The Obama Cons
While reading Rod Dreher’s recent essay on “Putting Faith in Obama,” I began to feel like I was watching the final two minutes of many a B-grade vampire flick. It’s a bright summer day, the hero has killed off all the evil vampires (or so he thinks) and is just about to enjoy a nice drive in the country with his beautiful fiancée. But while kissing said buxom blonde, the hero notices two teeth marks in her neck. He yells, “they got you, too!” as she bears her fangs and the camera pans away from the horror about to ensue.
The candidate of hope has already seduced much of the DNC establishment, those who takes cues on politics from the Oprah oracle, Andrew Sullivan, and tons of undergrads who love to attend Obama rallies and share “Obama Girl” YouTube videos but probably won’t ever get around to registering to vote. Now it seems, Obama-mania has beguiled some religious conservative, or at least those of the “crunchy” variety.
“Mr. Obama is not a preacher, but he gives awesome sermons. He is comfortable using religious language in his speeches, and it’s easy for conservative Christians to imagine that, despite profound policy differences with the liberal Democrat, he and they share common ground.”
“Rod, he’s got you, too!” One expects such things from Jim Wallis not so from NR contributors.
I was somewhat relieved when I read on and found that Dreher expressed some skepticism, mentioning that Obama’s church is of the black nationalist variety and that behind Obama’s sweeping rhetoric, there’s likely only conventional liberalism or, worse, a big nothing burger.
Still, Dreher’s ambivalent fascination is representative of a broader phenomenon among religious conservatives, particularly evangelical Protestants. Bush ad man Mark McKinnon (the guy who came up with “Mission Accomplished”) let loose that if Obama were to get the nomination he might cease helping the GOP: “I just don’t want to work against an Obama candidacy,” which would, in McKinnon’s mind, “send a great message to the country and the world.” Ex-Bushite Mathew Dowd was similarly irrepressible, babbling that he loves Obama and longs to do missionary work in Africa. I would be surprised if Gerson endorses Obama now that he thinks the GOP has lost its fire. Dreher is far more sensible than these three, but he seems to like Obama in much the same way. It’s useful to ask what’s behind all this.
At point no point does Dreher care to explain what he thinks of, say, Obama’s healthcare plan or his proposals for Iraq. Dreher’s “common ground” seems to derive from a faulty-logic—“many great conservatives are people of faith; Obama is a person of faith; ergo he must be a lot like a great conservative!” Whether Obama’s religion of “social justice” and a semi-agnostic theology actually resembles any kind traditional American Christianity is dubious, but then his authenticity seems to more than make up for this.
Dreher’s is a “values conservative,” but then these values seem to have little in the way of content; they’re free floating and thus bound to drift ever leftward. As the prophet “Crunchy Conservatism” one can image that Dreher’s experience of listening to one of Obama’s “awesome” sermons in much like biting into an “fair trade” organic apple (purchased at 3.99/pound at Whole Foods).
Faith aside, it seems to be Obama’s potential to “transcend race” that seals the deal for Dreher and his ilk:
“What’s more, the promise that Mr. Obama could represent a decisive break with the divisive racial politics practiced by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and lead the nation toward authentic racial reconciliation, might make an Obama presidency worth risking.”
Dreher is certainly sincere in his desire to get beyond race, but then there seems to be little reason to believe that putting Obama in the White House would be a good way to accomplish this.
Mentioning Jackson and Sharpton, what seems to bother Dreher most about race in America is less those few instances of actual white racism and more the race-based set-asides in business, government, and universities and the media-driven shakedowns led by Sharpton & Co. Obama is attractive not so much because he’s “black” but due to his upbringing by a white mother in a white and Asian environment in Hawaii—he would thus seem to avoid the Sharpton-esque black nationalist trap. Moreover, Obama has excelled at the “we are one people” rhetoric of his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech.
It’s clear that Obama is no racist, and yet when he’s been confronted with serious political questions about race, he has been at best ambiguous at worst duplicitous. In a This Week interview, he threw out few bones to Americans fed up with affirmative action, claiming that he thinks his daughters should be considered privileged by admissions officer—but then breathlessly affirmed his support of the process as a necessary tool to be used in the foreseeable future to achieve “racial equality.”
Then there’s the question of his “identity”: there were a lot options for churchgoing in Chicago … Barack chose the one that embraces Afro-centrism.
Let the authentic reconciliation begin! But before we all sign on, perhaps Dreher should explain exactly what kind of “common ground” conservatives share with Obama and offer us a criterion for evaluating him that isn’t purely aesthetic.
Comments
It doesn’t matter. Osama won’t get the Democratic nomination. There are move voting Single White Women than there are voting Negroes; not to mention the fact that Osama is Mohammedan and he masterminded the World Trade Center attacks. Americans, even Democrats, just won’t vote for a Black Mohammedan terrorist (or do I repeat myself - thrice?), especially when Bill Clinton is running again.
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I’ll take the nothing burger with a side of liberal fries - oh yeah super-federal-size it please!
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IT’S ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND SOMEONE’S MOTIVATION, BUT I SUSPECT RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES WHO ADMIRE OBAMA ARE STATUS SEEKERS. WELL-EDUCATED WHITES ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH EXPRESSING TRENDY VIEWS WITH RESPECT TO RACE. IN OUR POLITICAL CLIMATE, IT HAS BECOME OBLIGATORY TO FAWN OVER MLK AND NOW OBAMA. OBAMA’S IDEOLOGY IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.
