Hillary appears.

[Cameron27]

19. I didn't know that it had already started,

sue me for chrissakes.

[wndycty]

21. But this is so important, how come you didn't know it already. . .

. . .I mean Obama should be there because its so important as DUers are saying. If it is so important for him to be there I would think it would be important enough for you to know when it came on.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wndycty]

29. LOL. . .but this is so important, very important. . .

. . .:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[tishaLA]

22. I love Tavis saying "oh but this isn't about me"

after he gave a speech about himself.

[wndycty]

23. LOL yup!

:kick:

[tishaLA]

25. "And Jesse Jackson ran so Obama can win!"

Crowd roars.

Tavis tries to stop the comment. Poor Tavis has lost control of his own event.

[wndycty]

26. LOL. . .I jumped up out of my seat!

That was great. And then he turned to Stephanie Tubbs Jones and told her he had her back, that was a beautiful moment.

[tishaLA]

31. Mayor Nagin was very funny just a moment ago

something like, Obama, go get it...You have the best chance of winning the white house. And Hillary, god bless you, too.

Tavis: Mr Mayor, that was as slick as sandpaper.

[wndycty]

33. LOL

:kick:

[MzShellG]

47. Travisty needs to get over his inflated ego.

Barack as president will address the needs of ALL America. He will be able to do more for NOLA and etc than Travisty could ever dream of doing. Why can't HE get that? It's all about him. Well Travisty doesn't speak for me nor any majority of black people on the issue of Barack's loyalty.

[ecstatic]

39. I wonder if on a subconscious level, Tavis is bitter because

he feels like he is the sitting black president, delivering State of the Union addresses and what not.

[Honeycombe8]

44. What did he say that lead you to think he was upset? Did he tell Jackson not to mention Obama's ..

name or something?

[Cha]

49. What's up with Tavis?

And the thank the Universe for Jesse Jackson!!

[nebula]

3. Tavis is a GOP plant.

The guy is a fucking douchebag of the first order, always has been.

[Voice for Peace]

32. Totally disagree about Tavis, I have alot of respect for him. nt

[UALRBSofL]

35. nebula, that is so wrong to say something like that about any one

I have more respect for people then to say things like that about people.

[bluerum]

4. Obama is black?! Damn. Why doesn't the MSM let us know about this kinda stuff??

[nebula]

10. dupe

[joeybee12]

5. Yup, he can't do anything wrong, can he?

What amazes me is that anything Saint BO does, immediately you all foam at the mouth if anyone questions whether he should have or should not have done it. If Hilary had said no, you'd tar and feather what little of her you have not yet tarred and feathered.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. The hypocrisy is stunning isn't it?

:shrug:

[joeybee12]

36. Every time I think BO as the nominee won't be so bad...I come to GDP

and get so turned off...I suppose I should know better.

[nebula]

12. Anyone is a Saint

compared to the reptile named Shillary Clinton.

[RetroLounge]

45. Is this Free Republic?

:eyes:

RL

[bluerum]

48. It does seem like the Obamites "reach out" to the repukes before they reach out to Clinton.

[Cha]

50. hilary smears Obama with her scortched earth policy

and we're suppose to reach out to her..the queen can fugeddaboudit.

People convennnn-iently forget about that.

[RetroLounge]

51. What is this WE shit?

You act like you are part of the campaign...

:eyes:

RL

[bluerum]

55. People forget about the last 7.5 years of closed door republican only meetings,

committee meeting walkouts and relegating congressional democrats to non-essential status as well.

I don't think for a minute that the republicans will play ball willingly. Alienating congressional and senate democrats will serve only to weaken Obama's hand when he is in the white house. He will need every vote to hammer the repukes into cooperating - if that can indeed be done.

Having said that, if he can't make nice with a colleague in his own party, what makes you think that he will be able to rally the repukes over to his side? Unless he has a veto proof democratic majority in both chambers, he will be forced to the right on many issues.

