Criticism of Barack Obama
From Wikinfo
U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been criticized for his often flippant comments, his ties to controversial people, and for a perception of arrogance and elitism.
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Jeremiah Wright controversy
In March 2008, a controversy broke out concerning Obama's longterm relationship with his former pastor and religious mentor, Jeremiah Wright.[1][2] ABC News found and excerpted racially and politically charged soundbites from sermons by Rev. Wright, including his suggestion that past U.S. policies were partially responsible for the September 11 attacks and his assertion that "[t]he government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color."[3] Some of Wright's statements were widely criticized as anti-American.[4][5] Following negative media coverage and a drop in the polls,[6] Obama responded by condemning Wright's remarks, ending his relationship with the campaign, and delivering a speech entitled "A More Perfect Union" at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[7] In the speech, Obama rejected some of Wright's comments, but refused to disown the man himself, noting his lifelong ministry to the poor and past service as a US Marine.[8][9] Although the speech, which placed Wright's anger in a larger historical context, was generally well-received,[8][10] critics continued to question the implications of Obama's long and close relationship with Wright.[11][12][13][14]
"Bitter, Clinging" statement
Barack Obama on April 6, 2008 at a fundraiser in San Francisco, in response to a question from a supporter regarding why he was not doing well among Democratic voters in Pennsylvania prior to the Presidential Primary scheduled there for April 22, 2008, said "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."[15] Doing so, he may have made a fatal mistake of talking about prospective supporters rather than to them, and in a condescending way, discounting their expressed concerns, characterizing them as mere "sentiment".
Notes
- ^ Brian Ross (March 13 2008). "Obama's Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4443788. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ Andrew Sullivan. For The Record The Atlantic: The Daily Dish, March 16 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-18
- ^ Jeff Goldblatt (March 14 2008). "Obama’s Pastor’s Sermon: ‘God Damn America’". FOXNews. http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/14/obamas-spiritual-adviser-questioned-us-role-in-spread-of-hiv-sept-11-attacks/. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ Dilanian, Ken (2008-03-18). "Defenders say Wright has love, righteous anger for USA". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-03-18-obamawright_N.htm. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Adubato, Steve (March 21, 2008). "Obama's reaction to Wright too little, too late". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23745283/.
- ^ Reid, Tim (March 21, 2008). "Polls show Barack Obama damaged by link to Reverend Jeremiah Wright". Times Newspapers, Ltd. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3591359.ece. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
- ^ Barack Obama (March 18 2008). "Remarks by Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union'". The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0319/p25s01-uspo.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
- ^ a b Nedra Pickler, Matt Apuzzo (March 18, 2008). "Obama confronts racial division". The Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRloD01UY7O-mlm7HkoTEgFcoPJgD8VG3E500. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
- ^ Noonan, Peggy (2008-03-21). "A Thinking Man's Speech". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120604775960652829.html?mod=googlenews_wsj. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ "Mr. Obama’s Profile in Courage". The New York Times. 2008-03-19. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/opinion/19wed1.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
- ^ "Obama's minister's remarks won't fade". The Associated Press. March 21, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23743408/. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ "Obama's racial problems transcend Wright". The Politico. March 18 2008. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9111.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
- ^ Kristol, Bill (2008-03-24). "Let's Not, and Say We Did". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/opinion/24kristol.html?em&ex=1206504000&en=116b0da3e79179f5&ei=5087%0A. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
- ^ Davis, Lanny J. (April 9, 2008). "Obama's Minister Problem". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120770107738700007.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ "Obama: No Surprise That Hard-Pressed Pennsylvanians Turn Bitter" Mayhill Fowler Huffington Post April 11, 2008
External links and further reading
- "On the Defensive, Obama Calls His Words Ill-Chosen" article by Katharine Q. Seelye and Jeff Zeleny in The New York Times April 13, 2008
