Why did Obama Wait to Announce the Robinson Prayer?

[demwing]

A few reasons come to mind, including, but not limited to:

1. Obama hoped that the Warren issue would blow over on its own, and we would all get along without a prod. NOT because he wants to kick the LGBT community in the face, but because - despite contrary opinions - Obama believes in his heart that the Warren pick was, for whatever reason, the right thing to do in the long run.

2. Obama pushed the Warren announcement out first, creating a problem so that he could, in turn, solve it, and claim credit. My division VP does this kind of stuff on a regular basis.

3. Team Obama threw out the Warren pick to distract from another news story. What has happened in the last three weeks that might require a distraction? Take your pick - economy, war, more war, a sticky cabinet selection...?

4. Robinson was tapped, but not confirmed till recently.

5. It was all in response to DU. :)

There are other answers, I'm sure. Add yours, trash mine, discuss.

[NYCGirl]

1. 6. Who knows? and 7. Who cares? NT

[Bucky]

2. two yes's; two no's; and a maybe

        1. Obama hoped that the Warren issue would blow over on its own

Makes sense, but I think it's more a case of his not anticipating how upset people would be.

        2. Obama pushed Warren out first... so that he could solve it and claim credit.

Makes no sense at all. He created a problem in order to solve it? That sounds very un-Obama.

        3. Team Obama threw out the Warren pick to distract from another news story.

No Drama Obama gains nothing from distracting the public from Bush's mess. If he was going to come up with a distraction, I doubt his M.O. would involve pissing off a good segment of his liberal base.

        4. Robinson was tapped, but not confirmed till recently.

Makes most sense of all

        5. It was all in response to DU.

If by "response to DU" you mean offering an olive branch to an upset bunch of loyal Democrats, this does make some sense too. He needed to mollify people when he'd inadvertantly stepped into the pile of poo with the Warren selection. Any politician who can't make up lost ground by expanding a coalition doesn't deserve the name politician.

He done bad at first; now he's done a bit better.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Picked him to try and temper complaints about Warren. Won't work. nt

[NJmaverick]

4. I agree, those that made a big issue over Warren will find something else

to make a big issue over.

[Captain Hilts]

6. And you'll blindly defend Obama. Same old, same old...nt

[NJmaverick]

8. You shouldn't ASSume that I don't see what Obama is doing

I know exactly what he is doing and I approve of it. If I were in his place, I would be hope I was doing the same thing.

[FrenchieCat]

9. I'm certain that you won't let it count in anyway.........

as it would mess up what you've got going against Barack Obama.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Roll call is complete! And you consistently choose to ignore threads in which I praise him.

I'm just not a groupie.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Is Roll Call complete because I responded to this thread?

And if so, do you ever post "Roll Call not Complete" when you post in threads praising him that I don't show up in?

BTW, Are you calling me a groupie?

[LaydeeBug]

44. DO you ignore the threads where he praises him?

:shrug:

[pnwmom]

23. I think it's the other way around. Picked Warren to help the gay Bishop

be accepted more easily among the broader public (as opposed to liberal Democrats).

[Dawgs]

40. Won't work with you? You speaking for other people now?

:shrug:

[LaydeeBug]

43. Please don't put words in other people's mouths.

"won't work" and "won't work with you" are two different things. Please don't put words in other people's mouths. It detracts from your indefensible position of stepping on gay folks.

[LaydeeBug]

41. I agree with this. This guy was brought in for damage control.

and NOTHING his staunch supporters say or do will undermine the FACT that Barack Obama has asked a BIGOT to give his invocation.

It is not a brilliant political move. It is politics as usual.

[DevonRex]

5. All I know is that I'm glad Robinson was picked. nt

[lurky]

7. 6. The whole thing was calculated.

By sending us lefties into a tizzy, he has established himself as a centrist in the public eye. He has made a very public and dramatic statement of how he is not beholden to us. This will make it hard for R's to paint him as a crazy hippie liberal when he pursues (hopefully) liberal policies. Now that the action has had its desired effect, he uses the Robinson thing to bring us back into the fold.

It sucks, but that is American politics today. Despite our numbers, progressives are widely viewed as fringe-dwellers, and it is politically expedient to beat on us. It doesn't help that we have so little representation politically or in the mass media.

[Captain Hilts]

12. It's his Sistah Soldjah moment. nt

[Occam Bandage]

35. Sister Souljah was a nut and deserved to be denounced. nt

[demwing]

13. I understand this answer

I wanted to write that I liked it, but I don't. I do get the logic though, and I see it as a branch off from answer #1 - that Obama feels it was the best thing to do under long term strategy.

[lurky]

16. I don't like it either, but

given how politically savvy he has been over the last several years, I don't see him doing something this boneheaded by accident. A poster above mentioned Sister Souljah, and I think this is very similar. No Dem ever lost an election by pissing all over their lefty base. I hope he uses this political capital well.

[zipplewrath]

17. I suspect you are correct

I was remembering his fathers day speech. He comes out, says alot of stuff about the AA community that the white voters wanna hear. It pisses off members of the AA community to the point that Jackson talks about cutting his nuts off. That makes white voters feel good about Obama because he won't be the "Black" president, look he even pisses off Jackson. The question is, in all the gamesmenship, where does he actually stand? What does he actually plan on doing?

[lurky]

18. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Yes that strategy has worked before. However, I don't expect gay voters to be quite as forgiving as AA voters.

