As a psychoanalyst, I am only too aware of the dangers inherent in indulging in long-distance diagnistic speculation about a person one has never met. Yet, I could not help but note, shortly after Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention, that the title of his first book was "Dreams From My Father", a man he’d met only once, at the age of ten, after the separation of his parents when Obama was two years old. Even then, I was struck with the fact that Barack Obama, like so many children whose parents are divorced, are more fascinated and eager to win approval from the less accessible parent than they are by the parent who is present and responsible for the child’s welfare on a daily basis. The child’s fantasy is that, if he or she could just be wonderful enough, they could win the love and respect that would ensure the continued presence of the absent parent in their life.

In a CNN interview aired on Dec. 24th, Obama reflected that, when his father left again, after the only visit that he’d had with his son since his son was two years old, he did not long for his father to stay on; rather, he was almost relieved when Obama, Sr. left, feeling his presence as something of an intrusion. Yet, Obama’s book was not entitled, "Dreams From My Mother", or from the grandparents who were greatly involved in his upbringing. His father was obviously a larger-than-life, highly romanticized figure for him.

I bring this up at this point because it seems clear to me that Barack Obama has a "pastor problem", and that this may well be related to the longing for a powerful, opinionated and, ultimately approving father, who sees his son as special, and supports him unconditionally. Pastors are, after all, the "fathers" of their flock, and their role is to do just that. Obama’s choices of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his long-term former Pastor, and his current choice of the Rev. Rick Warren, both controversial figures who stand for issues that Obama stands against, to be his spiritual representatives, really only make sense in this context. It can be said, and has been suggested, that Obama is making good on his promise to bring dissenting voices into his administration but, let’s face it, dissenting voices cannot include bigots and misogynists, I feel sure that Obama would not invite a David Duke or a Rush Limbaugh to play a part in his administration or represent him in any way. Yet, Rick Warren, who has stated that those who defend abortion, but say that it should be rare, are like those who would say about the Holocaust, "Well, maybe we could save 20% of the Jewish people in Poland and Germany, and we should be satisfied with that…I’m not satisfied with it. I want the Holocaust ended", and who, on the eve of the 2004 Presidential election, sent a letter to his congregation, telling them that there were five non-negotiable issues that should determine their vote: abortion, stem cell research, cloning, homosexual marriage, and euthenasia, is invited to give the invocation at Obama’s innauguration.

Obama’s father is described by Kenyan journalist Philip Ochieng as a difficult person, who had srious drinking problems. He lost both of his legs in a first automobile collision, and was killed in a second one at the age of 46. He may have, in fact, been a tragic figure, a man of promise and great charisma who, essentially, self-destructed, but it is clear that he could not, or would not be present for his son.

If Obama is searching for a powerful male charismatic figure, it is something that he needs to understand, for the sake of the American people. There are many powerful "fathers" to be courted in the worlds of religion and politics, and many of them are far from benign.