LIVING POLITICS

Howard Fineman

A Gift from Jesse

Reverend Jackson's slam helps Obama's centrist cred.

Jul 10, 2008 | Updated: 3:38 p.m. ET Jul 10, 2008

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Jesse Jackson Sr. just Sister Souljah'd himself.

Now the question is whether his crudely worded attack on Sen. Barack Obama will help the Democrats' presumptive nominee the way a somewhat similar (though not as foul-mouthed) Jackson attack 16 years ago helped Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton.

My answer is "yes," at least a little bit. All Obama has to do is hope the story doesn't fade too fast, and he might even want to try to keep it alive. But knowing him, Obama will just take the quick benefit and move on, rather than provoke a longer confrontation.

Students of irony and history can hear the Jacksonian echoes. In May 1992, Clinton used a Jackson-hosted forum on youth politics to criticize the cultural influence of rappers, particularly a strident and combative young woman who went by the name Sister Souljah.

The Clinton campaign didn't give Jackson a heads up, preferring to launch the criticism as a surprise and draw the reverend (always a controversial figure) into a defensive overreaction. It worked. Jackson attacked—which is precisely what the candidate wanted.

What better way to prove your mainstream bona fides with white conservative voters than to be criticized by Jackson? Or so the thinking went. Clinton was a Southerner, or course, but a Democrat, and to win certain states—this was before they were called "Red"—you had to show that you were not a traditional liberal Democrat, not someone stuck in the old ghetto of identify politics.

This time around, no baiting by Obama was required.

Obama has been preaching a portion of the social gospel that Jackson himself used to preach, but with a different emphasis. The senator from Illinois has stressed that African-American men need to focus on their responsibilities as fathers—and not act like "boys." Obama also has suggested that religious institutions could play a role in solving social problems (and, under careful rules, use government money to do so). And Obama has talked about the need for better federal education and health-care efforts, too.

But from Jackson's point of view, Obama was spending too much time talking about black males as irresponsible "boys" and not enough about the failings of the federal government.

And so, on a Fox News microphone he didn't know was on, Jackson whispered to an on-air companion: "See, Barack's been talking down to black people … I wanna cut his nuts off."

Perfect! What a gift for Obama in swing states like West Virginia and New Hampshire!

Member Comments

Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 07/15/2008 4:51:45 PM

Come on Obama! Tell everyone what your strategy is on getting out of Iraq. While you are at it, tell us where you got your military expertise experience. The only experience that I know you have as far as terrorism goes, is your close friendship and working relationship with William Ayers and his girlfriend, and your close friendship with, and your political support from Khalida.

Obama supporters, a good candidate changes their position based on experience and present conditions and not on a whelm or for political expediency. Experience takes many weeks, months and years and must be thoroughly analyzed before you decide to change your mind on important issues. Changing your mind in just a few hours or a few days is called flip flopping and that is an appropriate name for it. We need a president that examines history and past practices very carefully before he changes his mind and changes policy for this country. We don't need someone that flows with the tide and looks at polls to make decisions. Yes, we need someone that listens to the people, but in some cases, based on information that can't be made public, the president must use his/her good judgement.

Obama is controlled and told what to say and where he stands on a particular issue by his election staff. These people determine what the public wants to hear or where the other candidate stands on an issue, and then tells Obama what to say to the voters. Obama reads directly from a teleprompter most of the time and says exactly what his staff has come up with. He sounds like a great politician, but in fact he is just a robot with a lot of shrewd politicians behind him who have created a new political figure. Don't get caught up in their rhetoric and make an important decision that you will REGRET for the rest of your life.
Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 07/15/2008 4:49:51 PM

Come on Obama! Tell everyone what your strategy is on getting out of Iraq. While you are at it, tell us where you got your military expertise experience. The only experience that I know you have as far as terrorism goes, is your close friendship and working relationship with William Ayers and his girlfriend, and your close friendship with, and your political support from Khalida.

Obama supporters, a good candidate changes their position based on experience and present conditions and not on a whelm or for political expediency. Experience takes many weeks, months and years and must be thoroughly analyzed before you decide to change your mind on important issues. Changing your mind in just a few hours or a few days is called flip flopping and that is an appropriate name for it. We need a president that examines history and past practices very carefully before he changes his mind and changes policy for this country. We don't need someone that flows with the tide and looks at polls to make decisions. Yes, we need someone that listens to the people, but in some cases, based on information that can't be made public, the president must use his/her good judgement.

Obama is controlled and told what to say and where he stands on a particular issue by his election staff. These people determine what the public wants to hear or where the other candidate stands on an issue, and then tells Obama what to say to the voters. Obama reads directly from a teleprompter most of the time and says exactly what his staff has come up with. He sounds like a great politician, but in fact he is just a robot with a lot of shrewd politicians behind him who have created a new political figure. Don't get caught up in their rhetoric and make an important decision that you will REGRET for the rest of your life.
Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 07/15/2008 4:49:00 PM

Come on Obama! Tell everyone what your strategy is on getting out of Iraq. While you are at it, tell us where you got your military expertise experience. The only experience that I know you have as far as terrorism goes, is your close friendship and working relationship with William Ayers and his girlfriend, and your close friendship with, and your political support from Khalida.

Obama supporters, a good candidate changes their position based on experience and present conditions and not on a whelm or for political expediency. Experience takes many weeks, months and years and must be thoroughly analyzed before you decide to change your mind on important issues. Changing your mind in just a few hours or a few days is called flip flopping and that is an appropriate name for it. We need a president that examines history and past practices very carefully before he changes his mind and changes policy for this country. We don't need someone that flows with the tide and looks at polls to make decisions. Yes, we need someone that listens to the people, but in some cases, based on information that can't be made public, the president must use his/her good judgement.

Obama is controlled and told what to say and where he stands on a particular issue by his election staff. These people determine what the public wants to hear or where the other candidate stands on an issue, and then tells Obama what to say to the voters. Obama reads directly from a teleprompter most of the time and says exactly what his staff has come up with. He sounds like a great politician, but in fact he is just a robot with a lot of shrewd politicians behind him who have created a new political figure. Don't get caught up in their rhetoric and make an important decision that you will REGRET for the rest of your life.