Obama pressured on gay ‘cure’ preacher

Barack Obama has really shot himself in the foot (or perhaps the head) on this one. One has to wonder what the Hell was he –or his staff who set up this tour – thinking? With HRC stepping in, as I think it should, Obama’s mealy mouth press statement is not going to cut it. Especially since other acts (e.g., Mary Mary) on the tour are also homophobes. Here are some highlights from The Hill's story (http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-pressured-on-gay-cure-preacher-2007-10-24.html):

The nation’s biggest gay rights group is trying to force Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) to cancel presidential campaign event with a controversial preacher who claims he was homosexual but has been cured. The Human Rights Campaign has expressed its strong reservations to Obama over his campaign-sponsored tour that features gospel singer Donnie McClurkin.

The influential organization, representing a powerful Democratic constituency, let Obama’s campaign know that it would issue a public demand if Obama did not immediately cancel the event, said a person who had been briefed on the exchange. Obama will not be present on the so-called Embrace the Change Tour, but public denouncement by the Human Rights Campaign could damage him in his quest for the White House.

McClurkin is notorious among gay rights activists for fighting what he calls the “curse of homosexuality,” for saying sexual orientation is a choice, and for claiming that homosexuality can be “cured” by prayer. Obama has drawn intense fire from gay activists and liberal bloggers in recent days for recruiting McClurkin and other gospel singers for a statewide tour of South Carolina beginning this week. By threatening to weigh in strongly, Human Rights Campaign has elevated what began as a controversy in the blogosphere into a full-fledged dilemma for Obama’s campaign.

One active member of the LGBT community who is supporting Obama said that his e-mail inbox has filled with complaints about the controversy. “I think Barack Obama is between a rock and hard place and I imagine it will get worse not better over the next 48 hours,” said the supporter who declined to speak on the record because he had not made up his mind whether to criticize Obama publicly. “I never heard about [McClurkin] until 36 hours ago. Someone sent me an e-mail of a blog on the Huffington Post. God bless the Internet. Things spread like wildfire.”

To me, if Obama was unaware of McClurkin's baggage, he needs to fire some staffers for not doing a better job in making sure they knew who they were getting in bed with.