good sense on Wright from The Field

[MBS]

http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=893

The Field takes a very contrary view to that of the conventional wisdom: Given that some public opinion polls say that as much as 13 percent of the electorate still thinks Barack Obama is a Muslim, the more focus on his Christian pastor the more that smear gets permanently erased.

. . .it’s a wash versus the equal-and-opposite controversy and negatives that Geraldine Ferraro, Bill Clinton and others have brought to Senator Clinton by association via race-baiting that is obvious to at least as large a population in other sectors.. .

. . it’s no accident that the McCain campaign has already backpedaled from its use of Wright in this morning’s talking points. See Ambinder’s explanation for why McCain’s own religious right supporters make such guilt-by-association comparisons very precarious for the Republican, who has his own skeletons on the pulpit.

. . . Catholics (a group that Clinton has done far better with than Obama) are famously in disagreement with the political views of their own priests and The Church (for example, Catholics support abortion rights in defiance of the Holy See, and in many Catholic households it is a badge of pride to disagree openly with the dictates of Rome or the local pastor on that and other issues). Many Jews similarly cringe at what they perceive as over-the-top anti-black statements from clergy. Most Americans are well used to living with the contradictions of being not in lockstep with clerical opinions. A somewhat embarrassing pastor is a point they have in common with Obama: a potential empathy point if played right.

The bottom line: The more controversy around Obama’s Christian pastor, and his refusal to throw him under the bus, the less Obama will have to beat back the (more potentially destructive, ‘though false) Muslim smears in the fall. One might even say that the Wright controversy is, for Obama, a gift from a god that “speaks in mysterious ways.”
. . . .

When I start to get too agitated about the horrible stuff going on during this endless primary, I find myself turning more and more often to The Field for a dose of sanity.

[ginnyinWI]

1. Some at DU have also suggested this is more positive than negative.

The Muslim thing is the biggest advantage: everyone is spreading far and wide the facts of Obama's church membership, being married there, etc, making the case for the Obama camp. That old "he's a Muslim" thing is going to be all but gone soon.
I agree that what is left won't be as damaging, and Obama has handled it masterfully with his statement yesterday. His tone wasn't defensive or fearful, it was sincere and maintained the moral high ground.

Has anyone, like me, begun to realize that we are not dealing with your average political team here? The Obama camp has successfully fought back smear after smear and still come out on top. They are re-writing the instruction manual for how this is done in today's media environment. I'm beginning to have more and more confidence that the politics of personal destruction has finally met its match!

Last night someone in GDP suggested the idea that the Obama camp might have even leaked this now because it was an advantageous time to get it over with. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's not beyond possibility. If the RNC was smart, they would have hung onto this until the General Election. But another theory would be that they wanted to knock Obama out now so that they can run against HRC instead. Maybe they wanted to hit Obama so that they could protect Clinton from the Ferraro remarks damage. Stranger things have happened.

edit: I have to add that The Field's "concern trolls" are much in evidence around here, aren't they? Some of the most fearful, lily-livered comments come from some with low post counts. I'll quote The Field:
"Once again, people are worrying too much about “what might offend others,” a signature of 1970s, 1980s and 1990s politics. But beyond the partisan feigners of outrage, or the “concern trolls” fretting aloud about how “others” could be turned off, who is really offended out there?"

[sandnsea]

2. I think he should do a commercial

Pictures of Wright preaching, some of the more inspiring moments, Obama in the church. Then go from there to a huge discussion about religious differences and a call for a global summit, like JK had recommended.