Obama has finally won the presumptive Democratic nomination for the next President of the United States. If it did not quite go down to the wire (or to the Convention) it came as close as could be. Hilary Clinton, apparently stunning even her close supporters, still did not resign her intentions immediately, but left a day or two before announcing that she accepts that Barack Obama has won.
It must be difficult for Hilary. She, we might guess, thought she had the market cornered on ‘firsts’, running as potentially the first woman President, only to be defeated by potentially the first African-American President. Even as late as this week, her supporters were claiming victory in the ‘popular vote’ (sounds familiar?), others suggesting that Clinton had been subtly disparaged by anti-feminist or misogynist sub-texts — how can you be both tough enough and likeable as a woman in power?
Distance from church
Meanwhile — back at the ranch, as they said in those old cowboy shows on TV — Barack was further distancing himself from his home church of 20 years. He has now officially resigned. The members of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago are said to be somewhat peeved at the negative attention their church has received (www. latimes.com). They feel the media has misrepresented their much-beloved, recently-retired pastor, presumably (they must feel) taking out of context his infamous ‘God damn America’ comment. But Obama resigned — inevitably, we are told, he felt — while he was running for President. And the church has undergone and finished a ten-week fast for spiritual power and unity, as it seeks renewal within the tradition of Black Liberation Theology that it practises.
