CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Barack Obama sought to distance himself further Friday from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, telling a North Carolina rally that comments by his former pastor that have been described as ”crazy” should not be used to judge his candidacy.
Obama has said his presidential bid was damaged by a recent series of public appearances by Wright, in which the pastor repeated earlier charges the Sept. 11 attacks were retribution for U.S. foreign policy and that the U.S. government had a hand in spreading AIDS to blacks.
But the Illinois senator, locked in a battle for the Democratic nomination with Sen. Hillary Clinton, said earlier on Friday in Indianapolis he would leave it to the pollsters to analyze the extent of the impact from the Wright flap on his campaign.
Obama broke publicly with his longtime pastor earlier this week when he called a news conference to criticize Wright’s remarks as “outrageous” and “appalling.”
“As we’ve done well in this election, as we’ve been successful, increasingly my opponents have spent their time talking, not about the issues, but about me,” Obama told a rally of about 9,000 people at Charlotte’s Cricket Arena.
“They’ve been saying, ‘Well, look at those crazy things his former pastor said or he’s not wearing a flag pin or he’s got a funny name, sounds like he’s Muslim,’” he said. “Those are strategies to divide us. We’ve seen those strategies before.”
Obama said his critics were out of line in questioning his patriotism.
“You want to understand my patriotism? I owe everything to this country,” he said.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Chris Keane (Obama speaks in Charlotte, N.C.)
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Rev. Wright’s views may be extreme and downright silly. However I applaud Rv. Wright for his honesty and forthrightness. He has been consistent- It was he who first said that voters may run away from Obama if they come to know that he-Obama’s siritual mentor and pastor -had gone to Libya to meet Col. Gaddhafi. Rev. Wright has consistently espoused the same extreme views all along incuding the latest events at NAACP & National Press Club. It is Obama who has changed his tune suddenly and seems to be just discovering his spiritual mentor of 20 years! What does it show to us. It is very obvious to all except a downright dumb person that Obama is just another regular politician and NOT the different kind of person that he wants to have us believe. Rev. Wright was even honest about this- He himself has noted that Obama has to say the things he is saying to win the election. Democrats are famous for pulling defeat from jaws of victory!. History will definitely repeat itself if Obama is their nominee for the Presidency.
- Posted by KrishnaOK, frankly I am very tired of reading comments about Rev. Wright being racist. He’s not racist. He has stated truths that many White Americans want to keep “under the rug.” If this political race were fair, why aren’t religious affiliations an issue for all candidates. What type of church does Hillary Clinton attend? Why didn’t other White candidates receive the same treatment as Obama when they were endorsed by controversial pastors such as Pat Robinson and John Hagee? Why are people concerned with whether or not Obama displayed an American flag on his lapel? Why is his patriotism being questioned now when he was successfully elected to serve in the U.S. Senate? White Americans really need to own up to their history in America. It is impossible to erase over 400 years of slavery with 40 years of civil rights activism. America has made some progress but there is still much work to be done in achieving racial, economic, and political equality. There are too many important issues associated with this presidential race to be concentrating to trivial matter like who’s Obama’s paster and whether he displays an American Flag on his lapel. I’m tired of lying politicians. George Bush’s entire presidency was based on lies and deceit. Senator Clinton has already proved she can lie and will lie to get what she wants. The media has caught Hillary and Bill telling lies. The fact that White Americans would rather elect more liars rather than a Black man shows their defiance in accepting people different than they. It also proves how racism is still a LARGE part of American society.
- Posted by Erica B.I would never have sat in a Church for 20 years listening to sermons on hate for AMERICA. So don’t ask me not to judge someone who did and now wants us to make him President of the United States of AMERICA- I don’t think so. Listening to that for 20 years tells me alot about his character and I will never vote for him.
