« Daily Kos “Bloggers’ Strike” Shows Increasingly Bitter Obama Clinton Democratic Rift
Black Conservatism in Large and Small Caps »



Obama Suddenly Tied With Clinton In Poll: Wright Impact?

March 15th, 2008
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Print Print

obama_wright.jpg
A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows an abrupt drop for Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the wake of the continuing controversy over his pastor’s incendiary comments:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton essentially even in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Obama 46% Clinton 45% . This reflects an unusually sharp change from yesterday’s results when Obama led by eight points and reached the 50% level of support for the first time. … Last night’s results were very favorable for Clinton and it remains to be seen whether this marks a lasting change in the race or is merely statistical noise. Single night results are based upon very small samples and are more volatile than the overall tracking poll.

And there’s overall bad news for the Demmies, too. The poll finds that the virtually certain GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain would beat both Democrats: McCain 47% Obama 42% and McCain 46% Clinton 42%.

What’s the likely reason for this monster drop in Obama’s poll numbers? Most likely, hate-filled video that surfaced of his Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., of the Trinity United Church of Christ. Today, Obama invoked RFK in an effort to distance himself from his pastor. On the other hand, Obama is stressing that, despite his distancing himself from his pastor, he is not abandoning his church — which suggests the issue will be “out there” if he gets the nomination. Look for footage to be replayed…this time in ads bankrolled by the GOP. Other analysts also note that Wright will be a liability for Obama, if he does head the Democratic ticket.



This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Newsweek Blogitics, Hillary Clinton, Democrats, 2008 Elections, Race, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 16 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    Hillary has a very thoughtful post up on the subject , and it relates to the topic of sistancing.

    She questions why others feel they the right to tell blacks just how angry they are alowed to be and compares ithis to telling a rape victim that she's overreacting.

    This has to be undestood in the context of black history and generational evolution:
    :the submissive generation the angry generation, and now Obama's generation.I I hope Obama does some forceful educating work.

    In terms of princple, though not necessaritly politics, his refusal to distance
    himself from the church is absoutely the right thing to do.
    • ^
    • v
    I agree with domajot, and I think the Clinton comment is great. To abandon TUCC over this would look so transparently cynical, in light of all the other ministries at the church that Obama has supported. Besides, Wright isn't there anymore. It was so important to hate the sin but not the sinner. The GOP would make him deal with it regardless of whether or not he stayed with the church. Better that Obama stand by a church that, despite some awful rhetoric at times, has done enormous good.
    • ^
    • v
    Domajot, Senator Obama can't distance himself from the church because it is his church.

    As noted by Newsmax, on July 22 last year Senator Obama sat and nodded in the pew while Wright denounced "white arrogance" and the "United States of White America."

    "Wright's strong sentiments were echoed in the Sunday morning service attended by NewsMax.
    Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" of America's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially the oppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the country as the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, including Obama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made."

    http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/20...
    • ^
    • v
    You believe NewsMax?
    • ^
    • v
    By the way, if people think Trinity United Church of Christ is some outlandish nutjob church, why do Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods belong to it? Not to mention Oprah Winfrey. All of them are black radicals!!!

    http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?di...

    What I hope is that some of these folks come forward and defend the church against these attacks based on a few sermons. White America might be shocked just how many of its favorite black people actually attend this church.
    • ^
    • v
    Elrod said: "You believe NewsMax?"

    Hahahaha...

    CBS News tried to take down a sitting President of the United States on the basis of badly forged faxes from a long-time Bush-hater.

    But to "get" an individual of Obama's stature, nothing short of time-stamped video of Senator Obama front and centre during a Wright sermon about "Whites, Jews and AIDSs: The Real Story" ... certified by a rabbi, a cardinal, and a mullah...with DNA evidence of Senator Obama on the tape...along with his finger prints...and notarized by 5 Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...will suffice!!!
    • ^
    • v
    Elrod...I am just saying that Senator Obama must have known about Wright and his views.

    He liked the man. Perhaps he shared the views. Perhaps he didn't and just turned a blind eye.

    But Senator Obama ... what I have seen of him ... is a smart man. Inexperienced, but smart.

    He could not not have known...over 20 years...about Wright and his views.

    I am sure Senator Clinton's agents -- such as the worthy Mr. Blumenthal -- are scrouging for video and evidence as I type. (I have too much respect for Senator Clinton's ruthlessness to place much faith in her statements).
    • ^
    • v
    Sometimes things are just undefensible. Sometimes people just do dumb things in their lives and are not really thinking about it.

    The fact that you state some well respected Blacks attended this church tells me all I need to know. Barak Obama wanted to rub shoulders with the powers that be. He may or may not agreed with the message.

    That was irrelevant. What was important was the need for power. Power begits power. Barak Obama is no different then any other power hungry politician. He has simply packaged his greed in an unrecognizable box.
    • ^
    • v
    I think any attempts to morph Obama into some sort of black panther-like character betray a certain lack of knowledge about black culture in general, and a lack of understanding about Obama specifically. I think this will blow over for most folks, excepting those who have either a.) political motives for exploiting it, or for b.) those who might be driven by baser inclinations. Apologies for any inherent understatement.
    • ^
    • v
    Guys, relax. Two days does not make a trend, and because Rasmussen daily polls are actually averages of the past three days, it is unlikely that this isolated incident had such a big effect on the polls. On the whole, I think Rasmussen and Gallup tracking polls are jokes, they show reasonable trends over a period of months but they are just too unreliable on a small time frame. I don't think this will affect the primary much, especially considering Obama's categorical denunciation of Wright's comments (contrast this, for instance, with the way Senator Clinton dealt with the Ferraro fiasco).