Presidential Campaigning on the Down-Low?

As predicted by Obama supporters and detractors alike, the junior senator from Illinois is now catching flak from all sides for each position he takes -- on ethanol; on Israel and AIPAC; on a strategy for ending the US occupation of Iraq; and most recently, his campaign's apparent shunning of a Muslim presence in a photo opp.

In general, Obama supporters are split between the Criticism Is Healthy School and the Circle the Wagons Camp.

"This is about winning, not feeling good," as Logan Nakyanzi Pollard put it yesterday on this site when discussing the Muslim flap. "Obama is simply being pragmatic about how he is being perceived by the larger public, a public that does not wholly embrace Islam."

Addressing the same issue, my friend and former colleague at CNN Lucy Carrigan wrote: "There is no doubt that the messengers of disinformation are extremely effective. But that does not mean that the Obama Campaign should wave the white flag and surrender."

I side with Lucy -- and with folks like Jim Hightower -- who say that asking one's candidate to stand up for what is right is not petty, obstructionist, or blindly idealistic. Taking a stand for American Muslims is taking a stand for all Americans, full stop. It is pragmatism in its purest form.

It is pragmatic to ask one's candidate to explain and support his positions. And it's one's right to push back when one believes he's violating core principles that the candidate himself has laid out. That's not comforting the enemy; that's strengthening the presumptive leader. We are voting for a president, a politician, not beatifying a savior, after all.

Any citizen is entitled to ask, If my candidate shuns me in public, what will he do for me -- or to me -- when safely ensconced behind a wall of Secret Service agents? People of color -- and women of all hues -- have been accused of raining on the Democratic parade in the past for doing this. But when we don't challenge "our" candidate, history shows that we get ignored and discounted, plain and simple.

"Obama's not going to do it for us," progressive commentator Jim Hightower said in a WNYC radio interview about Obama's promises of change. "No politician does it for us; they do it to us. So the only change comes when we go inside and we keep demanding that change. That's the only way that it has ever worked in our country." Preach, Jim.

Hightower admitted to being less than thrilled with Obama for his decision to opt out of the public campaign financing system. But Hightower listened to, and grudgingly accepted, Obama's explanation for his about-face: because John McCain will reap bushels of cash from 527 organizations, which is allowed under the "public" system". That's money that will be used to hurt and smear Obama, and he needs to be able to counter it.

I suspect that some folks -- closet racists, campaign finance purists, Naderites -- are looking for any excuse not to back Obama. Public financing may provide it. But even if one disagrees with his call, Obama did a principled thing: he made a tough choice, and then he defended it publicly. That's democracy in action.

And practicing real democracy may just appeal to potential voters who are sick and tired of the traditional politics of the down-low, practiced so artfully by both Republicans and Democrats: Say what you must in public to get elected; do as you wish in private to stay in power.

To me, "winning," isn't about simply launching a black man into the Oval Office -- and I say this as a black man who is keenly aware of both the symbolism and the stakes of Barack Obama's candidacy. This election is about electing a person who makes hard decisions based on both principle and reason -- and one who has the courage and patience to explain those decisions. It's about walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Comments

[Sundialsvc4]

What these farcical excuses for political candidates are affirming to themselves, amidst a constant stream of tittilatin­g-sound-bi­tes, is the "right" to accept more than $1 billion in bribes BEFORE taking office.

Now, to the puppetmasters who pull the strings here, it doesn't really matter what puppet goes on stage, but they don't want any public record of who is placing that $1 billion investment.

And no matter how many billions they place, thus washing any possible genuine opponent "off the table," they will grim-reap the money back many times over by selling World War III.

Ahem... that sounds like such a "reactionary" statement to have just made, does it not? "Gosh, he must be a [[LABEL]].­.." Well, no I'm not, and that's precisely my point.

"Ike was right." General (and President) Eisenhower was terribly, terribly right. And as a FIVE-star General, he should have been. He warned that the military industrial machine would consume every other social priority, and he was right.

"Those who learn not the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Fast-forward a mere fifteen years and you might hear someone saying of YOU, "Well, if they are going to die, they should go ahead and do it, and rid the world of its surplus population­." You might well be picking up a copy of "Oliver Twist" or "Les Miserables" and trying to eat its pages. For food.

