An advantage blunted
One of the most politically potent things that Barack Obama has had to offer is an opportunity to move beyond the culture wars. As he puts it, America doesn’t want to re-litigate the 1960s again.
Obama’s speech in West Virginia today on veteran’s care shows how effective this theme can be: “One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country’s call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated.”
But the power of this appeal has been significantly diminished by the fact we now know that Obama is friendly with some of the most extreme participants in the culture wars; notably the unrepentant leftist terrorist Bill Ayers. Also undercutting it is the fact that John McCain, who is not a baby boomer, is no culture warrior.
Hat tip: Jonathan Martin