- Posted by mimiObama’s newest attempt to save himself after Wright’s latest poisonous performance is now declared the new final word on the subject. Therefore, any future ads linking Obama and Wright are preemptively declared out of bounds, illegitimate, indeed “race-baiting” (a New York Times editorial, April 30). On what grounds? This 20-year association with Wright calls into question everything about Obama: his truthfulness in his serially adjusted stories of what he knew and when he knew it; his judgment in choosing as his mentor, pastor and great friend a man he just now realizes is a purveyor of racial hatred; and the central premise of his campaign, that he is the bringer of a “new politics,” rising above the old Washington ways of expediency. It’s hard to think of an act more blatantly expedient than renouncing Wright when his show, once done from the press club instead of the pulpit, could no longer be “contextualized” as something whites could not understand and only Obama could explain in all its complexity.
- Posted by FredTurns out the Wright show was not that complex after all. Everyone understands it now. Even Obama.
as every man have the right to decides his own destiny,so shall all be judge according to there work and act,and not by another persons behavour and deeds.Obama’s pastor present alter mental status or crazy act as you may put it as regards his believes and theory,is not a yardstick to measure Obama’s candidacy.after all Rev. Jeremiah Wright is just Obama’s pastor in terms of religion and this has nothing to do with Obama’s political career, they are different ball game entirely,madam clinton and her crews should look for a better campaign strategies, not washing dirty linen in public and never to give a dog a bad name in other to hand it.if clinton’s strategy of running for the race of a United states presidency is to judge people and assasinate their characters then she is a small and narrowed minded person.The united state needs a great and broad minded person that discuss ideas not critics to remain the top country of the world
- Posted by arthur ofoseI am a public school teacher from NC whose love for teaching keeps me in the classroom. I am a registered Democrat who can honestly say that the two democratic nominees for president are individuals who are intelligent, have worked hard and long, and are not extreme in their views of what is wrong/right in America at this present time.
I am a woman and it is good to see a woman making history for the first time in a nation that was not discovered by others but inhabited by Native Americans whose compassion kept foreign pioneers from starving to death when they landed in America. So, to acknowledge that as a nation we have always had a problem with revealing the raw, whole truth, is reflected in this campaign; this campaign will not go unscathed by its core historical approach to change, major events, truth, and consequences, and character mutalations.
I am most proud of Barack Obama because for once, he represents the true face of America; his ancestry is a combined pigment of white American and African American; but it was his white Ameican ancestry that raised him to be what he is today; yet, many white Americans who will forever use skiin tone as a means to divide can’t see themselves in Obama.
He is a faith-filled believer in God; a father and husband who has worked in the vineyards of the poorest neighborhoods and yet taught in the classrooms of the most prestigious schools of higher learning. His vision for change is rooted in the critical need for America to fight for her position as a nation that is capable of feeding, clothing, promoting, celebrating, and taking care of all her people regardless of race, gender, age, beliefs, principles, values, or orientation.
As a Zebra is a unique, strong, beautiful, yet a different throughbred, so is Barack Obama. Only once in my life did I assume that the American Dream was not for people of color–not for me–and that was a time when America remained silent–too long while little girls who prayed were bombed to death, and men who even dared to walk the streets and country roads were beaten, torched, and hung simply because of the content of their skin, and Martin was murdered. But because of Martin’s sacrifice and the literal voice of God, I have long sense lost the false notion that the place for me is second to one race over another.
Barack Obama is a man that has been ostracized, taunted, and endured all kinds of racial slurs and indignation by all kinds of people, yet he stands and says, Let’s unite America through truth first, then integrity and hard work. Not once did he say it will be a fly by night; he said, it will take hard work; this taking back of our pride, ability to feed and educate our own, to have a greater sense of self worth, to create jobs where in we can make our own clothes and grow our own without it being contaminated with toxins and poisons; a great nation where we an put people to work rather than displace them with layouts is a person that truly does love America.
