Obama: 'He does not speak for me'

[jefferson_dem]

Obama: 'He does not speak for me'

Just in time for the evening news, Obama responds to his former pastor's media tour. Per Zeleny:

“I think certainly what the last three days indicates is that we’re not coordinating with him, right?” . “He’s obviously free to speak his mind, but I just want to emphasize that this is my former pastor. Many of the statements that he has made to trigger this controversy are not statements that I’ve heard him make previously. They don’t represent my view and they don’t represent what this campaign is about.”

<SNIP>

“People will understand that I am not perfect and there are going to be folks in my past – like Reverend Wright – that may cause them concern,” Mr. Obama said. “But ultimately, my 20 years of service and the values that I’ve written about, spoken about and promoted are their values and what they are concerned about. That’s what this campaign has been about. And will continue to be about.”

<SNIP>

“Some of the comments that Reverend Wright has made offended me and I understand why they offend the American people,” Mr. Obama said. “He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign.”

<SNIP>

“None of the voters have asked about it,” Mr. Obama said. “Now, there may be people who are troubled by it and may be polite and are not asking about it.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Obama_He_does_not_speak_for_me.html#comments

[ProSense]

1. "He’s obviously free to speak his mind"

Speak up Rev. Wright. Force them to confront the truth. To hell with the spinners.

[anonymous171]

2. GOBAMA!

:kick:

[Tribetime]

3. Perfect response, thanks some good news

[nsd]

4. It's a good response, though he may need to follow up with an even stronger one.

[bigtree]

5. He certainly does not speak for the senator

[bushesass]

6. Its to late.

The damage is done.

[futureliveshere]

7. How do you know? You need to clean your crystal ball?

[jefferson_dem]

8. Uh huh. Thanks for your concern.

No says Obama's screwn... :scared:

[Tribetime]

12. Scoreboard

[Adelante]

14. Oh, woe is us

Welcome back to DU :hi:

[movonne]

15. Ass

[bushesass]

23. You can

resort to name calling but I choose not to put people down. If I was going to do that I would be a republican. The truth is this will hurt Obama very bad. If you choose deny that so be it. But it will. Hillary was just waiting for something like this to happen and you know the media will run this to no end. If Obama has any chance at all he has to cut Pastor Wright completely loose because most of middle america will only see what Pastor says instead of the great message that Obama speaks of. The media, McLame and Hillary will see to that.

[Innocent Smith]

21. yea, right buddy, we're doomed - doomed I say

[uponit7771]

9. My response would've been "wha!?!?! Fuck all yaw...sheeeeit"

[Kaylee]

19. LoL! Your response is exactly why I could never be a politician.....

If I was Obama, I would have walked of the stage spewing a flurry of curses a looong time ago.

[cliffordu]

10. Ah! A voice of rason at last!!! The ONLY place this is a crisis is

the 24 hour infotainment stations and right here on GDP..


A veritable orgy of pastorbation....

[futureliveshere]

11. I think this is a well - choreographed dance performance and being executed perfectly

The Repubs and Hillary are really going to be surprised when they take the full measure of the man they are running against. I predict this will blow over in 2-3 days with Obama coming out stronger and stronger against Rev. Wright's words and putting some much needed distance b/w himself and the Rev. He will go on to silence everyone in the coming primaries. The best way forward is like he is doing right now. Talk about it in his stump, one-on-one like he did today in NC and deliver these hard hitting denials of controlling the Rev. That works better.

Also I am betting this is all part of the overall strategy. Obama has already won the nomination and he can afford to let all this shit fly around. He will win NC and he will keep it close or win in IA. Thus, he can afford to let all this out and deprive the Rethugs of most of their talking points right now.

[bigtree]

17. Okay. That will be fine. But, the other part of this is . . .

. . . will Wright's congregation and supporters have a negative reaction of some hard break from his friend and mentor. Or, will they see such a break as necessary and be understanding?

I can fully accept that Obama doesn't share any of the reverend's controversial views, but if he ditches his friend will it be sincere? Or, will it be a political casualty, an opportunistic move to protect him politically?

It would almost be better if he just stayed where he is. No trashing of his friend and mentor for some political cover. It's still a straddle, but it's not dirty politics either.

[futureliveshere]

20. Oh yes, I don't mean he will trash the Rev. Just put some more distance, thats all.

[rodeodance]

13. I heard him on the evening news. He sounded testy.

[futureliveshere]

16. Why am I not surprised? Anybody would be I guess, after all the slime attacks.

[Shine]

18. Nice response.

:thumbsup:

[americanstranger]

22. He's so cool with this stuff.

Makes a statement just in time to give the media his side to chew on tomorrow.

Well played, Senator.

- as