[robbedvoter]

53. You misspelled. It's Hitlery XKlintoon....

[bluerum]

56. Nice. Got that from the freepers did you ?

[ncdem1975]

17. Obama and Clinton made the right decision

I've followed Obama's decision not to attend for the past week, including reading the articles, listening to audio clips and reading African-American blogs & chats. Most African-Americans agree with Obama's decision. The State of the Black Union has been going on for eight years. Black leaders, pundits, activists get together and discuss the issues and debate how to solve problems. No change has come out of it except a good discussion. Except for Tavis, who's Covenant with Black America book hit the top ten list and he got a tv show out of it. But how much change has happened? What problems have been solved? That's one of the main reasons I'm not spending my day today watching these leaders debate about what the problem is and how to solve them. (The day of service they had yesterday was good, though). Most African-Americans know what the problems are in our community and are working individually, with our churches, with our families, and with other organizations to help solve them. And the desire to work didn't come from watching these leaders, pundits, etc. debate on tv, listening to their radio shows, or reading their books.

Obama went to the State of the Black Union last year. He's given numerous interviews to black media sources (i.e. magazines) and has appeared on numerous tv and radio shows that have a largely black audience. He's worked in the community as an organizer and civil rights lawyer (for all races and ethnicities). At this moment, he needs to be in Texas, Ohio & other states campaigning. If he wins the nomination and wins the general election, he'll be in better position to help all Americans. He can have all the meaningful discussions he wants to have then with all Americans. And, guess what, he'll be in a better position to do something about the problems than just simply sitting on a stage debating about how to solve the problem.

And, he doesn't need another debate with Clinton or other black leaders right now. He needs to be doing exactly what he's doing. On the other hand, Clinton has lost the African-American vote. She's trying to cut into that base of voters. She's also probably trying to "woo" Edwards for an endorsement (although I don't know how much difference that'll make right now). As we know, one of Edwards' main concerns is New Orleans. So, of course Clinton went to the State of the Black Union.

Obama made the right decision for his campaign. As for the black community, the majority of us support his decision. As for Tavis' outrage, is it more about the fact that Obama's not there or that he want get the increased ratings & potentially more money. And as an African-American dem, I agree with Obama's decision (along with many others) and I also agree with Clinton's decision to go. Both made the right decisions for their campaign.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. I don't think he needs to worry about name recognition anymore

Can we at least retire that one now?

[Cameron27]

8. Roland Martin?

He's in the bag for Obama already. Obama has name recognition, he has the establishment behind him now, and his surrogates are coercing AA superdelegates to vote for him as the first Black American president or risk having someone who will vote for him, challenge them in the election. So when it's helpful, he's defined as the black candidate, and when it isn't, he's not.

I don't know how the ethnic demographics are biased so I can't comment on that.

[alphafemale]

20. Yeah. Obama snubbed Tavis so now blacks will flock to Hillary. Dream ON!!!!

Do you realize that MOST blacks don't even know who Tavis Smiley IS?

Tavis Smiley appeals mostly to white liberals.

[noiretextatique]

24. if essence says it...

it must be true :eyes: the article is honest, at least in spelling out why obama can't attend the event.

[Unsane]

34. It's a smart move for him; sort of his 'Sista Soulja' moment.

[jasmine621]

37. But Obama will not be criticized for it as was Bill Clinton. nt

[noiretextatique]

40. he will get some criticism

in the black press, for sure.

[dailykoff]

41. It sounds like a trap he wisely avoided.

And politics aside, at this point it important that Obama think very, very carefully about his personal security and safety. A detour to New Orleans could be just the opportunity someone was waiting for.

[immoderate]

42. I agree with Obama's decision. Hillary's too.

Obama doesn't need to show that he's a good black man. Smiley's conference is narrow and parochial.

Obama must be concerned about America at large. Attending that conference would do him no good with African Americans.

--IMM

[EffieBlack]

46. Exactly - they both had excellent reasons for making the choices they made

[TexasObserver]

54. Agreed! Both made the right decision, and both acted in their Primary self interest.

Meaning they're in primaries, and events dictate Hillary goes there to heal wounds, and Obama doesn't so he can hustle votes in Ohio and Texas because he's not THE BLACK CANDIDATE. He's the candidate who is black.

[robbedvoter]

52. It's the "not black again" phase of the campaign as Texas is coming. Understandable.