The brouhaha is not over what influence he may have on the President but rather on what influence his selection might have on national opinions. By his choice, Obama has signaled that Warren's position is acceptable.
I disagree. One of the points that Obama has consistently made throughout his campaign is that you can work with people with whom you have disagreements on issues. There are many issues with which he disagrees with Republicans, but he looks for common ground for agreement to build a coalition on issues that he does agree upon. There are many issues with which he disagrees with Evangelicals (remember his Reverend Wright speech), and yet he looks for common ground on issues upon which they can agree. I think his selection of Warren was a signal in that regard.
I don't like Warren for a number of reasons, and I don't agree with most of what he has done, and in particular his inexcusable position with regard to gays. I don't like Wright either, and I don't approve of Ayers' association with the Weather Underground, but Wright's church did a lot for the community, and Ayers has done a lot for education, and many of the same people condemning Obama for this decision supported him with regard to those associations. I think there needs to be some consistency here.
There will be issues with which I will disagree with Obama (and I disagree with his stance on same-gender marriage), but with his approach, many of the issues that I am passionate about will be pursued by his administration. I don't expect perfection in anyone, or agreement with anyone on all issues. (Frankly, I have more of an issue with anyone giving an invocation at an official ceremony, than with who is selected to give it.) I believe that there will be a
general improvement on most of the issues I agree with under the Obama administration, but there is no way that 4 or 8 years under Obama will achieve all that needs to be done. 90% is still an excellent grade, and 3.5 an acceptable GPA for me. Perhaps by the end of his term enough progress will have been made that same-gender marriage will become the norm in the United States - with the elimination of DoMA, and DADT in the military, and perhaps the federal recognition of same-gender marriages under State laws. I genuinely share the frustration with the unspeakable discrimination that exists against gays - and it is
fully the same civil-right struggle that faces minorities of any kind. I wish the majority of the population could wake up and see that, but I think we are heavy sleepers. I just don't see the selection of Warren as being the setback that it is being portrayed as. The selection of Nancy Sutley as chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality is far more significant.