For years, in both Democratic and Republican rule, the people were the last to know. We found out what went wrong when there were leaks to the press. We send people to Washington to represent us and they fail to keep in the forefront the true needs of the Ameican people as a whole, not in part.
I am reminded of Gen. Colin Powell, a brilliant man who represented America well, but his dedication and expertise was not loyal enough to continue representing the total well being of America in the Bush Administration. Would you say General Powell was too cunning? Truth of the matter is, many Americans are still subscribing to a class system in based upon the color of your skin first and the content of your character and abilities last. Obama seeks to change that by reminding us of who we are: Americans period!
When asked if he would seek the advice of the current president, he said, I would seek the advice of his father first because of his record on foreign policies. Obama has openly stated something that I have yet to hear Hillary say repeatedly, “If I do not win this nomination, we will unite and support Hillary Clinton in November.”
Now, since Obama has yet to walk on water, many will spend hours debating thier views against him, but the truth of the matter is, we should all be proud to see how the the preamble to the United States Constitution is a picture of reality in 2008: One nation, under God, indivisible,
I SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA BECAUSE HE IS QUALIFIED TO LEAD, JUST AS QUALIFIED AS ANY OF THE PRESIDENTS WHOSE MAJORITY CAREERS WERE LAWYERS BEFORE BEING ELECTED TO THE HIGHEST POSITION IN OUR NATION.
- Posted by mary wadWe
OBAMA HAS NEVER REPRESENTED “CHANGE” IN POLITICS. IF YOU DARE, SEE HOW OBAMA OBTAINED HIS FIRST ELECTIVE OFFICE: Chicago Sun-Times—A close examination of Obama’s first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: Obama, who runs on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless, first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it. Alice Palmer, friend and mentor to Obama, served the district in the Illinois Senate for much of the 1990s. Decades earlier, she was a community organizer in the area when Obama was growing up in Hawaii. She risked her safe seat to run for Congress and touted Obama as a suitable successor. But when Palmer lost the congressional race, her supporters asked Obama to fold his campaign so she could easily retain her state Senate seat. Obama not only refused to step aside for the woman who was his friend and had recommended him for the seat, he filed challenges that nullified Palmer’s hastily gathered nominating petitions, forcing her to withdraw. Had Palmer survived the petition challenge, Obama would have faced the daunting task of taking on an incumbent senator. “He wondered if we should knock everybody off the ballot. How would that look?” said Ronald Davis, the paid Obama campaign consultant whom Obama referred to as his “guru of petitions.” Davis filed objections to all four of Obama’s Democratic rivals at the candidate’s behest. All other candidates were disposed of by Obama’s challenges. He then went on to win the election.
http://tinyurl.com/2zwwte
- Posted by FredIt’s funny how the only thing they can come up with on Obama is something SOMEBODY else did.
Obama needs to stop taking the Blame for other peoples actions and tell the media:
“Rev.Wright is NOT running for president I am!”
People who throw up his 20 year relationship are as dumb as a police officer giving some one a ticket because a person they knew for 20 years ran a red light!.
Uneducated whites need to stop blaming Blacks for there failures in life and go out and get a job!
- Posted by Martha Gomez[...] Tells North Carolina crowd Friday night that the campaign shouldn’t be focused on debates over such issues. [...]
- Posted by The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIMEWhat planet is everyone on? Fiery black pastors aren’t some new phenomenon–go to several black churches all over the US and you’ll find them! It doesn’t mean the black people who attend these churches hate white people; black ministers just help the black community make sense of the injustices they have experienced and continue to experience. OBAMA’S MOTHER IS WHITE, for God’s sake!!!
Furthermore, it’s intriguing that Wright became a bigger story than Bosnia. I’d rather have a president who once had an outspoken minister, than a president who thinks I’m such an idiot, she can tell a bold faced lie, then simply gloss it over with “I made a mistake…it proves I’m human.” RIDICULOUS!!!
