Of how insults and apologies turned Obama into a phenomenon ...

02.28.08 -- 10:41 AM

By Zim Sidney

Politico's Ben Smith has a new theory on what fuelled Barack Obama's stunning ascent in the Democratic presidential nomination. It's ... insults ... and apologies ...

AUSTIN —They are so sorry.

In the course of the primary campaign, and perhaps in a preview of the fall election drama, Senator Barack Obama has accepted the apologies of three United States senators, a former senator, CNN and various lower-level supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton.

Most of them have apologized for saying something insensitive about Obama’s race, his name, or his heritage. And the dynamic of outrage and offense this campaign has proved race to be a much touchier subject than gender. At times, Obama’s campaign has sought to downplay burgeoning outrage. At others, he’s stoked it for political advantage.

But most of the flaps ended the same way: With Obama forgiving the alleged offender. Sometimes he’s accepted the apologies graciously, sometimes sternly, but always in line with his message. And that message of reconciliation – often explicitly racial reconciliation – is a central part of his campaign’s appeal. With a general election that appears likely to open him to more Republican attacks, and more line-crossing, the campaign ritual of offense and forgiveness appears likely to be repeated often this year.

“There is no better way to appear magnanimous and above the fray than in gracefully accepting an apology,” said Chris Lehane, a California political consultant who supports Clinton. "In this case, it actually represents not only a chance to come off as a good and hale fellow, but to also drive his central message of being a unifier and a new kind of leader.”

The first apology of the cycle set the tone. On January 2, 2007, before Obama’s campaign formally began, CNN aired a story about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden that ran under the headline, “Where’s Obama?”

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