Reverend Wright? Right...

In exit polling in both Indiana and North Carolina today, voters overwhelmingly said the economy was the No. 1 issue influencing their decision in the presidential primary. In Indiana, 65% said the economy was most important, compared to 60% in North Carolina. Asked if the recession had affected their lives, 89% in Indiana said yes, as did 81% in North Carolina, MSNBC reports. More »

Coming together “isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Gregory Rodriguez writes in the LA Times , and Barack Obama's attempt to start a national dialogue on race was foiled by an unlikely actor: Barack Obama. Jeremiah Wright "didn't really say anything new last week," Rodriguez argues. "He called Obama’s bluff.” More »

Barack Obama appears to be recovering—mostly—from the furor over his former pastor's incendiary remarks, according to the latest CBS News / New York Times poll. His lead over Hillary Clinton has increased from 8 points to 12 points—50% to 38%—among Democratic primary voters, who also approve of how he handled the flap over comments by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, 68% to 22%. There's still some negative residue, however. More »

You can thank or blame one Democrat for the rise of superdelegates and demise of the party's winner-take-all primaries—but strategist Harold Ickes, who negotiated the primary system 20 years ago, is likely too busy to hear you. He's calling up superdelegates for Hillary Clinton, and using such a nasty tongue that Time couldn't print what it overheard. More »

Barack Obama's controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright was making passes at a parishioner's wife when he was supposed to be giving the couple marriage counseling, the New York Post reports. "People were telling me that my extremely attractive wife was seen with the pastor," said Delmer Reed, who says he sought help at Trinity. "But I thought, 'So what?'" More »

Like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey attended Jeremiah Wright's church but ultimately gave up on it, Newsweek reports. She went for nearly a decade, starting in 1984, and wasn't surprised by his angry sermons. But "Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost," a friend said. "She's always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn't be smart." More »

Obama likened Hillary's stance on Iran to George Bush's "cowboy diplomacy" on Meet the Press today, while Clinton took to ABC to defend the gas tax and told voters mired in the Jeremiah Wright controversy "We should move on." Tim Russert ignored her advice, however, and devoted his first 18 minutes to the pastor, reports the New York Times . “Obviously, it’s distracted us,” Obama admitted. More »

Peggy Noonan wonders if there's something wrong with her for not being upset over Jeremiah Wright’s extremist sermons. No, she decides in the Wall Street Journal , she just doesn’t “think his views carry deep implications for our country”—and indeed understands the bitterness, drawing on the experiences of a young Irish-American friend who still likes to sing about rising up against the British. More »

While Jeremiah Wright is hammered from all sides for his left-wing rhetoric, Washington Post writer EJ Dionne Jr. wonders why the same degree of backlash fails to surface over extreme statements from right-wing white preachers. Among many examples: Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell famously linked feminists and gays to the 9/11 attacks, but prominent Republicans such as John McCain still vied for their backing. More »

As Hillary Clinton piously chimes in on the Jeremiah Wright controversy, Barack Obama still won't turn the tables and demand a look through Clinton's unsavory associations. And he's not likely to, so Politico digs into the litany of untouched Clinton material. From patronage-happy, prison jumpsuit-wearing Web Hubbell to misfit brothers Hugh and Tony, there’s endless dirt unlikely to be dug up. More »

Jeremiah Wright is set to retire to a $1 million mansion paid for by Trinity United Church of Christ. The 10,400-square-footer is in a tony Chicago suburb, and comes with butler’s pantry, elevator, and whirlpool, the New York Post reports. The church is listed as owner; an unexplained $10 million line of credit is attached to the property. More »

Optimism is spreading through Hillary Clinton’s once-dispirited war room, Politico reports, as a series of wins accumulate in their candidate’s column: fundraising has rushed in since Pennsylvania, she's collected some well-timed endorsements, she’s bobbed up in the polls, and Barack Obama is once again afflicted by Jeremiah Wright. All of which makes Clinton’s advisers believe that her comeback-kid rhetoric might actually have legs. More »

Barack Obama has a very long fuse, the New York Times notes, and so his break-up with his pastor and surrogate father has been playing out in slow motion, since even before the day he launched his presidential campaign. It took Jeremiah Wright's direct assault on Obama's credibility in his speech Monday to make the candidate finally snap, Michael Powell observes in a look at why a man so focused and formidable has fumbled in handling the biggest crisis of his campaign.  More »

Joe Andrew, a superdelegate and the Democratic Party chair during Bill Clinton's presidency, has switched his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, reports the AP. Andrew had endorsed Hillary on the day she announced her candidacy, but in a lengthy letter to other superdelegates he says they must rally behind Obama to "heal the rift in our party." More »

Barack Obama increased his lead over Hillary Clinton in a national poll, but the newest Rev. Wright flap and his loss in Pennsylvania appears to have raised doubts about him in voters' minds, the New York Times reports. Democrats favor him over Clinton 46% to 38% in a Times /CBS poll, up from a 3-point lead last month, but fewer people expect him to be the nominee—51%, down from 69%. More »

In her first interview with longtime critic Bill O’Reilly, Hillary Clinton called Jeremiah Wright's comments “offensive,” “outrageous,” “off base” and “far out," ABC News reports. She also got a dig in at Barack Obama by saying she's glad he "finally" clarified his views on Wright, the New York Times notes. Fox News offered a peek before the interview airs tonight on the O'Reilly Factor . More »

Jeremiah Wright's ideas don't "represent mainstream black thought on Sunday morning," black ministers and parishioners tell the Los Angeles Times —and they're worried that his recent comments are offensive and damaging to Barack Obama’s candidacy. “This didn’t have anything to do with the black church—it was basically an attack on the individual message he proclaimed, which hurt some individuals,” says one pastor. More »

Barack Obama has spent his entire career trying not to be an Angry Black Man, but yesterday Jeremiah Wright forced him to tap his rage, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times . Wright, seemingly among the angriest of black men, had created a full-blown crisis for Obama, forcing the Democrat to commit “a painful form of political patricide.” More »

Barack Obama's angry break with his former pastor marks a dramatic change in tone for the Democratic hopeful—and the party's superdelegates are paying close attention, the New York Times reports. Obama's forceful handling of the furor has impressed many but the revival of thorny racial issues ahead of next week's primaries is causing some to fret. More »