He Did It...Finally!

Yesterday, Obama turned a corner, or, in campaign parlance, he successfully pivoted his campaign away from Rev. Wright and got himself some much needed positive press in the process. Even Joe Scarborough was effusive! Listening to Newt Gingrich this morning on Fox, Obama's jettisoning of the good Reverend was too little too late. None of Wright's outlandish statements of the last few days that Obama categorically denounced is that different from the sound bites chosen from selected sermons when they first burst onto the landscape. But most lauded Obama's actions and words as both left and right were ready to skewer the good reverend.

So what changed to make Obama take such decisive action? Many factors bear further examination:

1. Wright clearly turned on Obama. One can only speculate as to why, but it seemed pretty clear that Wright sought to undermine Obama's campaign itself by claiming that the Senator was speaking "as a politician." He first made this claim in the Bill Moyers interview, but on Monday he clearly implied that Obama does not speak the truth (as Wright does as a man of the cloth?) as a candidate and he'll say what he needs to for political expediency.
2. African-American pundits and superdelegates were (rightly) offended at Wright's posturing and withdrew their support for the minister. Obama may have wanted to have broken more decisively with Wright back in March when the controversy first erupted. He certainly seemed to have been aware that Wright was a time bomb by disinviting him from giving the invocation at the campaign kickoff. But throwing his pastor and "spiritual mentor" under the bus would have raised further questions of his authenticity within the black community. He would have had a hard time justifying turning his back on a church leader who'd become so important to his spiritual evolution and to his family. I suspect many Blacks would have turned suspicious of Obama had he caved to the political pressure at the time, so instead he gave the speech in Philadelphia on race that raised the racial dialogue to a higher level and put the Wright issue behind him.
3. Wright provided Obama with the chance to show some fire in his belly. With the whole country (including superdelegates) wondering, "What the heck is wroing with Rev. Wright?" Obama knew he needed a Sista Souljah or Dan Rather moment. Recall that in 1992 when Bill Clinton criticized rapper Sista Souljah he gained political points with whites for identifying some of the rap star's lyrics as racist. In 1988, George H.W. Bush was in danger of being defined as a wimp until he used an interview with Dan Rather over Iran Contra to prove his toughness. Wright actually presented Obama with an opportunity to repudiate not only Wright's controversial words but also the divisive man behind them. Presidents have to make tough choices and Obama did so. Hopefully, Obama has performed such that questions of his temperament and decisiveness are officially put to bed.

So, having proven his bona fides, our man is back in play and hopefully the voters in Indiana will give him props on Tuesday.