Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell: Words Matter
PHOTO: Can You Spot An Obama?
In sports, they call it "Big Mo." It's the favorable shift in the playing environment that leaves one with the overwhelming sense that victory is close at hand.
Big Mo, short for momentum, is exactly what the supporters of Barack Obama have been feeling the last few weeks of this bruising 2008 presidential contest.
And last night at the second presidential debate with Republican challenger John McCain, Obama did nothing to change that winning feeling sweeping his campaign.
In fact, on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Obama looked and sounded even more presidential than he did in his impressive debate performance in Mississippi 12 days ago.
With the McCain campaign on its heels and slipping behind Obama, according to polls in key states like Ohio, the Arizona senator needed a game changer of a performance.
He didn't get it. ...
So it is doubtful that the recent slide in his campaign fortunes will slow as a result of last night's debate.
Neither man said anything they had not said before. McCain touted himself as the experienced "steady hand on the tiller" who would lead bipartisan efforts to fix health care, Social Security and energy policy.
Meanwhile, Obama cast himself as a pragmatic leader who would reverse the past eight years of Republican rule and help the middle class.
So in a civil, sober, debate devoid of fireworks or controversy, Obama was the winner. In football, Big Mo often swings to a team after a fumble or some other gaffe.
In this campaign, which was a virtual tie not that long ago, McCain's fumble was reaching past credible, seasoned pols like Mitt Romney and Kay Bailey Hutchison to the Alaskan wilds for a pretty and pretty lightweight Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate.
She gave the Republican campaign a short-lived jolt but when people learned she couldn't answer basic interview questions with any coherence, and then she preened and winked her way through her vice presidential debate, the GOP swoon shifted into high gear.
McCain then abandoned the campaign trail in Michigan, home of the original Reagan Democrats and a state thought to be critical to GOP election hopes.Adding to GOP headaches is an excellent short film making the rounds on YouTube that chronicles the story of the Keating Five, the S&L banking scandal of the late 1980's that brings into doubt McCain's ethics and judgment.
The documentary brings to light the fact that government deregulation of the banking industry, long a McCain pet cause, was at the root of the S&L scandal and is blamed in part for the global financial meltdown we face today.
Yes, the trends look good for Obama. And the dream of seeing a man of African descent occupy the White House is tantalizingly close for his supporters.
But they would be wise to keep the champagne on ice just a little longer. As anyone who has watched a football game or political campaign can attest, Big Mo can be a fickle SOB.
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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of the election for BlackVoices. He has been a journalist for 16 years; on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for The AP in Washington, D.C.More Debate and Election Coverage
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Comments: (67)
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By: Denise on 10/08/2008 12:03AM
"I bet you don't know who Fannie and Freddie Mac are?" quoted by McCain was just another drop in the bucket of insults from his campaign of disrespect, no judgement and lack of character. I'm quite sure "That one" feels the same way that I feel along with so many more Americans.
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By: Peggy on 10/08/2008 12:06AM
I do not understand why black people cannot see how Obama is exploiting their race for his own political agenda. The last time I looked, there was a place to check "multiracial" on the census paper. He is not black, he is not white, he is multiracial, if he denounced his white heritage then what will stop him from switching back whenever it suits his cause. Please check into some of the warnings about him. He is scary, too smooth, too perfect, too trained, too much of a puppet. Wake up people before it is too late
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By: Corrine Hamilton on 10/08/2008 12:40AM
Peggy, your comments are just stupid. What's wrong with a Black man being educated? You act as if that's a bad thing. What if he wants to call himself a black man, the white race certainly do. Obama does not have the luxury of switching back and forth between races. He claims black people as his own and that is refreshing. If he really wanted to have all the white vote, he could have been calling himself white. But he knows that having a black father, white America will never accept him as their equal.
And what politician you know, in modern times, don't try and enhance their own agenda. He is not there just for the paycheck. Nobody would take all the hell Obama has taken just for an office.
I think he deserve it. I can't think of another black man I would vote for for president. Mr. Obama is just perfect, for these imperfect time. Give him the chance, just as we have given all these white men, the chance to try and prove something. Times are changing and all the racist will have to change with it. Your racist ways ain't cute no more. Actually, it downright childish.
Embrace the peace and help spread it. Hate is not the way. Just give peace a chance, this time.
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By: Cora Martin on 10/08/2008 1:13AM
Being an African American senior citizen female who had the opportunity to watch many racial changes in this USA; I am very proud of witnessing an African American male who is bold enough to run for the highest office in this Country. I applaud him, his wife and family. I also applaud the many white citizens who are standing with him. My friends this is African American History that will not get lost. I agree with Corrine; it could not have been made more plain. May God continue to bless our people.
