Jesse Jackson's Obama gaffe: Does it matter?

Fox News hypes off-mike negative comments by Jackson about Obama's attitude toward the responsibilities of black men. It's hard to imagine this hurts Obama.

Published July 9, 2008 9:18PM (EDT)

Today's latest political kerfuffle involves a Fox News effort to hype off-mike Jesse Jackson, Sr., comments scoring Barack Obama for being excessively moralistic in remarks about black men.

Seems Jackson was being interviewed on Fox, and made the remarks when he thought they were off-the-record. But Fox has the tape, and Sean Hannity -- known universally for his concern for the sensitivities of African-Americans -- is apparently planning to air it tonight.

Jackson has already issued an apology for the gaffe, which he called "crude and hurtful."

To be politically crude about it, it's hard to imagine that Barack Obama, whose African-American support is rock-solid, is going to be hurt by an off-the-record complaint by Jesse Jackson that he's being too morally demanding, particularly as reported by Fox News.


By Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is the managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and an online columnist for The New Republic.

MORE FROM Ed Kilgore


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

War Room