- Posted by RainI think Marie Jon’ has the nail right on: “Obama was supposed to be the candidate that transcended race, yet we’ve never seen his entire family standing alongside him. Why? Because he is not who he has portrayed himself to be. Obama’s white relatives — grandmother, cousins, aunts and uncles — have never appeared with him. It is arguable that he has treated them shabbily and by virtue of this indeed does identify himself in mind as “the black candidate.”"
Are Americans to believe that such a man has what it takes to lead our nation? In the words from “Dreams of My Father” lie answers to many of the questions Americans have been asking themselves. Read Obama’s thoughts and understand that this is a man who rejects his own flesh:
“I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of 12 or 13, which I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.
“I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s race.
“It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.
“And, from “The Audacity of Hope”: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
So brilliantly illustrated and articulated, Ms Marie.
And Rev Wright provided the confirmation that Obama’s political world, there is no friends, no uncle, no grandmother and…no relatives. Everything can go under the bus but at this moment, black churches and blacks must be onboard the bus…
- Posted by SubstanceRe: an earlier post.
Um, no, Barack Obama WAS NOT at the anti-American sermon in question. This is a matter of public record so STOP LYING. He did say he was at some sermons that could be construed as controvertial. He said this WEEKS AGO when the story first broke.
It’s amazing to me how the Hillary supporters never have their facts straight and the Obama supporters always do. Kind of telling, don’t you think?
- Posted by Linda JohnsonI wish I had a mastery of words that would let me communicate with you what I really feel as I type this.
Don’t you see what is happening? It is so hard to run a principled campaign in the US (or anywhere I guess), and it so easy to run a say anything do anything campaign. Hillary would bomb Iran, no doubt about it, if they attacked Israel. I think she used the word ‘obliterate’. Really? Does anyone actually believe she wouldn’t examine the facts at the time and make a decision if the Iranians fired a missile into Haifa and killed two people, for example. No, of course she would gather information, have meetings, talk to the people on the ground, etcetera, before ‘obliterating’ a sovereign nation. But that is absolutely not what she said, so the take away is that she is extremely eager to go to war or she is pandering to the Jewish community and even the larger community because Israel is a close US ally and generally enjoys a good reputation in this country.
Do I need to write a long paragraph to convince you that the gas tax idea she evidently got right after Mccain got it, is blatant pandering? It won’t solve anything. It does not represent a solution of any kind and would, in fact, cost 300,000 jobs while saving about $70 for the entire Summer? I drive a Ford 500, and it costs me $60-$65 to fill my tank one time. One tank of gas! Does she think we are that stupid??
Do you guys not see how insulting her ideas are? She counts on people not being educated, not looking past her statements and posturing. I am not trying to be insulting, but there is a reason she appeals to uneducated people. If I wanted to appeal, for example, to the idiots, I would do what Hillary is doing…blatant pandering. ‘What do you think of Iran, Hillary? Answer: obliterate them. I can almost see two rednecks sitting in a double wide smiling toothless smiles at each other and clinking their beer cans together. ‘That Hillary kicks ass! She aint scared of no camel jockeys!’
Before you get too swept up in her pandering, no very cleverly packaged, as ’solutions’ and ‘immediate actions’ which are designed of course to be thinly veiled attacks on Obama who ‘does nothing’ and just talks a good game…when you get a chance if you want to compare work ethic, go compare their legislative records and tell me who has been involved in more legislation and also more meaning legislation even though Barrack’s political career is much shorter than Hillary’s. Even if you are like Hillary and believe every word she says go really look at her legislative record, either on its own or compared to Obama and I promise you will gasp…I did. You will come to understand that she has doing nothing but biding her time until she could fulfill what she saw as her destiny.