[CindyV]

I have a question. If the rethuglicans are pouring money into 527 groups, why can't the democrats? If the dem funneled their money into 527s, they could respond to the rethugs and Obama could keep his word on accepting public money for the election.

[vernonbc]

The Democrats could, if they wanted to, but Barack has asked them not to. He's asked all Democrats to funnel their money towards his campaign so that the total message will be his. He hates the negative campaigning, will not do it himself, and wants his party to have the same standards as he does. And so far, they're doing as he's asked.

Imagine that. An honorable politician!

[MPeter]

Here is David on the Obama strategy, hence forward. Listen and get inspired. Do your part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6bp0B61rNk

[PioneerKing]

The republicans are whining because Obama called their bluff.
Not many in America care whether a canidate takes the public financing. If they did the fund would be much greater.
90% of American's do not check the box on their tax forms for the donation to federal funding of presidential campaigns so this will not have a big impact.

[Yohomegirl]

Yup, whining, not winning! Obama didn't shun the Muslim women, it was a mis-guided volunteer.

[vernonbc]

Yes it was. And he apologized sincerely to them personally after it happened.

[QueenTiye]

Handgun ban is not a flip flop for Obama - I don't get why people say so. Especially if you read the court decision - which is REALLY narrow.

Anyway - instead of giving up on Obama, WHY oh WHY aren't people getting it into their understanding that Obama said "WE are the ones WE'VE been waiting for"? Obama's going to go where the people go - if the people get organized and go somewhere. He's governing over the give back of government to the American people - NOT a set of policy positions here and there. He wants to lead - he's laid a course, but there's SOO much room for building within the framework of his positions. The best way to deal with this is to work to elect local politicians that he'll have to govern WITH as president - give him a mandate. That's something you can't say about McCain.

QT

[vernonbc]

Exactly right Queen Tiye.

[Melissa]

Spin, spin, spin.

[PennP]

Highly unfortunate choice of title, especially given the person being discussed. Even the generic, nonsexual use of "on the down low" does not seem to apply here.

[castlerider]

There needs to be some kind of concensus to the fact of how much danger Sen. Obama, and the nation thereby, truly is in. If Senator Obama was assasinated, God in heaven above forbid, there would be massive riots all over this country. The seeds of discontent would grow in to high velocity explosives in every major city, and we would be in a world of hurt.

This is probably something the neocons would love; probably just what they WANT to happen because then Bush would declare Mashall Law, which is something he has already written into with his curropt statements, in the Patriot Act. We'd have Blackwater everywhere. Theirs' and Milton Friedman's dreams would come true. Shock and Awe comes to the uSA.

Recognizing this, something in my heart tells me to trust the skinny kid with the funny name. But he's no kid. He is a professor of Constitutional law, a man who really loves this country, a senator, and now our Democratic nominee for the greatest nation in the world that needs to reclaim its place among leaders. In my heart, I know he's making himself, and for all of us, a safe and winning path. He's fighting to win. The man just needs to get elected, for heaven's sakes.... He is sure in my family's prayers.

Once he's elected, if he burns us, he'll have a united and mad as hell country on his act to deal with, but I'm sure he'll make us proud.

[Camel54]

Questioning your candidate and pushing your candidate are certainly accepted and encouraged. But Progressives tend to attack our own candidate when he or she does something with which we disagree. We throw out these trite phrases about being thrown "under the bus" and we "shame on you" candidate. When instead we should be approaching our differences in a way that benefits our over-all strategy of winning the White House, correcting as much as we can that has gone wrong in the past eight years and fighting about everything else once we're there. Progressives don't seem to be able to just disagree without making threats to support the opposition or immediately equate the candidate with Rove or some other hated figure. So yes temper the candidate with opposition but try doing it with the end game being that of making him, making our efforts to benefit ourselves and each other and making our country much stronger.

[hopeless277]

Obama is a fraud. Exibit 1-FISA, exibit 2-DC handgun ban. He has lost my support.

[Chillinout]

Like he had your support in the first place.

Bye!

[ladyfractal]

So you'll be supporting McCain, then? Sweet Pot-bellied Buddha people, who do you think obama is running against? Where have you BEEN for the last 7 years? Do you really want another GOP adminstration because the last one worked out so well? Look, Obama may or may not be a sonofabitch but he's not a conservative, GOP sonofabitch and right now, after nearly 8 years, that's just about good enough for me.

Cheers
LF

[sufi66]

This has phony comment written all over it.