Obama's "Mormon" Speech

UPDATE: Reaction to the speech can be found here.

Later today Barack Obama will attempt to stomp out the fire created by his pastor's black nationalism sermons with his version of the "Mormon" speech:

The Obama campaign said the speech in Philadelphia will address major issues including "race, politics and how we bring our country together at this important moment in our history".

It comes after a week in which he has taken a battering from Hillary Clinton's campaign team, particularly over incendiary remarks by his pastor about the US and discrimination.

The speech is comparable to one made last year by the former Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, who felt a need to address a whispering campaign about his Mormon religion.

In interviews last night previewing tomorrow's speech, Obama described as "stupid" remarks about the US and whites by the preacher at his church in Chicago, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and admitted that the focus on race over the last week has been "a distraction".

America's claims to be a post-racial society have been undermined by the introduction of race into the Democratic campaign and the fracturing of the party vote in primaries in some states, where an overwhelming majority of African Americans have voted for Obama and a majority of whites for Clinton.

Constant replays on US television of Wright shouting, "God damn America" and railing about discrimination against blacks risk alienating some white voters. A Rasmussen poll published yesterday said Wright's comments made 56 per cent of the electorate in general less likely to vote for Obama.

If Obama does his usual speech full of soaring generalities, I doubt it will have much effect at all. He needs to get specific about the comments that were made and his association with that pastor and church for the past 20 years. No Republican politician would be allowed anything less.

I'll have more on the speech later today.

UPDATE: The text of the speech is here. I did a quick scan and don't think it's going to make his Jeremiah Wright problem go away. He still has to explain how he could be a member of that church for 20 years and not know anything about the Reverend's bigoted views.

Interestingly, Obama makes a big deal in this speech about his biracial background, something which he hasn't really mentioned much during the campaign. He's been quite content to be the "black" candidate even though he's the product of a white mother and black father.

Last night on my BlogTalkRadio show Andrew Jackson suggested that Obama needs to play up his racial heritage if he really wants to be the "postracial" candidate that can unite America. Maybe Obama was listening.

The staging for the speech is pure Americana. Blue curtains in the background with Obama flanked by eight American flags. Whenever I see staging like that I wonder who the candidate is trying to fool. If you have to have your patriotism staged for you, you have problems.