Holy crap - if this is true, the Democratic Party is definately hooking it's wagon to the wrong star!

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considering the way our culture is, but it's not acceptable for someone who is the spouse of a candidate for President. I'm praying this video breaks soon if it exists. It will provide the African American community the reason to back away from Obama. They will immediately understand that this video will kill any chance Obama has of winning the election.

I think we need to know yesterday if this exists. The risk of an October surprise is so huge that I'm shaking in my boots.

I'm going to assume this is bullshit. Although it's possible that such a tape exists, and that the Republicans are holding off on using it so it can be a devestating October surprise, it's far more likely that this is just typical Rovian disinformation, designed to sow confusion and smear a likely opponent. It's akin to push-polling the "fact" that McCain fathered a black child out of wedlock -- there was no truth to it, but it did its damage. It just doesn't pass the smell test for me. It seems too likely that if this did happen, there would have been a leak of the footage by now, and, one way or the other, it doesn't sound like her.

That said, if this really did happen, and Obama sits on the information until it becomes and October surprise, it's going to be hard to describe just how intensely I'll hate the man. He has an opportunity to get that information out now, when it'll do less damage to the Democrats' hope in November. If he comes out with it now, there will be a chance to take the public's temperature on it. If the public doesn't hold his wife's comments against him, too much, then there will be plenty of time for that to fade into being "old news" by the time of the election, and the damage will be significantly lessened. If they do hold it against him strongly, then there's still time for the superdelegates to choose a less poisonous candidate for the party. If Obama knows these rumors are true and he doesn't act immediately to confirm them, he's screwing his party and his country.

Another reason to doubt it:

If this footage does exist, the only way for it to come to light this way would be for some member of the congregation to pass it along to a political operative, while not making it available generally to the media or anyone else. For that to be the case, we'd need to be talking about a highly motivated and disciplined political partisan (since a mere glory hound or money seeker would probably try to sell it to the media, instead).

It seems unlikely that many congregants in Obama's church are right-wing partisans, given the nature of the church. Thus, it's more likely that if politics were the motivation, the hypothetical footage would have been turned over to Clinton, if to anyone. And if Clinton were seeking to use it, she would have missed her mark by a long shot, since it would have been most useful right before Super Tuesday, not now. Why sit on that footage until it's so late in the game that it's possible it wouldn't make a difference in the primary outcome?

It's possible that the Republicans had a plant in the church, or that some congregant just happened to be a right-wingnut, but it seems improbable. So, it's most likely this is a hoax.

Husbands and wives don't go to church together every Sunday. I could see Michele saying something that would be out of character - even something she wouldn't normally say in public - when she got heated (ala the "first time I've been proud of America" comment). Maybe even assuming that it wasn't taped or that time would hide it. Hell, I've interviewed enough people to know that humans frequently alter their own memories to avoid unpleasant conflicts with their own desires.

He had better be investigating like hell right now. I was just saying to a friend yesterday, that should I ever run for office, the first thing I would do is hire an investigator to dig up as much dirt on me, my relatives and close friends as possible. It's naive to leave such things undone in the scorched earth world we live in.

money, anonimity and old church conflicts. Like any organizations - especially since Obama has now disavowed Wright so publicly - there may be people looking for a little revenge. There are so many reasons why someone might turn over such a tape.

I'm suspicious too. Especially considering the long and successful history of Republican disinformation campaigns. However, considering some of the things Michelle has said in the past, I could see her saying something like this in a heated moment.

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may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

I think it would be an absolute shame if this somehow detracts from Obama's campaign. I have to believe that almost every black person in America has uttered that word [whitey] at one time or another so what is the big deal? I do not feel this is nearly as bad as some of Michelle Obama's other statements.

I am personally not offended by that word but for the good of the his campaign Obama must nip this problem in the bud before it is in full bloom...not everyone feels as I do.

SG

I'm personally not offended by it, but it's still something that could very possibly make him unelectable, if it's true.

If it's true, it invites the obvious question about double standards. If Mrs. McCain had, from a pulpit, ranted about "blacky," then anything short of the most abject apology by her and the most wilting condemnation of her by her husband would probably end his political career. People will rightly question why the Obamas should get to play by different rules. It would make a race-baiting strategy by McCain effortless and overwhelmingly effective, and would likely result in a landslide for McCain.

So, if this is true (I'm 95% sure it isn't), Obama has a duty to come out with a confirmation ASAP, while the party still has time to adjust. If it's true and he sits on that information until the Republicans use it against him, he should go down in the record books right alongside Ralph Nader, as an alleged liberal who did more for the conservative movement than anyone other than maybe Reagan. If it's true and he lets the GOP turn it into an October surprise, then he shares a lot of the blame for any horrors this country suffers under a McCain administration.

But I'm sure you would excoriate me if I ever did. Wow, talk about fluid principles.