| Lots of back and forth over at DailyKos over the gospel singer tour in South Carolina. Here are some good responses --- I'll add more as they come in: 1. "Between Barack and a Homophobe" from bsmcneil 2. "Obama, Preconditions, and the Politics of Purity" from LarryInNYC: If Obama hasn't compromised his views, what's the uproar about? Why shouldn't he use this guy to bring in voters who might not normally be inclined to vote for him? If McClurkin can help spread Obama's message of inclusiveness does it matter what his personal views are? Isn't McClurkin, and not Obama, who's compromising his position and helping to propel a pro-gay politician towards the White House?
3. Meanwhile, Keith Boykin offers his thoughts and lays out the options for the Obama campaign: Now to the South Carolina event. The tour itself is a great idea, and I don't agree with those who suggest the candidate should cancel the entire event[...] However, I think the Obama campaign made a big mistake in inviting Donnie McClurkin to the gospel tour. I don't think the campaign staff had any clue to the controversy that would be created by inviting McClurkin, and I think if they had known they would have invited someone else. I also doubt that Obama himself knew anything about the controversy around McClurkin. Having worked on 6 campaigns over the years, I know that many of these scheduling decisions are made without the direct involvement of the candidate.
4. Over at the Huffington Post, Paul Jenkins had this much to say: His association with a fool like McClurkin notwithstanding, Obama easily remains the most convincing on the issue of gay rights. He is by far the most comfortably eloquent on the subject, and he is right when he says that he is the only candidate who has brought the fight to some of its toughest frontiers. Clinton, Ms. DOMA, is fine in front of a Human Rights Campaign audience, but, as with everything else, overly cautious elsewhere. As for Edwards, his stated "struggle" on the issue of gay marriage is not exactly inspiring, especially coming from Mr. Slick on every other topic.
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