Obama's Views Not Always What Some Expect

July 9, 2007 — -- WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is making a habit of telling people things they don't necessarily want to hear on subjects ranging from fuel standards and fatherhood to homophobia and teacher pay.

The technique is winning the Illinois senator some attention and helping stoke broad interest in his candidacy but could hurt him among black voters, campaign observers say.

Campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama is not going to "pander his way" through the race.

His positions "may or may not be the priorities of every group, but he feels like he needs to say them anyway. Some of them may not be what is in a traditional political playbook" for Democrats, Gibbs says. As for venues, "Obviously he's going to look for places where his message is well covered."

Some of Obama's recent statements and where he made them:

•Asked about AIDS at a minority issues forum June 28 at Howard University, Obama said homosexuality still carries "a stigma" in black communities. "It has been an aspect of sometimes a homophobia, that we don't address this issue as clearly as it needs to be," he said.

•At a National Education Association meeting last week in Philadelphia, Obama reiterated his support for merit pay for teachers. The teachers union says merit pay forces teachers to compete rather than cooperate and doesn't solve the underlying problem of low pay.

•A couple of days before Father's Day, at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C., the senator spoke about the responsibilities of fathers: "There are a lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys, who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception, who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one."

•In Detroit, Obama scolded the auto industry for failing to develop "clean cars" and unveiled a plan for tough fuel-efficiency requirements.

Obama's approach in some ways recalls Bill Clinton's "Sister Souljah moment" in June 1992. Speaking to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, Clinton called the black singer's comments about killing white people "filled with hatred" and compared her to one time Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.