No Sister Souljah

Heilemann notes the real differences between Clinton's shrewd 1992 gambit and Obama's quandary with Wright. One other thing perhaps worth saying: the "government created AIDS" meme is both an appalling lie and actually, sadly, still very prevalent among urban African-Americans. Anyone who has had even the slightest contact with HIV work in the inner city knows this. It's part insane paranoia, part racial poison, and part the legacy of Tuskegee. But it's real. Wright's nuttiness is less remarkable in that context, although it doesn't make it any less inexcusable, of course. The difficult question is how you reach and engage inner city residents on these matters if you do not sometimes acquiesce in the sub-cultural memes that endure and make sense to them. I think you have to challenge it head-on, but I understand a pragmatic attempt to ignore this stuff if  that's what it takes to reach otherwise very marginalized groups.

I guess the broader point is that any politician trying to represent all these factions: white, black, urban poor, suburban middle class, prosperous yuppies, et al will have to contain contradictions that will offend and shock some people. Part of Obama's promise is his attempt to bring all these people along. But that's risky. With that expansive goal, the baggage increases. And it can shift in flight and hit you on the head if you're not careful.