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Great post. Obama is a magnet for the vapid.
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@Andrew Capp
I can easily see single white women voting for an articulate handsome black man for the nomination… especially if the alternative is Hillary.
Most of the candidates on both sides are pedaling ideas with no substance or ideas that honestly won’t work. If you as a Democrat are looking for a center-left mildly anti-war candidate, Obama is the best guy out there. The fact that he’s “black” and turns you on with his sermons is icing on the cake.
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Great blood-sucking homos, Taki! Said buxom blonde is a “fiancée,” not a “fiancé.”
***Correction has been made***
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<<I can easily see single white women voting for an articulate handsome black man for the nomination>>
We’ll see about that this Saturday in South Carolina. So far, Osama Hussein has won just Iowa, was then trounced in New Hampshire, didn’t even run in Michigan, and was beaten badly again in Nevada. In New Hampshire White Women (Single or Married) voted 46 to 33 in Bill Clinton’s favor, among Single Women (almost all of them White) Bill Clinton won the vote 51 to 32. In Nevada, White Women (once again, Single or Married) voted 55 to 31 in favor of Bill Clinton. There just aren’t enough Negroes to win the nomination for Hussein Osama. We are witnessing the battle for control of the Democrat Party, between the Single White Women and the Negroes. On the other side, the Republicans are going along without too much infighting; even Pat Robertson endorsed the failing, liberal Giuliani over the (for a while) rising “Christian Populist” Huckabee. Locally, I believe the Democrats are the stronger party, but across the country, it is the Republicans. Bill Clinton may have been the “First Black President”, but he might have also been the last Democrat one. Sixteen years after his first victory over GHW Bush, Bill Clinton is in for a lasting, final defeat. America won’t vote for a transvestite Bill Clinton.
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It always astounds me just how incredibly susceptible to lip service - from either party - American “Christians” are. Just toss in a few lines about Jesus somewhere in between fundraisers at Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, and the rubes will start talking about how this extreme leftist really ain’t so bad after all.
Then again, they swallow the lip service from the Republicans - who talk big about Christian values and then do nothing about them once in power - so why not?
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Great post, Richard…
Rod continues to reveal his leftist tendencies, which has nothing to do with organic foods etc. It has to do with the manner in which he frames and approaches politics and religion...to me, rod confuses insight with self-absorbed sentimentality—he comes across as a somewhat confused wayfarer, suffering from a serious case of narcissism…
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What common ground can have Obama with conservatives?
How about a dislike of Hillary?
Alliances have been built on flimsier ground than that.
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For what it’s worth: Is the word “Christian” really meaningful anymore? Or has it been drained of any significant content?
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It FEELS so good to be PC, and not have others question your moral sensibilities. Anyone who supports Obama and “admires” MLK is a faux conservative, and a wimp. “Conservatives” fawning over Obama is evidence of weakness. Are they afraid of liberals? When they put their hands in their pockets, do all they feel is their loose change?
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Mr. Spencer (and others) would do well to read Steve Sailer’s blog articles about Obama. His public persona is totally divorced from his private convictions.
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His public persona is totally divorced from his private convictions.
Posted by Theodore M. Van Oosbree on Jan 24, 2008
I think this is probably true of 99% of politicians
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Did you know that Obama is related to Cheney?
“This is such an amazing story,” Cheney said in an interview on MSNBC, “that one ancestor, a man that came to Maryland, could be responsible down the family line for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick’s and Barack Obama’s.” Cristina Allegretti, Lynne Cheney’s research and project manager at the American Enterprise Institute, said the vice president’s wife did an exhaustive genealogical search of her family while working on “Blue Skies, No Fences.” Her research led her to an early Cheney settler named Richard Cheney, whose granddaughter married Samuel Duvall, whose mother, Mareen Duvall, is distantly related to Obama. Lynne Cheney read a story that said Obama wa s related to Mareen Duvall, and realized the link.
Obama, whose mother was white, did not immediately comment on the revelation. But his campaign made light of the tie, without confirming it. “Obviously, Dick Cheney is the black sheep of the family,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
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“It doesn’t matter. Osama won’t get the Democratic nomination. There are move voting Single White Women than there are voting Negroes; not to mention the fact that Osama is Mohammedan and he masterminded the World Trade Center attacks. Americans, even Democrats, just won’t vote for a Black Mohammedan terrorist (or do I repeat myself - thrice?), especially when Bill Clinton is running again.
Posted by Andrew Capp on Jan 23, 2008.”
Most lunatics wear tinfoil hats.....but Andrew bought the whole damn factory!
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@Andrew Capp
Obama took South Carolina with over 50% of the vote.
Caroline Kennedy (at this date a still married white woman) is endorsing Obama in an op-ed entitled, “A President Like My Father.”
I am voting for RP, but I can send you some sauce for your hat.
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Bill Clinton and John Edwards Kennedy both split the White vote in South Carolina.
When it comes down to it, even in South Carolina there aren’t enough Negroes to elect a Negro Muslim like Osama Hussein.
If the Democrats were smart (which they’re not), they would nominate John Edwards. Americans tend to vote for White men (see: EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT EVER ELECTED).
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