Should candidates repudiate embarrassing supporters?

The Associated Press

Louis Farrakhan likes Barack Obama. Is the love returned?

Featured Topic | Posted 38 weeks 2 days ago

Should candidates repudiate embarrassing supporters?

Candidates can't always get the support they want. This week, Barack Obama has had to "reject and denounce" the support of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. At the same time, John McCain repudiated an Ohio radio personality who warmed up a McCain rally with frequent references to "Barack Hussein Obama."

When should candidates have to repudiate their own supporters? Listen to Ben and Joel's discussion.

Ben likes: Obama and the Farrakhan trap

Byron York/National Review Online

Talking to reporters after the Democratic debate here at Cleveland State University, David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s closest adviser, insisted that Obama didn’t try to spin his way through a question on Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. “I thought that he was very forthright about it,” Axelrod explained. “The point is this: Louis Farrakhan said kind things about [Obama]. From what I read, he didn’t say it was an endorsement, and I think Sen. Obama made clear what his position on Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic statements was.”

The question stemmed from Obama’s initial answer when NBC’s Tim Russert asked, “Do you accept the support of Louis Farrakhan?” Obama might have said, “No.” But instead, he seemed to go out of his way to denounce some of Farrakhan’s statements while not taking on Farrakhan himself.

Joel likes: Obama aces Russert's Farrakhan test

Amy Alexander/The Nation

The anti-Semitism-by-association game that Russert attempted to play on Barack Obama failed, big time, in no small part because Obama has also been dreading that moment -- and preparing for it, too.

As a 46 year-old black man who lived through the Black Power era and its aftermath, Obama is undoubtedly on to the insidious nature of the Farrakhan Litmus Test. He is not responsible for someone who decides to say publically that he is a "good guy," Obama pointed out, paraphrasing comments that Farrakhan made last weekend about the senator's candidacy.