Anyway guys, not trying to offend anyone (that would mean more if I hadn’t been super sarcastic this entire post) but I just want to shake everyone and say ‘dont you see what she is doing?!’ Can’t you see she doesn’t care about you or solutions or getting anything done or being honestly or character or integrity. Dont you realize she thinks her own supporters are idiots? Dont believe that? Then why is she calling superdelegates and telling them that we are so backwards we will offhand dismiss a black candidate. Remember the conversation with Richardson she never denied? ‘Bill, he can’t win.’ What else could she have meant. People like Hillary are out there right now, running the party, laughing at poor, uneducated whites because they know that they will not support a black candidate for President.
Barrack almost made a liar of her and everyone who underestimated this country and its citizens. We almost defied the odds, still could I guess, but Wright and bitter hit the poor white demographic hard and on two huge fronts, race and pride, and that may have dealt a fatal blow. Say what you want about Wright and Barrack and their relationship, but brother give me a friend like that, someone who risked the Presidency to save a friend. Lets pretend Wright is literally the worst person who ever lived….even given that, the loyalty Barrack showed that idiot in Philly told me he had at the very least a thousand times more character than anyone else still in the race. What do you guys honestly think Hillary would have done in the same situation. She would have disowned him and apologized for ever having known him and then started attacking Barrack again.
Dont you guys see how much more he could have attacked Hillary and chose not to? He could have dredged up all the old junk surrounding the Clinton administration, he could’ve attached her to Spitzer since he endorsed her, he could have done much much more to point out that the Clintons were trying to insert race, i.e. marginalize his campaign by painting him as the black candidate, he could have, in short, chosen to go negative, but in large part it doesnt matter. She hammered him so much so often with so much junk that eventually when he responded she had all her surrogates waiting to pounce and make her look like the wounded bird and that Barrack had gone back on his promise to run a different kind of campaign.
Attack Israel and Iran’s toast, if you can’t take it get out of the kitchen because this is how big league politics are played, solutions not just talk, and, by golly, one free tank of gas this Summer (lol and 40 acres and mule). Please, I beg of you, take another look if you like Hillary. I promise you not even she believes what she’s saying. The fact that she even has to go through this annoying ‘voting’ and ‘campaigning’ BS is annoying to her. You can see it written all over her face. She does not treat her own supporters like they have 2 IQ points to rub together. Really listen to the crap she puts forward, just a couple gems I listed above, but I literally could come up with 100 if you gave my the afternoon. Don’t get obsessed with one of my attacks on her - please, for the sake of our country, wake up, do some research (legislative record), look at how little regard she has for anyone but herself, what a polarizing destructive force she is, how short-sighted she is, how blatantly dishonest she is, what a run of the mill cookie cutter politician she is….please take another look, this is our generations chance. Please don’t help her waste it by fulfilling some bizarre Clinton entitlement to lead her flock of ‘idiots and rednecks’. ‘Bill, he can’t win.’ We are better than that - lets prove her wrong.
- Posted by Geoff LaneThank you much for the article. Senator Obama, you are going to do just fine.
You know - all three candidates have said things or have been ascquantices when questionable people, and then there’s folks like the Clintons who are still very dear Friends with Peter Paul, who is a felon whose trial I believe begins in the next week or so. Clinton is dealing with the lies of the magnet company here that both my grampas worked at. I wish she would have been on the up and up with us, but just like that bogus gas plan, she’s PANDERING for votes.
I find that appalling.
- Posted by Mindie In IndyObama says he does not believe in Wrights way of thinking…hummmm….then why has he been in that church for all these years if he does not agree with Wrights teaching, that is like saying One goes to KKKK meetings but does not believe or agree with the belief taught. sounds like double talk.
- Posted by rjWe are not bashing Obama for what his minister said, per se. We are appalled that for weeks he denied that he ever heard him say such things. That he wasn’t there when he said something bad etc. Then there was evidence that he was there, but he still stonewalled the frequency & mangnitude of the madness. So now Wright says as much as he can get into interviews & speeches, all over again. NOW Obama can’t lie any more, so in desperation he disowns his mentor, no doubt on the desperate advice of his campaign managers. And so many sheep buy it???!!! Such a sad state of our brainwashed, gullible nation. This man to bring our Nation together? Sadly, he’s a disaster.
