Letters to the Editor
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To Marjorajam:
I believe there are many thinking Clinton supporters, but many of them have been driven away. It is their silence that people who really want Obama to be president should think about.
As a thinking Clinton supporter, I wonder if you wouldn't mind answering a question. If it were indeed the case that Reverend Wright was representative of the mainstream, if strident, version of black ministers, (that we as a society haven't given two figs about until now), would you support the Clinton camps using this issue to score political points?
Lot of presuppositions there. For all I know there may be many churches like Obama's. However, it is only Wright's sermons that are the problem -- although some of Otis Moss's may become a problem for Obama. As someone who wants to see Obama win should he be the nominee, I think Obama should distance himself from Trinity in order to win. I am disturbed that he doesn't find Wright more disturbing.
Of course, the Clinton campaign is trying to score points. That's what campaigns do. Using Obama's pastor to score points is fair game in my opinion, but I am aware of how it could backfire.
Anyway, Hillary only answered the question that was put to her. I cannot see her as a member of Trinity. Hillary Clinton is a lifelong Methodist.
Would you endorse Clinton's finance chair who apparently likened Wright to David Duke?
A dumb and tasteless move in my opinion. I think the Clinton campaign's greatest weakness this campaign has been message control. Obama is very nuanced. He is able to whistle silently. Too bad the Clinton campaign never learned this art.
However, the finance chair's comment suggests to me that the Clinton campaign realizes that they are going to be labeled racist no matter what they do, so they are pulling out the stops.
Would you do all that even though it repudiates the entirety of this constituency of Americans?
Well, if by "this constituency" mean Trinity church, sure why not? However, if by "this constituency" you mean all black people, that could be a problem. Please understand that I have nothing to do officially with the Clinton campaign, even here in my small town in Texas. I like to write, but I don't like phone banks and get out the vote drives. I am a rather shy and private person.
If Clinton should win the nomination and black people stay home or vote for McCain or one of the third party candidates, how will this help black people? Of what service will this be to black children who need better schools? How will this help end the war, improve the economy, and lessen the burdens of poverty?
That is why I will vote for Obama if he is the nominee, despite my disapproval of his remaining a member of Trinity for twenty years. I will do it for the good of my country. My doubts about him are outweighed by the fact that I have no doubts about John McCain. He would do too much damage to principles I hold dear.