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NEWS ABOUT: Jeremiah Wright

Rev. Wright Slams 'Devious' Media Coverage

Obama pastor defends sermons, says he was portrayed as 'a fanatic'

(Newser) - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright says the media made him out as "some sort of fanatic" by repeating snippets from sermons out of context—part of a "devious" agenda to denigrate the campaign of Barack Obama, the Chicago Tribune reports. In an interview with Bill Moyers to air on... More »

McCain Wants GOP to Pull Wright-Referencing Ad in NC

State party trying to tarnish down-ticket Democratic candidates

(Newser) - John McCain has demanded North Carolina Republicans drop an ad attacking two Democratic candidates for governor—by tarnishing them with connections to Barack Obama and his controversial pastor. Wrote McCain, “In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.” The spot airs Wright’s “... More »

Obama Doesn't Shy From Hard Truths: Sister

'Typical white' grandma OK with depiction in his speech on race

(Newser) - Barack Obama's diverse family has remained silent since the flare-up over his former pastor's sermons. But in her first public comments since Obama's speech on race in America, half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng told the Telegraph their "typical white" grandmother, whose opinions on blacks sometimes made the candidate "cringe,"... More »

Wright Takes Cross Over Racial Divide

Rebel preacher aims to free gospel from 'whiteness'

(Newser) - Barack Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright built his Chicago church on black liberation theology, which directs Christianity at African Americans, Kelefa Sanneh writes in the New Yorker. The movement’s founder aimed to “emancipate the gospel from its ‘whiteness,’” but also from Frederick Douglass’ belief that antebellum... More »

Not an Icon, a Man

Would civil rights legend be controversial in today's political climate?

(Newser) - On the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Washington Post looks past the legend at the multidimensional figure scholars and King's associates consider his true legacy. ”His challenge was much bigger than being nice," says historian Taylor Branch. "It was even bigger than race.... More »

Obama, Wright Echo Early, Late MLK

Barack's pastor sounds like King near the end of his life

(Newser) - Barack Obama can easily be compared to the early Martin Luther King and his hopeful message of change prior to 1965, writes Michael Eric Dyson in the Los Angeles Times. But  it's Jeremiah Wright who most resembles King after that—when his message grew "angrier" and increasingly skeptical of... More »

Obama Takes Image Rehab to The View

Candidate says he was gone from church if pastor Wright wasn't

(Newser) - Barack Obama "wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church" had Jeremiah Wright not retired this year, he said today on The View. Obama reiterated his denunciation of his ex-pastor’s sermons, saying Wright had “deeply offended people,” CNN reports. He also told Barbara Walters &... More »

Clinton Slips to New Low in Poll

37% approval rating worst of campaign; Obama appears to weather pastor storm

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is suffering some of the worst poll numbers of her political career, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Clinton chalked up a personal approval rating of just 37%, the lowest since March 2001, two months after her election to the Senate. And of Clinton, Barack Obama, and... More »

Obama Pastor Cancels Speeches

Churches in Texas, Fla. cite Wright's safety, 'media circus'

(Newser) - Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor, has canceled scheduled appearances this week, citing security concerns. Wright was due to lead a Tampa, Fla., church's three-day revival beginning yesterday, and visit several Houston-area churches Sunday. "As much as I hate for him not to come I think it's... More »

Wright 'Would Not Have Been My Pastor': Clinton

She'd have left church over racial remarks by Obama's ex-preacher

(Newser) - After a week’s silence, Hillary Clinton spoke today on the Jeremiah Wright flap, saying the ex-minister at Barack Obama's church “would not have been my pastor,” the Washington Post reports. She said “getting up and moving” would have been the right choice for Obama. “You... More »

Obama Erases Clinton's Lead With Speech

New Gallup poll puts Dems on equal footing; both trail McCain

(Newser) - A new Gallup poll puts the two Democratic presidential candidates on even footing nationally, with Barack Obama holding a statistically negligible 1-point lead over Hillary Clinton. The poll, conducted after Obama's widely praised speech on race, suggests that the Illinois senator has erased the damage done by the Jeremiah Wright... More »

Obama Recalls Sparring With Preacher

Candidate says he had to 'agree to disagree' with Wright

(Newser) - “This is not a crackpot church,” Barack Obama told a conservative Philadelphia radio host in an interview defending Trinity Church, Politico reports. The Democratic hopeful says that despite Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “very offensive views,” he built “one of the finest churches in Chicago. Witness... More »

Clinton, McCain Could Pick Up Some Pointers From Obama

Noonan: They could try addressing us as adults

(Newser) - Add conservative columnist—and speechwriter of note—Peggy Noonan to the list of pundits impressed by Barack Obama’s address on race. “It was a speech to think to, not clap to,” Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal . And it holds a lesson for Clinton and McCain:... More »

Obama Backer Compares Clinton to McCarthy

Retired general blasts Bill's patriotism remark

(Newser) - A retired Air Force general yesterday compared Bill Clinton to red-baiting Sen. Joe McCarthy, after Clinton made comments that seemed to question Barack Obama's patriotism. The former president said at a North Carolina rally, "I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where... More »

Voters Split Over Obama's Pastor Problem

Some in Pa., Ind. hold cleric's words against candidate

(Newser) - How is the Jeremiah Wright controversy playing with voters in Pennsylvania and Indiana? The reaction isn't unanimous, but the Boston Globe finds many who say the inflammatory sound bites swayed them toward Hillary Clinton. “Twenty years he put up with that?” said one 82-year old Indiana woman said of... More »

Richardson Backs Obama, Cites 'Unique Moral Ability'

Candidates competed feverishly for NM governor's nod

(Newser) - Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama today, saying the senator’s landmark race address this week “asked every American to see the reality and the pain of other Americans. He appealed to the best in us." The Democratic candidates eagerly sought the New Mexico governor’s nod, and Obama... More »

Bill Clinton Welcomed Wright

Photo from 1998 shows controversial pastor no fringe character

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor was twice invited to the Clinton White House with groups of influential clergy, Politico reports, demonstrating that he is not the fringe figure he's been made out to be in the recent flap over his views. A photograph of Jeremiah Wright with Bill Clinton... More »

Clinton Pulls Ahead in Polls

White, working-class voters dismayed by Obama pastor's remarks

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has scored her first statistically significant national lead over Barack Obama in several weeks—49% to 42%—in a Gallup poll taken early this week, Reuters reports. And her edge in Pennsylvania has doubled since February, two new polls show. They put her lead at 51%-35% and 53%-41%,... More »

Clinton Must Catch Perfect Wave, Aides Say

Path to nomination needs big win in Pa., popular-vote majority, Obama rough patch

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton’s aides say their candidate’s chances of winning the Democratic nomination grow ever slimmer, the New York Times reports, and she will need victories in Pennsylvania and the national popular vote—as well as a confidence-shaking event in Barack Obama's camp—to succeed. She can't likely overtake... More »

Huckabee: Lay Off Obama Pastor

Former minister goes to bat for controversial figure

(Newser) - Barack Obama got some unexpected help yesterday from Mike Huckabee, of all people. The former candidate called Obama’s speech “historic” and said it wasn’t fair to hold candidates accountable for everything the people near them say, ABC News reports. Huckabee, once a pastor himself, said he understood... More »

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