Don't We Have Bigger Things to Focus On?

I was listening to the radio driving home from work yesterday, listening to the Jeff Kuhner show (which I generally like). Kuhner was playing excerpts from Obama's interview with Brian Williams over the weekend in which he said, "I can't walk around with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead." Granted, it was certainly a stupid thing to say, and a news story to be sure. But then Kuhner went on to say that since the President had brought up the topic he (Kuhner) wanted to discuss it, and asked his listeners to call in and say whether they thought Obama was born in the U.S. or not.

This discussion somehow morphed into an attack on Obama for ordering some lobster dish at a restaurant in New Orleans (lobster is the one major type of seafood not caught in Gulf waters) and further attacks on Obama's habit of "stuffing his face" with the finest dishes at the finest restaurants. It reminded me very much of something I heard on a different radio show last week. The guest host on Mark Levin's program was lambasting Obama for refusing to answer a question about the Iraq War shouted to him by a reporter on his vacation while he and his family were buying shrimp at a seafood market. The host was railing at Obama for being more concerned about "stuffing his face" than the big issue of our men and women fighting and dying in Iraq, and said that this moment should be a rallying cry for the upcoming elections.

Come on. I have been as critical of Obama as anyone, but over-the-top commentary like what I described above is not doing the conservative cause any favors. I have heard more than enough about the birth certificate issue. I am well aware that Obama has not released the official long form of his birth certificate, but there is plenty of evidence that he was born in the U.S. Obama may well be covering up something from his past by refusing to release any of his records and transcripts, but we have no idea what it is and speculation is useless. Continuing to talk about this is playing right into Obama's hands (and maybe even what he intended by making that statement). He would much rather conservatives look extreme by continuing to go round and round about an old, stale issue that is not news, rather than talking about the real issues like the economy, unemployment, illegal immigration, Iraq, Iran, health care, cap and trade, government spending, the deficit, etc.

I honestly don't think most Americans care whether Obama ordered shrimp or lobster during his recent trip to New Orleans. So what if Obama likes to "stuff his face"? So do I! I do think the president's vacation schedule and golfing outings have been excessive and overly luxurious, given the current economic times, but that is not what he was being attacked about. He was being attacked specifically for what he ate and how much he ate, and I think that's stupid. And with regard to Obama ignoring the question about the Iraq War -- well, frankly, if I had been in his shoes I would probably have ignored the question too. Any public figure, including the President, is going to be peppered with questions from reporters when he goes out in public, and he has every right to ignore them. This wasn't a press conference. He is under no obligation to answer a question shouted at him as he walks by, and it certainly wasn't the time for an explanation of the intricacies of our Iraqi military presence.

Here's my point in all this: as conservatives, let's be smart in our criticism of Obama. Obama has failed as a leader on many big, important issues. Ignoring a reporter's question on his vacation and eating lobster in New Orleans are not among those failures. We didn't like it when the press unfairly hammered Bush over every little stinkin' thing; let's not do that to Obama either. These kinds of nitpicking criticisms make us look small, petty, and hateful. I have been very harsh in my attacks on Obama on this blog, but I have always tried to keep those attacks substantive and focused on the important issues. (If at any point I fail to this, I hope you, my readers, will correct me.) If his behavior demonstrates arrogance or shows a lack of leadership and integrity (as I believe it has), then that is a legitimate and fair personal criticism. But our goal as conservatives should not be to personally destroy Obama; our goal should be to defeat him in this election and in 2012 by articulating a clear and positive vision for our country in line with the principles of our founders and our Constitution.