Why doesn't Obama pick Rev. Wright instead?

[PresidentObama]

I just thought of this.

It's not politically smart for him to pick Warren because the left will attack him. If he picks Wright, the right will attack him. But guess what? They'll attack him either way. The race is over and he distanced himself from Wright when it was politically smart to do so. He can have Rev. Wright go and "apologize" for his actions, Obama can accept his apology and say they'll "begin the healing", and blah blah blah. And Obama then gets his close friend and former mentor instead of Rick Warren at his inauguration.

Of course this won't happen. But it makes more sense. By 2012, no one will be up for using Rev. Wright. Even if they did, it wouldn't stick.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Maybe Obama will address this in his inauguration speech!

Who knows? He has like what.....45 minutes to an hour? :shrug:

[sandnsea]

2. Because Rev Lowery is giving the benediction

Elizabeth Alexander is a powerful poet and advocate of civil rights. It's not necessary to balance the program with someone from the left. He just shouldn't have chosen someone so far right to balance it in the other direction.

[cliffordu]

3. I SOOOOO wish he would. Perfect.

[napi21]

4. Didn't you listen to Obama's answer to that question?

He was asked WHY he chose Warren an has upset a lot of his base supporters by doing so. He said (paraphrased) "I know Rev. Warren & I disagree on many social issues, but why can't we join together on the issues we DO AGREE ON, like global warming and caring for the poor?"

Obama spent his entire campaign talking about changing partisan politics. Wright may have please you but it would have done nothing to help eliminate the partisan divide!

[FrenchieCat]

6. I'll just be glad when he is President already!

That's what I'm waiting for.

The wait was already gonna be long...now, it's killing me! :(

[PresidentObama]

7. Picking a homophobe and bigot won't eliminate the partisan divide n/t

[LatteLibertine]

8. I'm disappointed

that Obama would want to agree to disagree on some of the things Warren does. Like; excluding "unrepentant" gays from church membership, suggesting they can and ought to be "cured" (He has programs just for this), equating gay people with pedophiles and child molesters.

The guy is practicing bigotry and discrimination. In addition, he is spreading misinformation. Gays need not be "cured" and can not be "cured" of being homosexual.

[JFKfanforever]

22. Jimmy Carter would have been a wonderful choice...

I guess it is too late for Obama to de-select Warren, an
odious and divisive choice for the invocation.  The President
Elect would end up with an omelet on his face if he caved in
to the righteous indignation from his base.
<<<sigh>>>  President Carter would have been
a perfect choice for the honor of delivering the invocation, a
senior statesman whose faith and "mission
conviction" to worthy social projects have earned him
respect worldwide.  

Where were Obama's advisors when this unfortunate selection
was made? Couldn't anyone in this crowd of strategists have
guessed what a firestorm the selection of Warren Saddleback
would ignite?  

[firedupdem]

5. Rev. Wright is not the same as the others. His claim to fame was

the bullshit they pulled off the tapes of his sermons. He has no outreach ministry that I'm aware of that matches Lowery or Warren's for that matter.

[wsmyth]

17. I guess that depends on how you define Outreach.

The following is from Rev. Wright's NPC speech.

These two foci of liberation and transformation have also been at the very core and the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ since it was founded in 1961. And these foci have been the bedrock of our preaching and practice for the past 36 years.

Our congregation, as you heard in the introduction, took a stand against apartheid when the government of our country was supporting the racist regime of the African government in South Africa.

Our congregation stood in solidarity with the peasants in El Salvador and Nicaragua, while our government, through Ollie North and the Iran-Contra scandal, was supporting the Contras, who were killing the peasants and the Miskito Indians in those two countries.

Our congregation sent 35 men and women through accredited seminaries to earn their master of divinity degrees, with an additional 40 currently being enrolled in seminary, while building two senior citizen housing complexes and running two child care programs for the poor, the unemployed, the low-income parents on the south side of Chicago for the past 30 years.