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By: Analyst on 10/08/2008 1:24AM
Peggy, all black Americans are not robots as you conclude and as many black Americans expect all of us to be. If you have visited this site before you may have seen my posts of Blacks Against Obama on numerous occasions. It has been my contention since Obama stabbed Dr. Wright, his church, and Father Pfleger in the back and then made a blanket denunciation of black American fathers as "boys" that no way Obama is a black American or African American. Obama has never shown he shares the values or concerns of black Americans. Some within the black community justify Obama's alienation from blacks as needed to attract the white vote. Well, I believe the majority of white people have better sense than that. If its true that the majority of white people will not vote for Obama if he identifies with legitimate concerns of mainstream black American than none of us live in a country worth voting in. I do not share such a pitiful view. I call your attention to the brave black youth at Giggs High School who on August 1st at a town hall meeting confronted the elitist Obama in a protest demonstration that shattered the myth that Obama is supported blindly by all black Americans. More recently at Miami University a large group of black American protesters under "Blacks Against Obama" interrupted Obama's speech until they were forced from the auditorium by Secret Service Agents. No, Peggy many of we black Americans are not blind, deaf, dumb and numb to the truth about the phony Obama. Obama is a Kenyan American. No black American blood runs in his veins and he only recently came to live among black Americans. Although Obama can only qualify to be a step child of black Americans he was received with open arms by black Americans in Chicago and the courageous white priest Father Pfleger, whom I consider a modern day Rev. John Brown, and he used all to mount his political career. He discarded them when they no longer fulfilled his purposes to obtain the top of political power in America. Many black Americans erroneously perceiveing Obama to be black like them have flocke to his support ignoring the fact that he has not identified with black American issues. With the indorsement of the bleeding heart white liberals Obama appears to be near his sinister goal. You should look to the white supporters of Obama who have the numerical power to hand this dangerous faker the presidency of the United States. While many black Americans have been deceived by Obama it is you of the white race who stand to betray the nation and vote this misfit Obama into office. The standard ethnic classification in use in this country of "black American" or "African American" were never created to include one of the racial origins or Obama. A Kenyan American can not be considered a black American or African American no more than a black Hispanic person or an African for that matter. This is not to say a non black American can not identify himself with black American issues and be well received by the black American people. The great Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican but he achieved a status among black Americans no other human being has matched. The imposter Obama could not even being himself to mention Martin Luther King, Jr. by name at his Democratic Party nomination acceptance speech, refering to Dr. King as "a young preacher who once spoke on this occasion." The convention planners had styled Obama's acceptance speech to coincide with Dr. King's famous "I have a Dream" speech. No real black American could have been so vain and disrespectful at such an important moment. Hopefully, this posts helps to set the record straight and destroy your misperceptions about black Americans somehow thinking in block and all mechanically supporting the elitist Obama.
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By: Martin Zelaya on 10/08/2008 2:28AM
My dear, you have no idea what money really is; therefore, you have no idea what an elitist is.
The only elitist are the Rothchilds and the central banks they have set up throughout the world.
Republicans have been their puppets and we the american are their slaves.
The money in your pocket is the sole property of the central bank.
Legally, a slave's name is in all caps.
Examine your social security card.
Have you noticed recently, what was done with all the money to bail out AIG.
Those are all of Bernake's friends.
Do you get it?
YOU SUCKERS!
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By: Gerald on 10/08/2008 8:32AM
The above post are very interesting in that they all seem to overlook the obvious. The obvious issues here are only partly covered by matters of race.
Yes. Obama is seen as a black man, regardless of whether that means full-black, half-black, or otherwise. However, what seems to get overlooked is the fact that he's running for President of the United States of America. That's not a black-thing or just about black people. He has to get in the game before he can impact the way the game is played.
Can you imagine the Olympic star that stood up with his fist held high or those that turned their back doing so from outside the stadium? No. They had to get in the game, be the BEST, then, and only then, make their point.
It's sad that black people have to be better educated, better mannered, better spoken, and better and anything else we do just to be taken serious. Obama has done all that and more yet people are still finding ways to question rather he's 'good enough'.
So, no matter if Obama's the best person for the job; only time will tell. In the mean time, I'm going to "Keep Hope Alive" and cast my vote with pride.
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By: Tachea on 10/08/2008 8:36AM
I don't know why all african americans aren't outraged by McCains comment "that one" it had underline racial tones to it. He even referred to him earlier as this one but everyone seemed to have missed that one also. McCain was disrespectful throughout the entire debate not just to Obama, but when he said you don't know who Freddie and Fannie, are when he said to Tom Brokaw not you. I don't think it was funny and I don't think we all took it as a joke.
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By: P.Moe on 10/08/2008 8:41AM
hear we go again... we have an opportunity to spread a positive message and we have those bloggers who probably shouldnt even be visiting this site spreading their sillyness. why dont they get it.. their negative opinions are not welcomed here. if we dont lift up our own... who will? if we dont celebrate our accomplishments...who will? i dont plan on pointing out the "haters", they know who they are. i pity you..
Corrine Hamilton, you said it best. your words are eloquent and very thoughtful. President Obama deserves all the accolades he has received, and he deserves so much more.
we definitley need to heed the comments of the "nay sayers". they say what some actually feel. lets not drop the ball here, we need to make sure we get the message out that our work here is far from over...WE MUST MAKE OUR VOICE COUNT...WE MUST VOTE AND DEMAND THAT THOSE WHO SAY THEY SUPPORT MR. OBAMA, PROOVE IT!! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
**just an after thought: we cant change the color of our skin. "YOU" set the standard with the "a drop of black blood makes you black." dont try to change the rules in the middle of the game**
"As Always..Ignorance is Bliss"
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By: WENDY on 10/08/2008 9:27AM
Sen McCAin was very disrespectful, condescending and cold: "That one!" That was so uncalled for, ugly and certainly not "presidential". That remark reflected negatively on McCain. And about healthcare. . . Who, in their right mind, wants to drive across state lines to seek healthcare? (Especially with these gas prices--driving across state lines)! Why can't I have good healthcare here in my town/community?
Taking a page out of McCain's book. . . I don't want "that OLD one" as president!
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