Reply #26: Uhm, the word you're looking for is "you're" [View All]

And that's right; I am the audience for every candidate at every appearance. We're in what is known in some circles as "the Information Age," and the days when a politician could say one thing at the Rotary Club and something else entirely at the union hall are gone forever. If a candidate wants to pander to religious bigots, I'm going to hold him accountable for that even if I'm not physically in the audience, whether that candidate is going to Bob Jones University or sharing a stage with Mr. McClurkin.

If Mr. Obama wants the votes of folks who are fans of Mr. McClurkin and his peculiar brand of hatred (a peculiar brand that I'm very familiar with, no matter how he tries to cloak it), then he can kiss my support good-bye. I don't hold any brief for any one candidate on the Democratic side of things, and I've seen a lot to agree with and a lot to disagree with for practically all of them. It seems to me that Obama is picking a particularly unwise and wholly unnecessary fight by getting mixed up with the likes of Mr. McClurkin at all, and this one is a deal-breaker for me - no ifs, ands or buts. Surely there are other "gospel" singers who don't come with the ignorance and bigotry of Mr. McClurkin; I know five or six persons personally I could recommend, though they probably don't have the following Mr. McClurkin does, but who offer a far more complete and accurate vision of the message of Jesus, one that doesn't shut the church doors against people.