For the past two weeks, another circus has enamored the mainstream media, this one involving a controversy over the appearance of gospel singer and minister Donnie McClurkin at an Obama fundraiser in South Carolina.
Obama met Donnie McClurkin last December at an HIV/AIDS summit for Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in California. McClurkin is lowly-regarded within the GLBT community for declaring himself a "reformed" homosexual, and views sexual orientation as a choice rather than genetic pre-disposition.
Consequently, Obama's selection of McClurkin as a headliner in his gospel concert raised not only cash, but the ire of many gays across the country. The blogosphere was lit up by condemnations of Obama, in what was seen as a deeply offensive promotion of a homophobic hypocrite. There was a call within the GLBT community to uninvite McClurkin, a move Obama was understandably reluctant to make. Instead, the Senator invited an openly-gay minister to perform the convocation and issued the following statement:
I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all other citizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country.
I strongly believe that African Americans and the GLBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin’s views and will continue to fight for these rights as President of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division.
As an act of damage-control, these olive-branches were useful in repairing the breach. Obama later acknowledged his campaign had not vetted McClurkin on his gay and lesbian views as much as the Senator would have liked. That said, South Carolina is a very winnable state for our candidate, and McClurkin was a prize draw, many attendees saying their donation was based, in some measure, on the Grammy-winning minister participating in the concert. Further, the black vote is a key demographic within the state, making up 70% of the Democratic electorate. The black evangelical community was largely responsible for the 30% of the black vote Bush received there in 2004.
Predictably, a modest protest was assembled outside the concert on the part of the gay community, with Obama (who was not in attendance) again later reiterating his message of inclusion and painting the parallels in the struggle for racial equality and gay rights.
My take on the whole hubbub would be it is ridiculous to hold Obama to a standard that says everyone his campaign invokes for support has to be in idealogical lockstep with him on every issue. It is the very fact that nearly everyone can find elements of his message they can agree with is what accounts for his broad base of support. No doubt votes will be lost within the GLBT community as a result of the flap, regardless of the Senator's attempt to placate those offended. Those votes are theoretically made up for by evangelical independents, who will see Obama's firm stand as a victory for their viewpoint.
As usual with our candidate, everyone can take away something be happy about, even if not getting everything they were looking for. Let's hope that message has enough breadth to persuade those looking for a unifying candidate, at a time when America should be fully fed up with combative politics, that Obama is their man.
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