[FrenchieCat]

26. He only pissed off Black voters in your mind.....

Cause none of the Black voters I know got pissed off.

Where did you get this from? :shrug:

Signed, FrenchieCat, A Black Voter

[zipplewrath]

31. Jesse Jackson

Remember the "cut his balls off" comment? He wasn't the only black leader privately pissed off about the speach.

[Occam Bandage]

36. Jesse Jackson is not the black community. Thank God.

And Jesse was pissed off because he himself fathered and did not help raise an illegitimate child.

[zipplewrath]

37. But he is a "member of"

As my original statement says, and was challenged, it pissed off "members of" the AA community including JJ amongst others.

[Occam Bandage]

38. So, as your evidence of "political gamesmanship" and trading support,

you have "Obama said some things that pissed off Jesse Jackson (on a personal level) and maybe some other black guys." How do you know his remarks were not well received in the African-American community, especially among African-American women?

Why do you believe the concept of personal responsibility--which, I might add, he did not direct towards black men, but to all men--is an affront to the African-American community?

[zipplewrath]

46. I'm not sure I exactly said that.

There were pissed off members. I don't claim it was a majority. And even at the time it was pointed out that what he said wasn't astounding and was a common point of discussion within the AA community. The only astounding part was that it was uncommon for leaders within the AA community to in effect say these things to white communities. Too much of "saying what they want to hear". It was what got Cosby in some trouble, not that he said it, but where, when, and to whom he said it. It is seen by some as both pandering to the white community, and giving the white community an excuse for "blaming the victims".

[pot luck]

28. I have to disagree.

Obama has given similar speeches to black churches prior to last year. Given his history with his father, I have no reason to believe that he was just trying to piss off the black community to pander to white voters. Also, not many in the AA community were angered by that speech, in fact, many of us agreed with him.


As for him tapping Bishop Robinson, who knows. Maybe he was trying to make amends for the Warren pick, or he’d planned to pick him all along and Robinson just now accepted?

[zipplewrath]

32. He was running for president for more than a year

He was concious of what he was saying for years.

[Occam Bandage]

39. And what he was saying was correct, and undoubtedly had more to do with

his own experience with an absent father than with a desire to anger black voters to curry favor with whites.

[zipplewrath]

47. I'm not sure I'd say "undoubtedly"

I might agree that he was saying it despite what the AA community might think. Romney did something similar in criticizing the GOP. He was more than willing to piss off some of the deepest conservatives in order to attract more moderate leaning voters. Of course none of that means he is lying. It merely that his actions indicate who he wishes to impress, and whom he is willing to toss under the bus.

[pnwmom]

24. I think he wanted to ask Robinson all along. Appointing Warren first makes

the Robinson appointment less controversial.

[dmallind]

10. Question first

1) When were other aspects of this event released?

2) When were other aspects besides Warren (yes folks there are some!) of the inuaguration released?


If Robinson coincides with the rsst of 1) and Warren coincided with the rst of 2) then there's your answer.

[marshall]

15. Who says he waited?

He can't announce something before it's thought about or before the invitation is given or accepted.

[WI_DEM]

19. DU had nothing to do with it.

[demwing]

22. I was joking

that was the reason for the smiley :)

[treestar]

20. He didn't realize DU would blow up over the Warren thing

Or, he forgot that DU is where he should take his direction and instructions!

[Political Tiger]

21. No doubt it was all a nefarious plot!

[Hellataz]

25. DU had nothing to do with it, He picked both at the same time which proves he was trying to be

inclusive to both sides. In fact this religious figure is the 2nd gay marriage supporter speaking at the inauguration. The Second being Rev. Joseph Lowery.
So why isn't Obama given credit for including them? Instead all people can focus on are the negative aspects, never the positive ones.

[Solon]

27. Because the other side doesn't have a valid opinion, and shouldn't be included in the...

inauguration at all. It really is that simple. Warren has attacked GLBT people for who they are, he's no better than racists, Anti-Semites, or sexists, yet they aren't included yet Warren is included. There is something seriously wrong here.

[Hellataz]

29. They don't agree on GLBT rights, but they do on his work on poverty and AIDS

That's why he's there. Perhaps Obama looks past his bigotry for the Gay community because he feels he has a chance to change Warrens mind through respect and inclusion, not anger and divisiveness. That's warren's MO, not ours.

[Solon]

30. Uhm yeah, if they believe that abstinence only education and burning condoms is a way to prevent...

AIDS from spreading. Look up who Warren associates with in Africa, and you will see that he's not a guy who you would want crusading for AIDS relief in Africa.

Oh, and it seems Warren's version of poverty relief involves having his book, "A purpose driven life" translated into the local language and sold at a slightly cheaper retail price.

[Zynx]

33. Option 4 seems the most logical.

People often read far too much into timing.

[Occam Bandage]

34. Option four. Never assume intrigue when the mundane will suffice.

[Beacool]

42. 6. Robinson was asked after Warren

to counter the batshit that his decision to invite Warren to give the invocation caused among the natives.

Still doesn't make up for having to hear that bastard's invocation.

:eyes:

[Marrah_G]

45. Shrug- I don't really care why he did it.

It does nothing to fix the problem he created by inviting a disgusting bigoted asshole to share the stage and have a place of honor in his inauguration.

Inviting a gay bishop to give a prayer a few days before isn't a fix for the warren problem and if Obama thinks it is then he is REALLY fucking clueless on this topic.