McCarthy's shadow spreads over the land

March 26, ANDREW GREELEY agreel@aol.com :
The ghost of the late Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy is abroad in the land.

"Tail gunner Joe" was a master of the art of guilt by association.

Sen. Barack Obama ought not to have had to defend his outspoken pastor. The Rev. Wright is not running for the presidency. There is no evidence at all that the senator identifies with his clergyman, and overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Yet the senator must repudiate him or lose the primary battle to Sen. Hillary Clinton. Even a repudiation would not do. The senator's brilliant speech did not help him; his polling rates have collapsed in Pennsylvania.

The United States will reveal itself to the world as a country in which a candidate can be destroyed by a single explosion on YouTube -- at least if he's black.

The media will celebrate that they have dragged down another celebrity like Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Some of my friends tell me that Obama might still carry it off. I hope they're right. ..."