Important question: Can Obama disassociate himself from Wright?

[JoFerret]

Obama is so much not Wright. He is WAY better.

Can he put enough distance?
If he cannot then he cannot/ must not be our nominee in November.

(I say bring back Edwards. But that's just me.)

[bowens43]

1. much ado about nothing..............

BTW , edwards is out there is no 'bringing back' .

[JoFerret]

9. I know. More's the pity.

.

[jackson_dem]

2. No. How can he erase 20 years of Wright being his mentor/pastor/spiritual leader?

He will try but it will be so transparently political that only the "true believers" will buy it. Obama trying to do so at this point would be like Spitzer railing against prostitution.

[cali]

5. LOL!!!

You don't know that. You're just as foolish as those that say no problem. In fact, you're exactly the same. Too funny!

[ossman]

3. Find me a current candidate without a crazy pastor behind them..

Kucinich excluded. Gravel IS crazy.

[cali]

4. Who knows?

The Wright thing is definitely an issue. We'll have to see what the next couple of weeks bring. I suspect he can handle it, but even so, it'll be a problem in the general. And Edwards isn't coming back. That's pure fantasy.

[JoFerret]

10. I know he's not coming back. it was shorthand for where I am

Seriously though - if you were a dem biggie right now - what would you advise Obama do with this stuff?
Given how it plays so beautifully into the GOP hand - race, "patriotism", sex, 9/11 etc.

[saracat]

6. I dunno .He dedicated his book to him! and he married him to Michelle and baptized the kids.

[JoFerret]

11. Crikey

I did not know that.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

7. I won't be voting for his pastor. His pastor is not who he is.

[shraby]

8. People attend churches for more reasons than

what the pastor has to say. Sermons are not created equal. Some are good and some leave a lot to be desired. It's a personal thing as to why a person attends one church over another. Catholics for hundreds of years heard the mass in Latin even though most didn't understand a word of it, and when the mass started being in English many of the old timers were ready to leave their own church because of it. :shrug:

[DURHAM D]

13. The difference...

Catholicism is a denomination - the church. Rev. Wright is not a church - he is the minister Obama has attached himself to. Big, big difference.

[1620rock]

15. You should have heard limpballs and insanity on the radio today.

They were going nuts over this stuff, playing excerpts from Wright's sermons about him god-damning amerika, and saying the USof KKK.
This stuff will be pounded upon and pounded upon by hate radio 24/7.
Now IMHO I pretty much agree with Rev. Wright's sermons....but how do we fight this kind of thing?

[JoFerret]

16. I refuse to listen to hate radio rants

but sounds like a harbinger of things to come.


They take turns shredding our candidates. It would be good if we NEVER joined in.

[Marie26]

12. No

He shouldn't even try. This isn't like the Farrakan thing - Wright has been his pastor & mentor for 20+ years.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

14. Not easily. It's a close, close connection. But we will see.

The problem is that Barack talks about how Wright was a formative figure in his development... personal, spiritual and even political/philosophical.

But on the plus side, Wright doesn't spark echoes of Barack as Barack presents himself. (I don't know him, so that's as far as I can go) Wright and Obama are so different stylistically and content-wise.

[JoFerret]

21. a conundrum

If only it did not matter so much - then it would be just a fascinating exercise - one more chapter in the never ending saga of race and politics and religion in America.

[tokenlib]

17. A lot of people go to churches and disagree with the minister...

This is a bogus attack!

[Colobo]

18. I'm very worried about this. It's gonna be hard for Barack to convince

many independent white Americans that he's not like his pastor.

[Honeycombe8]

22. I agree. I'm an indie white supporter. I smell big trouble. nt

[angie_love]

19. He can but so far he has not done it. He seems not to want to throw the guy under the bus.

But he HAS to if he wants to win the GE. His repudiation thus far has been very weak. This isn't good.

[BenDavid]

20. hard too dis-associate the rev. since obama said wright was

his mentor and the one obama calls a "role model"......

"Indeed, Obama says the Reverend Wright is the man who gave him the (vacuous) phrase “the audacity of hope,” which he used for his self-scribed hagiography.

Well, it would seem that Mr. Wright has the audacity part down pat. But it’s more like the audacity of bigotry and ignorance."

[Levgreee]

27. What has he said indicating bigotry? Or are you just trying to feed the fire by

demagoguing him? People like you are ill. I know it's a quote, but it's just that part you decide to quote.

[JMDEM]

23. I'm a big Obama supporter

but this is going to be trouble. Big trouble.

I'm sure the repukes were hanging on to this stuff for October. The only upside is that it came out now, while there's still time to react.

Obama better huddle with his brain-trust and figure this one out in a hurry. He may very well have to condemn his spiritual advisor to survive this. The guy not only slammed America, he slammed Isreal, which, of course, represents a huge voting block itself.

[HughMoran]

24. I certainly hope so

I don't want one of our fine candidates taken down by something stupid like this.

[rucky]

25. He needs to make a move tomorrow.

I'm sure whatever his statement is will put things in perspective. He tends to handle these things quite well - and with a little humor thrown in.

Then those who want to like him will be satisfied, and those who are looking for another reason to dislike him will still have one.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. NO

[Little Star]

28. I am a Hillary supporter and this is not meant to be mean.

This will not go away. This will, with out a doubt, bring him down in the general election if he gets the nod. This is Obama's mentor and spiritual adviser, not just some casual acquaintance. There is no way he can throw Wright under the bus and be believed.

[jillan]

29. Bring back Biden!

He can answer the phone at 3 am and actually know what to do and shut up McCain at the same time.