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Obama's new forcefulness seen as right move

Posted March 18, 2008 11:00 pm

Bernard Schoenburg

In the last week, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has taken on the issues of his relationship with indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko and controversial statements by his longtime pastor in direct and comprehensive ways he hadn't in the past.

Tuesday, the Democratic presidential front-runner used a speech in Philadelphia on the issue of race in American to answer the growing chorus of questions about what he called the "incendiary language" that was part of sermons of his now-former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

On Friday, Obama opened himself to all questions about Rezko that could be thrown his way in separate meetings of the editorial boards of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

A key backer of Obama, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said later Tuesday that he thinks "fair-minded people" will judge the speech addressing the Wright controversy "as an important moment in the campaign, maybe in campaign history."

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, who won election as a delegate to the Republican National Convention as a backer of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president, said he thinks Obama is taking a page from the McCain playbook.

"I think he realizes that if he's the nominee that he's going to be running against a candidate who has a reputation for telling it like it is," LaHood said, and that "straight talk" image allows McCain to draw independents and Democrats to his side.

The Peoria, Ill. Republican, who is retiring from office this year, added that the editorial board meetings apparently "paid big dividends" for Obama because they led to positive comments in the newspapers about the open -- if late -- responses.

But while LaHood thinks Obama is using the right tactics to meet issues head-on at this point, he is not certain that Obama can overcome the comments of his former pastor.

"In politics … there's a saying that when you've been tarred and feathered … maybe you get the feathers off, but you never get all the tar off," LaHood said.

"There's no doubt … that a big part of our country is still very prejudiced and still very racist. And that speech by his pastor played into those attitudes and those values. …"

Rezko, who raised money for Obama as well as Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is in federal court fighting charges that he schemed with another man, Stuart Levine, to pressure kickbacks out of firms that wanted to invest money from the State Teachers' Retirement System.

The day before the March 5 primaries in states including Ohio and Texas, "A trio of Chicago reporters pummeled him with questions about the corruption trial" of Rezko, according to an account on the Washington Post's Web site. And Obama "disappeared behind a curtain" after answering some questions and saying he was running late.

Durbin, who publicly encouraged Obama to seek the presidency long before Obama made clear his intentions to run, said Tuesday that Obama felt he had provided the facts about Rezko to media outlets, but "clearly, they wanted more."

"And as the Rezko trial unfolded and … it was raised in the course of the presidential debate, Barack felt it was time to come forward and just open himself to every question that could be asked," Durbin said. "He's trying to be completely open and honest about this."

"He believes, and I believe, that he has nothing to hide here," Durbin added, other than what Obama has called a "boneheaded" mistake of purchasing land for his Chicago home in concert with Rezko's wife purchasing the vacant lot next door.

Durbin said Obama's speech Tuesday reminded him of when, during his campaign for president, John F. Kennedy gave a speech about his Catholicism "to make it clear that his first loyalty would be to the people of this country and not to the leader of the Catholic Church."

A similar comparison was made earlier in the campaign when now-former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a speech addressing his Mormonism.

Durbin said the race issue is "even more challenging."

"Race has just pervaded the history of the United States and divided us from the beginning," Durbin said. "And he is … trying to do his part to build bridges and to try to heal some of these wounds. It won't be easy. And for some who are still divided on the race question, whatever he says won't be enough. But I think for fair-minded people, people of good will, that Barack's speech (Tuesday) will be historic. I read it, and I was touched by it."

Durbin said it would have been easy, at this point in the campaign, to "just walk away" from Wright, but Obama criticized only Wright's comments.

"Like they say, you hate the sin but love the sinner," Durbin said. "He was not going to walk away from the personal relationship he's had with him."

Durbin said he thinks the recurring issue of race -- including comments by former President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro and Wright -- showed Obama that the issue had to be dealt with directly.

"I think Barack wanted to have a complete, comprehensive and, I guess, meaningful statement on this issue as quickly as he could," Durbin said.

"I know he took this one very seriously, staying up till 2 or 3 in the morning on the campaign trail, literally working the speech, every word and every sentence."

LaHood said he thinks the Rezko issue is more localized, but the emergence of Wright's statements have created the "watershed event" of Obama's presidential campaign.

He said the existence of those comments linked to Obama's now-former pastor will "certainly give great pause to the superdelegates about whether they believe putting Obama as their nominee will enable him to ultimately win the November election." The Republican congressman said it appears certain superdelegates will be involved in deciding the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination contest between Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Durbin said it's possible that Wright's statements will be run in advertisements from non-campaign groups, but he thinks the same is possible for an endorsement of McCain by a Texas reverend, John Hagee, who some have accused of making anti-Catholic statements.

"I have to agree with Barack in his speech," Durbin said. "What a shame if the presidential choice comes down to this - whether or not the people who have endorsed either of the candidates have made inflammatory or objectionable statements."

LaHood said he thinks Obama "has a way of wanting to be honest about these things," but has also been pushed to react now because of pressure not only from his hometown media in Chicago, but "criticism that's been put on him ad nauseum by the Sean Hannitys and Rush Limbaughs of the world, and certainly … the FOX Network," because of so much play there of Wright's comments.

LaHood said the images of Wright have been "embedded in the minds of the American people," and he thinks that will have an effect on some prejudiced whites.

"Particularly in the southern part of the country, or in certain parts of the country where you have the so-called Reagan Democrats … it's going to be hard to win those people over based on Reverend Wright's pronouncements," LaHood said.

On a "very selfish, political" note, LaHood added, he hopes the Democratic nominee is Clinton, because LaHood's son, Darin, is running for Peoria County state's attorney as a Republican.

"If Obama's at the top of the ticket, that's going to put a world of hurt on Republicans in Illinois," LaHood said. "I'm hoping that Hillary's at the top of the ticket, (and) that she doesn't pick Obama as her V.P."

LaHood also said he thinks McCain will do well against either of the Democrats. McCain's support for the surge of troops in Iraq makes McCain look "like somebody who knew what he was talking about," LaHood said.

And if the former first lady wins, LaHood said, "there's so much animus and so much dislike for Hillary Clinton on the part of Republicans that I think our people will really get stirred up and come out and vote if she's the nominee."

Durbin agreed that while Clinton and Obama battle for their party's nomination, McCain "is in a different orbit - he's not being attacked by anyone."

"The sooner this comes to an end, the better," Durbin said of the Democratic primary battle.

Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540.

Durbin: Wright not speaking at Obama's announcement 'very painful moment'

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Tuesday recalled Feb. 10, 2007, when his fellow Senate Democrat, Barack Obama, used a Springfield venue to announce his candidacy for president:

"I was in the Old State Capitol with Reverend Wright on the day of Barack's announcement when a decision was made that Reverend Wright would not speak because of some of the comments that he'd made earlier," Durbin said.

"It was a painful moment between the two of them, because, as Barack said (in the speech), Reverend Wright married him and Michelle, baptized his children, was responsible for his … dedication to the Christian faith. So it was a very painful moment when he had to tell him that he couldn't speak at that announcement.

"There was a quiet prayer ceremony in the basement of the Old State Capitol which I was part of before he (Obama) came on stage."

Obama's speech was delivered from a platform outside the building.

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