Has Obama written his political epi-gaffe?
The ebb and flow of the Democratic presidential race is an amazing thing to watch. Just when Barack Obama starts narrowing the gap in Pennsylvania and appears close to having Hillary Clinton on the ropes, a landmine explodes under him.
While it's not the only thing disturbing his campaign in recent days, Obama's major gaffe about small town America poses the most serious threat to what has seemed to be the inevitability of his capturing the nomination.
One of his challenges has been connecting with working class voters outside of cities, considered crucial in Pennsylvania's primary next week and later in the general election. Such voters have tended to go for Clinton. Asked about this at a fund-raiser for left-wing contributors in San Francisco, Obama gave the now notorious reply that these voters, in responding to economic stress, "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."
Someone in the company of people who thinks like he does tends to let his guard down, be candid and reveal his true sentiments. The Harvard-educated resident of Chicago's liberal Hyde Park community was articulating the values of the left-wing Democrat elites.
One sign of how serious Obama's putdown of small town values is can be measured by the quick response of his aides. They jumped to the phones to call superdelegates, who must provide the margin to put a Democratic nominee over the top, to reassure them about Obama's electability in the general election.
Clinton seized the moment to talk about her father's teaching her how to use a gun. She dodged when asked about the last time she had pulled the trigger of a firearm. Obama responded by pouring on the sarcasm in referring to her as "Annie Oakley." The politician of hope sounded bitter.
This is not the moment Obama needed his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, to re-enter the picture. During Saturday's funeral for Judge R. Eugene Pincham, Wright attacked his critics. There was no retreat from his fantasy of America spreading HIV among people of color, no backing down from "chickens coming home to roost" on 9/11. No, he attacked two Fox News personalities and sought to liken his outrageous "God damn America" speech to Thomas Jefferson writing, in a much different tone nearly two centuries ago, that "God would punish America for the sin of slavery."
It was probably no coincidence that the next day Obama tried to distance himself further from Wright. Speaking at a "Compassion Forum" in Pennsylvania, Obama said, "There's been this notion that he was, by various terms, my spiritual adviser or my spiritual mentor. You know, he's been my pastor." But in his writings and interviews, Obama has described a close relationship.
Another likely uncomfortable moment came in former President Jimmy Carter deciding to practice what Obama preaches by planning to meet with Khaled Meshal, the boss of the terrorist group Hamas, in Syria this week. Obama has said that as president he would be willing to meet without preconditions with the world's worst dictators, notably Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
A spokesman said Obama "does not agree" with Carter's meeting because Hamas hasn't renounced terrorism or recognized Israel's right to exist. Well, Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and Ahmadinejad calls for wiping Israel off the map. I suppose the difference is Ahmadinejad is a head of state and Meshal heads an organization. Still, Hamas governs the Gaza Strip and gets funding from Iran. This seems like a difference without much of a distinction.
But the small town gaffe is Obama's biggest problem. Next week's Pennsylvania primary will show whether it has seriously hurt his campaign. No doubt he will do more damage control in Wednesday's debate with Clinton. His enthusiasts compare Obama to John F. Kennedy; they can't be happy that the Massachusetts politician Republicans now compare him to is the famously elitist presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
