Obama blames '60s for pastor's comments
Barack Obama on Friday blamed fiery 1960s-era conditioning for racially inflammatory remarks by his former pastor and a prominent backer of Hillary Clinton.
In a wide ranging interview with Tribune editors and reporters, Obama denounced controversial sermons from Rev. Jeremiah Wright in which the just-retired pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago called on blacks to condemn the United States and accused U.S. leaders of state-sponsored terrorism that invited the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
At the same time, Obama sought to explain the context of those and other controversial Wright statements by drawing a connection to recent comments by Geraldine Ferraro, the former New York congresswoman. Ferraro recently stepped down from Clinton's campaign after saying that Obama enjoyed an electoral advantage over Clinton in the Democratic presidential contest because he was black.
Both Wright, who is 66, and Ferraro, who is 72, were products of the often violent and racially divisive '60s and were stuck in a time warp, Obama explained.
Obama compared Wright to an uncle he was fond of but with whom he disagreed, adding: "Like a lot of African American men of fierce intelligence who came of age [then], he has a lot of the language and the memories and the baggage of those times."
Obama said he didn't attend controversial Wright sermons excerpts of which are now circulating on the Internet.
On another subject, Obama said he was impressed with the corruption-busting efforts of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office is prosecuting Obama friend and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko on corruption charges. If elected president, Obama said, he would keep Fitzgerald on the job.
Asked whether his ties to Cook County politics and its long tradition of shenanigans could prove to be a political liability, Obama said he did a "good job" navigating local politics without becoming "entangled in some of the traditional problems."
He said Chicago doesn't have the franchise on political corruption. "Sen. Clinton comes out of New York," he said. "There are apparently some issues there as well."
Obama acknowledged that a $1 million pork-barrel spending request made in 2006 for the University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife served as a vice president at the time, was ill advised. The request was made public this week.
At the same time, Obama said the money was for a good purpose but added his office should have asked Sen. Dick Durbin to put in for the earmark instead.
Obama said the prolonged presidential campaign has been an "endurance test" but has also given him the opportunity to grow as a candidate.
"You have to constantly renew yourself and what you're saying," he said, adding that his message may have grown a bit stale before recent primaries in Texas and Ohio. Obama said losses there led him to re-evaluate his campaign style, and that capacity for reflection and renewal would stand him well as president.
"I have learned that I ... have a temperament that I think is suitable to the presidency, as well as campaigning for the presidency."
In a wide ranging interview with Tribune editors and reporters, Obama denounced controversial sermons from Rev. Jeremiah Wright in which the just-retired pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago called on blacks to condemn the United States and accused U.S. leaders of state-sponsored terrorism that invited the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
At the same time, Obama sought to explain the context of those and other controversial Wright statements by drawing a connection to recent comments by Geraldine Ferraro, the former New York congresswoman. Ferraro recently stepped down from Clinton's campaign after saying that Obama enjoyed an electoral advantage over Clinton in the Democratic presidential contest because he was black.
Both Wright, who is 66, and Ferraro, who is 72, were products of the often violent and racially divisive '60s and were stuck in a time warp, Obama explained.
Obama compared Wright to an uncle he was fond of but with whom he disagreed, adding: "Like a lot of African American men of fierce intelligence who came of age [then], he has a lot of the language and the memories and the baggage of those times."
Obama said he didn't attend controversial Wright sermons excerpts of which are now circulating on the Internet.
On another subject, Obama said he was impressed with the corruption-busting efforts of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office is prosecuting Obama friend and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko on corruption charges. If elected president, Obama said, he would keep Fitzgerald on the job.
Asked whether his ties to Cook County politics and its long tradition of shenanigans could prove to be a political liability, Obama said he did a "good job" navigating local politics without becoming "entangled in some of the traditional problems."
He said Chicago doesn't have the franchise on political corruption. "Sen. Clinton comes out of New York," he said. "There are apparently some issues there as well."
Obama acknowledged that a $1 million pork-barrel spending request made in 2006 for the University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife served as a vice president at the time, was ill advised. The request was made public this week.
At the same time, Obama said the money was for a good purpose but added his office should have asked Sen. Dick Durbin to put in for the earmark instead.
Obama said the prolonged presidential campaign has been an "endurance test" but has also given him the opportunity to grow as a candidate.
"You have to constantly renew yourself and what you're saying," he said, adding that his message may have grown a bit stale before recent primaries in Texas and Ohio. Obama said losses there led him to re-evaluate his campaign style, and that capacity for reflection and renewal would stand him well as president.
"I have learned that I ... have a temperament that I think is suitable to the presidency, as well as campaigning for the presidency."
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