- Posted by adpackWhy bash Obama on what his minister if you are not willing to bash all of the candidates on what their ministers have said. Where is John Hagee? Rod Parsley? Are they above the criticism being thrown at Wright? Maybe it is because they and McCain are white.
- Posted by clarityRev. Wright = poor judgment by Obama.
- Posted by goldenstateI grew up in Charlotte and work as an usher in the sixties at the Old Coliseum. It had a seating capacity of 10,500 and with Ovens seating capacity of 2,500 or so. I worked events that were packed and later announced to be 12,000 to 14,000. I also remember how full the parking was on such events. I was there Friday on the outside riding my bicycle around the whole place for the Obama event. As the parking over flowed I heard the police tell people that the extra people were being put in Ovens Auditorium and for them to go there. I take in consideration that people use to park on the streets behind the Coliseum, across Independence Blvd and down towards Valentino’s Restaurant. There is also a lot more parking at the Merchandise Mart and it’s over flow lot. I therefore find it amazing for the news reports to be saying 9,000 when there was clearly 14-15,000. Unless they have an agenda.
- Posted by Fred MauneyWhy Barack Obama for President?
The Presidential election of 2008 represents a key turning point in the modern history of the United States of America. On one side you have Obama and the voice of the people who are tired of being manipulated and have seen their lifestyle get progressively worse and desperately want real change vs. the Washington establishment, corporate America, and the status quo of power of the wealthy (of which both the Clintons and McCain are members). It is a huge fight and one that won’t be won easily, and Obama (and those of us who crave change) is a massive underdog. The establishment will not give up their throne without a fight. They have worked too hard and too long to get their seat of power at the expense of the “little people.” Why would they give it up easily? They control the media that influences the minds of those who listen, and for many that is how they get their news and knowledge. It is spoon fed to them. For those of you who think Hillary has actually gotten a raw deal from the media….can I please get some of what you are smoking? She’s part of that establishment. If she gains the nomination, she can’t win against McCain, and the powers that be remain unchanged and they are free to go on screwing the “commoners.” On the outside chance she could win, she would be their ideal second choice because she is one of them, fits right in, and the power remains with the establishment, and it’s just more of the same and the cycle continues…the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class continues to become extinct.
Obama represents a chance, and I do say a chance, to bring change to Washington, to this nation, and to the inequalities we see everywhere. He is a voice of and for the people, all people, (not just the rich, but the poor and middle class as well). Truly, years from now, people will look back on this election as a period where the American people had a choice to begin the process of taking back their heritage, the dream of equality, the dream of a better life for ourselves, for our children, for our country, and for the world. The present is the time when we as a people have a chance to say enough is enough, to bring about a revolution in the way this country has been run, without the actual bloodshed that was necessary to do so in the olden days. Overthrow the king and the powers of the establishment or at least have our voice heard and our cares addressed, instead of being meek sheep following the pied piper of the powers of the establishment that have run this country down and built themselves up at the expense of the lower class. No I am not naive, nor am I “drinking the Kool-aide. Obama is not the end all be all, and no I do not believe he can bring about change overnight. What I do believe is that he is the only one who truly cares about the people and will fight for us as a whole (not in self interest) to improve our way of life, improve this country, and improve the global world in which we live. But as I said, he is an overwhelming underdog, as are “We the people” of this nation. Right now he is in a 4-1 fight against him to try and get to a place where he can fight for this change. It’s McCain and the Republican establishment, Hillary and the establishment, Bill and the establishment, and the bought and paid for media vs Obama and the change and people he is trying to fight for. Isn’t it time we as a people said enough is enough and fought to get this country back? Me, I’m 45, I’m white, and I’m a man, and I have had enough and Obama wholeheartedly gets my support.
- Posted by JK