Our congregation feeds over 5,000 homeless and needy families every year, while our government cuts food stamps and spends billions fighting in an unjust war in Iraq.

Our congregation has sent dozens of boys and girls to fight in the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War, and the present two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. My goddaughter's unit just arrived in Iraq this week, while those who call me unpatriotic have used their positions of privilege to avoid military service, while sending over 4,000 American boys and girls of every race to die over a lie.

Our congregation has had an HIV-AIDS ministry for over two decades. Our congregation has awarded over $1 million to graduating high school seniors going into college and an additional $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and the six HBCUs related to the United Church of Christ, while advocating for health care for the uninsured, workers' rights for those forbidden to form unions, and fighting the unjust sentencing system which has sent black men and women to prison for longer terms for possession of crack cocaine than white men and women have to serve for the possession of powder cocaine.

Our congregation has had a prison ministry for 30 years, a drug and alcohol recovery ministry for 20 years, a full service program for senior citizens, and 22 different ministries for the youth of our church, from pre-school through high school, all proceeding from the starting point of liberation and transformation, a prophetic theology which presumes God's desire for changed minds, changed laws, changed social orders, changed lives, changed hearts in a changed world.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

18. Warren is a charlatan

His so-called "AIDS work" is mostly handing people Bibles and telling them to abstain.

[Critters2]

24. The ministries of Trinity United Church of Christ

http://www.trinitychicago.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28


Pretty impressive, imo.

[stillcool]

9. Oooh yeah...that would unite ...

the country real good. Replace the worst choice ever, with the next worst choice ever. People here had it in for Reverend Wright though..so you might be on to something.

[FrenchieCat]

10. They had it in for Rev. Wright only while it was useful.

[stillcool]

12. He's still useful.....

he'll do in a pinch when you need something to beat Obama over the head with. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I had no fucking idea.

[EFerrari]

13. I liked Wright. He was a loose cannon and caused problems for Obama

but the man is decent down to the ground. He's the anti-Warren.

[JuniperLea]

20. I liked him too...

If you saw the whole sermon and not just the cherry picked bits, there was a lot to agree with.

I think the RW let Wright go because they realized any further examination would have backfired.

[Liquorice]

11. ...because that would not be a politically smart thing to do.

Yes the left is angry with Obama over Warren, but many people don't even know who Warren is, and relatively few are even aware of the controversy at all. Those on the right who do know Warren probably feel pretty good about Obama choosing him, and if they know the left is angry about it, that makes the choice even better from their perspective.

The Christian right will like Obama's choice, most people will only have a vague notion of who Warren even is, and the small percentage of people on the left who are angry about it and criticize Obama over it make Obama look like a centrist because he is being criticized by liberals. That is beneficial for Obama. Of course Obama knew the choice would anger those on the left, but the overall effect of choosing Warren is a net positive politically. Of course, this is all just IMHO.

[marshall]

14. He repudiated Wright

I imagine they aren't on speaking terms anymore.

[Clio the Leo]

15. Yep, that's what I'm thinking. NT

[Clio the Leo]

16. The right isn't attacking HIM over the Warren thing ....

... and that's the point ;)

So no, they wont attack him either way.

[Life Long Dem]

19. Takes the spot light off himself.

Hillary Clinton also takes the spot light off. But then Obama will be dealing with MSM and the story telling divisions they'll wedge into the party.

[Terran]

21. because he's a 'racist'

Even people here at DU will tell you that. :eyes:

[RollWithIt]

23. Why do you think it's not polically smart because "the left will attack him."

You do realize he has an 85% approval rating? The highest ever for a president elect?

[gollygee]

25. There are quite a few Christian ministers in the US

He had a lot of people to choose from. He had choices other than Wright or Warren. He knew Warren's stances on homosexuality, women, Jewish people, and whomever else he hates, before he chose him, and he chose him knowing his stances, and knowing other people were available.