Rocketing off the Reservation

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is enjoying a nice surge in Iowa, and for the first time has raised expectations that he just might be able to somehow knock Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) off her speedy track to the Democratic nomination. Even Newt Gingrich, who has long predicted Clinton would take it, is now saying he believes Obama will win Iowa on Jan. 3 “by a surprising margin.”

But when I read that Jesse Jackson, who endorsed Obama back in March, has just written that, but for John Edwards, the Democratic candidates have “virtually ignored the plight of African-Americans in this country,” I was shocked. Yep, those “candidates” would be front-runners Clinton — whom Jackson counseled with her husband after his affair with Monica Lewinsky — and Obama, whom Jackson announced in March “has my vote.”

How could Obama, who had to have known what a huge deal it was to win Jackson’s endorsement over Clinton, have blown this? Yes, he is straining to avoid becoming the Black Candidate in the primary, for fear of damaging his general election prospects, but was there no way to address Jackson’s concerns without having him rocket off the reservation like this? Several months ago Jackson was so mad Obama hadn’t gone to rally in Jena, La., that he said his candidate was acting white. Was that enough for Obama to walk away? Clinton wouldn’t have; she would have sat Jackson down and asked how to work things out so he wouldn’t embarrass her again.

Over the weekend Obama, running his heart out in mostly white Iowa, addressed the very issue Jackson referred to when he said: “On every measure, on income, on healthcare, on incarceration rates, on the criminal justice system, on housing, on life expectancy, on infant mortality, on almost every single indicator, there is still an enormous gap between black and white.”

I don’t know if Jackson was listening, but if he was it was clearly too little, too late.

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What is Obama thinking? Or doesn’t he need Jackson’s help? Let’s talk about Obama on Ask A.B. Send your questions to askab@digital-stage.thehill.com.