…unless, that is, Obama preempts the inference that there is too much easy anti-Americanism emanating from his associates. Each time the Rev. Wright’s latest clip is played, Obama is going to lose voters — unless he explains how and why such sentiments are not his own, and how and why he could attend such sermons without being ill at ease.
You see, the Michelle Obama and Rev. Wright rhetoric — while welcome to some African-American audiences and elite whites — simply outrages the working classes of all backgrounds, most of whom have never had opportunities to go to prep schools like Obama did, or private schools where his children are enrolled, or Columbia/Harvard and Princeton/Harvard from which he and his wife graduated, or worked in elite positions for blue-chip law firms as this power couple once did.
In short, class can often trump race. The notion that very privileged people, with elite educations and income, seem to be suggesting (as well as being at ease with others who do) that the country is currently somehow pathological or unfair is not simply something that bothers the less fortunate, but literally enrages them.
Why? Because ingratitude, even the perception of it, is one of our strongest of emotions.