Will Wright Do Obama Wrong?

Barack Obama may have the nomination all but wrapped up, but that doesn’t mean his electoral problems are over, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times —and feigning indifference that the Mountain State gave him a raspberry last night isn't a winning strategy. If Obama wants to capture these West Virginians in November, he’ll have to fight for them,  the way JFK did "despite raging anti-Catholicism." More »

With polls still seesawing as voters pull their levers, maybe it’s best to stop predicting results, and start figuring out what they’ll mean. Adam Nagourney takes a shot in the New York Times : A Hillary Clinton victory in both primaries could “change the world.” Indiana would be Barack Obama’s third consecutive loss due to a blue-collar gap, and the North Carolina result would be chalked up to Rev. Wright. Disaster for Obama. 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'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 »

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 »

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 »

In throwing Jeremiah Wright “to the dogs,” Barack Obama today finally showed the anger he’s too long denied his public, Michael Tomasky sighs with relief in the Guardian —but only time can tell how hard Wright will work to sink the Democratic candidate. The even-tempered Obama—“anti-McCain, emotionally”—needed to show voters he can get “angry over important things.” More »

Barack Obama fired back at Jeremiah Wright today, calling his former pastor’s media tour a “spectacle,” and saying his “rants” give “comfort to those who prey on hate.” In all but severing ties with Wright, the Boston Globe reports, Obama said the reverend had done “great damage” to their personal relationship—and added “I may not know him as well as I thought.” More »

Six of 10 pundits Salon asked what Barack Obama should do about the Jeremiah Wright problem say the candidate must get rid of the reverend. Andrew Sullivan calls Wright’s latest remarks “bitter and racist” and “a provocation"; he must be "clearly and irrevocably disowned." Martin Kaplan calls Wright “part of the negative politics that our country needs to transcend.” More »

Hillary Clinton can't be sorry to have Jeremiah Wright back in the news. So it’s interesting that the pastor’s defiant speech and press conference yesterday was scheduled and organized by Barbara Reynolds, an ordained minister, ex- USA Today editor, and ardent Clinton supporter. Reynolds wrote on her blog that by voting for Clinton she was “saying thank you” for her husband's administration. More »

Jeremiah Wright’s return to the limelight looks bad for Barack Obama at first blush, but in fact it may be helping the hopeful: Wright is distancing himself from Obama (and mocking his role as a “spiritual advisor”) as he redirects attention to the black church, Christopher Beam writes on Slate. More »