Speaking of Obama and the Wright controversy, the New Yorker’s George Packer has a great commentary out this week, which concludes thusly:Obama is staking his campaign on the very point he tried to make to Reverend Wright two decades ago: that the dreams and interests of hard-pressed Americans are more important than matters of race. Democrats have been trying to make that argument for a long time, while Republicans have been winning elections. For half a century, right-wing populism has been the most successful political force in America, aided greatly by the tendency of liberals to fall into the competing claims of identity groups. Obama is a black candidate who can tell Americans of all races to move beyond race. As such, he is uniquely positioned to put an end to this era, and uniquely vulnerable to becoming its latest victim.I would add that Obama would not merely be the latest victim, but the most notable or greatest victim (in terms of magnitude). Obviously, race issues and identity politics have been used to damage Democrats in the past, including Democratic presidential candidates. What's new here is that Obama actually proposes to solve this problem (maybe not once and for all, but certainly once).Though I think critics are correct when they complain that Obama often promises to tell Americans what they need to hear but rarely risks actually doing so—and that he only gave the Philly speech when the Wright pressure built to such a level he was forced to—what he chose to say under pressure reveals a lot about him. Maybe he had no choice but to give that speech, but he proved he is willing to take Packer’s gambit that, with speeches like that, he can finally de-fang right-wing populism, even if it makes him highly vulnerable in November. --Tom Schaller
