Monday, April 7, 2008

More on Obama/Wright

So some of my e-mailers have questioned my view of Barack Obama and his troublesome pastor, Jeremiah Wright. They think the issue is more important than I have suggested it is (and other bloggers agree with them).

They make some good points. So does Michael Gerson here, when he wrote recently:

"Barack Obama has run a campaign based on a simple premise: that words of unity and hope matter to America. Now he has been forced by his charismatic, angry pastor to argue that words of hatred and division don't really matter as much as we thought."

I like this line of argument because it frames the Wright issue more in terms of principle. That's where we need to be. I didn't mean to imply that the question of Jeremiah Wright was meaningless. It isn't. It raises questions. But I don't think it can be a main line of conservative criticism, nor the only one. But I like the way Gerson frames the issue, and the questions it raises. Read the whole thing.