Christian Right Author Pens Favorable Book On Obama
As Barack Obama works to win evangelical voters who have normally voted Republican, he's picking up an unlikely ally in Steven Mansfield, an evangelical writer who has previously written gushing biographies of George W. Bush and Tom DeLay, and has now written a similar treatment of Obama -- even though he doesn't plan to vote for him!
Mansfield's upcoming book, The Faith of Barack Obama, paints a compelling picture. "Obama's faith infuses his public policy," Mansfield writes, "so that his faith is not just limited to the personal realms of his life, it also informs his leadership."
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Nice, that'll be a nice blow to the "Obama is a Muslim" bullshit.
June 16, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
If only. Let's face it, if the Wright bullshit didn't stop the Muslim bullshit, nothing will.
Still, I suppose it's nice to see praise from an unlikely place.
June 16, 2008 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who knows, they barely focused on the fact that Wright was a Christian, hell, if you polled Americans I bet a good portion would say it was a Muslim church, they probably got it all mixed up with Farrakhan.
Maybe if they actually played the clips in context it would have been obvious to everyone he was citing scriptures left and right during those "controversial" sermons.
June 16, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I watched the entire sermon that contained the part "the chickens have come home to roost;" I'm sure everyone remembers that clip that was spread all over the web to smear Obama by association.
The sermon was far from an anti-American diatribe. Wright described the burning of the Twin Towers and watching people jumping with both horror and empathy. His call was for his congregation and himself to use this event to reflect on their relationship with god. I'm not religious, but I found his sermon compelling and moving.
I'm not happy with Wright's appearance at the National Press Club and other more recent appearances, but what Obama's enemies did to Wright's sermons is equivalent to dissecting a body, pulling out the bladder and then saying it is representative of the whole body.
June 16, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
I completely agree I couldn't believe that there were people still out there saying they wouldn't vote for obama because of rev. wright but then turn around and say they obamas a muslim (which he is not)
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/mccain-has-a-flip-flop-problem/
June 16, 2008 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm inclined to believe that for those voters who still say he's a Muslim, no facts will dissuade them from this view because it's become a more "socially acceptable" way of saying they won't vote for him because he's black.
June 16, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Even though he's not voting for Obama, the silver lining to me is that books like this, as well as his meeting with some evangelical leaders a while back, defuses some of the anti-Democratic voters. When they believe (wrongly) that some Democratic candidate or other is pure evil, they are more motivated to turn out strongly for the Republican.
I remember hearing on NPR that those evangelical leaders, while not leaning towards voting for Obama, came away from the meeting with more respect for him. This can't help but tamp down some of the right wing religious whacko rhetoric, imho. Of course, I could be underestimating them.
Even a few percentage points could be helpful in some areas, Virginia leaping to mind. If enough of the strongly conservative evangelical types in the southern/western part of the state are less motivated to get out and vote against the satan-worshipper, it could only help.
June 16, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've been told by some evangelical leaders that a good percentage of evangelicals (who are decidedly not all right wingers) are likely to go to Obama. So whoever this guy votes for, this is a good sign.
June 16, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone else thought that this guy is writing this because: Books about GWB are out, books about Obama are in?
June 16, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
And because he wants an "in" with the Obama administration. Could be lots of evangelicals will suddenly start praising Obama...
June 16, 2008 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
There may be some posturing here, but there is no doubt that Obama is one of the most religious Presidential candidates to come around in a long, long time, and with time a lot of evangelicals will come around to see this.
June 16, 2008 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
He sounds impartial, which is good. The Rev. Wright comment was taken out of text. Fauxnews played the parts they new would rile white Americans
June 16, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I smell a ten point win in November for Barack. But don't want to get too excited just because some crackpot realizes the writing is on the wall. He's not the first, and he certainly won't be the last nutjob to break ranks and try and cozy up to the future Prez.
And don't hold your breath waiting for Evangelicals to vote for the Democratic Party. Obama may seem all well and good, but a quick reminder of his stance on Roe v. Wade will dissuade them of any notion they had of actually voting for him.
June 16, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not to put too fine a point on it, but "reading the writing on the wall" is a religious reference (Book of Daniel, if memory serves). To call someone a [religious] crackpot on one hand and then praise him OTOH for doing the right [religious] thing is a bit contradictory.
It would be a good idea to remember that religion is deeply woven into American culture and just because someone sees the world through a religious perspective, he shouldn't be automatically denegrated as a "crackpot" or anything else. As pointed out above, Obama is religious. His religion informs his politcal positions. This is not a secular society, nor is it a theocracy. Some balance is clearly called for from all of us.
June 16, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
For those want want religion to have less influence in govt., particularly after Bush attempts to funnel money to religious organizations, this is a reason not to vote for
Obama.
This will only confirm the well-founded suspicions that Obama's connection to churches-of-hate are part of his core personality.
I have yet to hear Obama come out in support of California's decision to legalize gay marriage. Intersting?
The laws of unintended consequences.
June 16, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink