Media Criticism

For everyone waiting for Senator Barack Obama to lose some of the sheen he has gained as the new, sexy candidate and alternative to Hillary Clinton, the following story seems to do the trick. The Obama campaign has been experiencing public relations issues in planning a concert in South Carolina because he has a controversial singer named Donnie McClurkin in the program. McClurkin, according to the New York Times, has a mixed record when dealing with homosexuality. The Chicago Tribune states McClurkin’s account of being raped as a child and recovering from homosexuality in adulthood. Members of the Human Rights Campaign say that McClurkin is nothing but a gay baiting entertainer.

Obama attempted to ease concerns by bringing in an openly gay minister for pre-concert song and prayer. I think that the fundamental problem with this whole story is that there is any note of religiosity involved in a campaign concert. I understand that South Carolina is a key state, that Democrats need to act like they are religious and that gospel musicians are the perfect salve for stump speeches in the South. If Obama really wants to be the new hope for the Democratic Party and America, he needs to cancel the concert and plan a series of speeches on today’s issues.

I have never been totally convinced about Barack Obama as a presidential candidate. He lacks the specific plan of John Edwards, the experience of people like Joseph Biden and the political sophistication of Hillary Clinton. I think that Obama is like all the other Democratic candidates in his vacillation on issues of foreign and domestic policy. He sounds a note of optimism in a field of pessimistic candidates but does that make him competent?

As we approach the primary season and the quick run to the general election, I am becoming extremely frustrated with both the Democrats and the Republicans. Obama’s gaffe in South Carolina only proves that his new hope for America includes the same garbage as the hope brought by Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter…you get the idea. We are still grappling with the problem of religion and state as well as the fundamental freedoms of people to pursue happiness. Barack Obama only looks good when compared to other candidates like party hack John McCain, flip floppers Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney and fringe candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.

Unless a new candidate like Al Gore or Michael Bloomberg emerges in the next month or so, I will be looking to third parties for potential candidates. I am tired of politics as usual in America and the self-serving charge by both major parties that a third party vote is a waste. If Barack Obama and others want to keep disillusioned voters like me in the fold, they need to address critical issues the same way throughout the country. Obama shouldn’t preach tolerance in Iowa and act like a hate monger in South Carolina.