I have issues with both Ed Rendell and Mike Nutter, but, generally, they are pretty likeable guys. And so, when they- and our City- get national attention, during the presidential race, I feel stirrings of pride.
As most know, in this campaign, Rendell and Nutter both endorsed Clinton. Rendell is close to the Clintons, making his endorsement pretty unsurprising. Nutter's endorsement has set off all sort of questions and theories. Personally, I really don't care why he, or Rendell are endorsing Clinton. She is a qualified candidate for President.
But, boy, I wish when they were being interviewed they wouldn't enforce stupid frames when talking about the race:
First, there is Nutter. His new line is subtly stirring the Jeremiah Wright controversey.
Obviously, the above interview is heavily edited, and at some point the reporter mentions that Nutter thought the Obama speech great. But, come on. When this controversey started, Clinton basically ignored it. After all, this was a fox news, right-wing controversey being fed in the conservative echo chamber. But, when the reality of her 'sniper fire' visit to Bosnia started to hurt her poll numbers, all of a sudden, Clinton became chatty about Wright:
"We don't have a choice when it comes to our relatives," she said. "We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend. Everyone will have to decide these matters for themselves. They are obviously very personal matters."
It clearly became the campaign spin, and Nutter basically repeated it. Stupid move. This is the same crap that we will be hearing from the GOP and Fox, over and over, come the fall. Obama's speech was a watershed moment in our national discourse. Muddying it like this is just plain stupid.
Then, there is Rendell...
One nice thing in recent years is that Democrats have started to debunk any notion that Fox is a legitimate news source. But, there is Fast Eddie, praising Fox News, with a straight face as 'fair and balanced.'
Yeah, real fair, real balanced:
Why would a Democrat legitimize an organization that puts out right-wing propaganda? How about when they told us all that Obama attended a Madrassa? Was that cool? Or how about when they go after African-Americans? Down with that?
It doesn't bother me that these guys are endorsing Clinton, and I don't care why they chose her. I loved when Nutter said that Clinton and Obama needed to focus on urban issues. But, I really wish they would just leave it at that- pushing their candidate, and pushing issues that matter to Philly and PA.
Obama is going to be our Presidential nominee. It makes me cringe to see our biggest political leaders use right-wing frames in an attempt to help Clinton.
Unfortunately, Fox has more in store
Because so far the liberal blogosphere has hushed up other problems for Obama like Rev. Meeks. Here's a description of Obama's closeness to him, a video, and a story link.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article
Here's Meeks in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM2M11BsA3g
And here's a story:
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/James.Meeks.Mayor.2.330967.html
Meeks is also extremely anti-gay, which is a real big problem for me. Here's what the Southern Poverty Law Center says about him:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=410
Then there's Father Pfleger. I don't want to write an extended comment, as some others have. See http://rezkowatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/one-degree-of-separation-obamas-h... Obama seeks spiritual guidance from this fellow also. The Sun-Times wrote of Pfleger: http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article
You should be happy that Obama is being vetted before the convention, even by us hated Clinton folks. Otherwise, revelations like these would cream Obama in October. What if the news about Wright had come out on Fox October 15?
Ditto.
I was and am an enthusiastic advocate of Michael Nutter's. To be perfectly candid, I've found his recent comments on Obama to be seriously disappointing (and not just 'cause Obama is my new BFF).
Nutter's early comments on focusing on urban issues like education and infrastructure were great. He should know that by hyping the Wright controversy and downplaying Obama's speech on race, he's only encouraging the sideshow. And it's that sideshow that precludes a serious discussion of the issues Nutter wants the campaigns to focus on -- and which he, Nutter, now has a national platform to discuss. Every politician knows how to sidestep a question -- whether Nutter said what he said because that what he really feels or to score points as a member of the pro-Clinton PA team, he leaned right into it. And he should have known that whatever else he said or planned to say, nobody was going to remember or report any of it.
There's another dimension to this too that demands discussion. I can't think of any other prominent black Democrats who've been as harsh in their criticism of Wright's comments themselves, Obama for attending Wright's church, or of Obama's speech. We can expect the media and pundits to hide behind Nutter, and to use him as a proxy to legitimate their own criticisms. Coming from someone else, it could always be discounted as politically or racially suspect. Nutter just gave a whole bunch of kooks a whole lotta legitimacy. And that's a shame.
I listened to the entire
I listened to the entire sermon and other than the last clips was not really all that shocked by it. I would not have said God D**n America. I don't think it is appropriate to curse in Church, and damnation is harsh stuff for Christians. And parents don't need to have additional sources for foul language for kids. But his sermon for many parts hit on very similar themes heard in many Black churches, God doesn't change, while the world may, God will always be there, even when friends, your job, health, government, etc. fails. (Usually at the end of the Sermon the Choir will break out into "Hold on to his Hand, God's unchanging Hand.")
But I don't think that you will here a lot of Black Democrats criticize the Pastor. There is not a lot of upside in that given the fact that the Black church is a powerful institution in the African American political community, and most Black politicians rely on Black voters to get elected. Aside from the politics, many feel that but for the grace of God (or the spotlight of Sean Hannity), go I.
But Nutter recognizes the National Stage and wants to lay out a post-racial vision. (Of course, Nutter's own Mt. Carmel Church, while not radical, doesn't have a large multiracial congregation either.) It is kind of odd given that Nutter is in a similar tradition as Obama -- breaking away from traditional civil rights rhetoric to rebuild a coalition of white liberals and African Americans.
I disagree with your last
I disagree with your last part. I don't buy that Nutter was laying out a post-racial vision or something like that in that interview... Like when he also said- when talking about Obama- that this is not an election for class president, he is just doing campaign spin.
But, it is that sort of rhetoric that feeds the BS Wright controversey, instead of focusing on real issues in our City. (Like the ones that Nutter was pushing a week ago.)
I think that both are true.
I think that both are true. I don't think that Nutter was doing it out of pure graciousness. (As a Johnny Come Very Lately to the Nutter Movement and not caught in the wave of Nuttermania, I still remember that Nutter did play in the Democratic System and gave as good as he got many times.) So he is capable of both.
I do think that Nutter took the opportunity to heighten his own profile as opposed to purely pursuing the campaign spin of the Clintons.
But I forsee doom and gloom if this goes the way I fear, so I try not to listen too closely...
Michael Nutter on behalf of Clinton at 9th ward townhall meeting
Dan,
I think you would have been happy with Michael Nutter’s presentation at 9th ward town hall meeting last night. Nutter was invited to speak on behalf of the Clinton campaign. Harris Wofford spoke very effectively on behalf of Obama to the largely pro-Obama crowd.
Nutter made his case for Clinton—he thinks she’s more experienced, has a better understanding of urban issues—but said nothing negative about Obama. Nutter’s primary emphasis was on the need to unify in November rather than a pitch for Clinton. He was speaking as a Mayor rather than as a Clinton campaign operative—nary a word about Jeremiah Wright.
Unfortunately, the same can not be said of the Clinton campaign which is using the Wright incident in its campaign to woo superdelegates
See msnbc.com report here.
Cool to hear. And, I hope
Cool to hear. And, I hope he sticks to that. But, I think there is also an audience issue (ie, would the 9th ward have looked kindly on his earlier statements?).
Anyway, that is good news. I would like to hear more from the jersey-tucked-into-his-pants Mayor about "Al Gangsta," and for him to take his chance to stamp urban issues onto the national agenda.