Sen. Barack Obama's response to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's incendiary appearance on Monday at the National Press Club is not just a day late and a dollar short: It's a month and a half late and a few million dollars short.

Wright's self-promoting and racially divisive remarks have set back a half-century of progress on race relations in the United States. Obama's long-delayed denunciation of his former minister seems to have come too late to save the senator's political self-immolation.

Obama's first self-destructive act was his secretly recorded remarks before wealthy San Francisco donors describing working-class white voters as "bitter" and "clinging" to guns and religion. That remark cost him dearly in the Pennsylvania primary among Roman Catholics and working-class whites.

Obama's second act of self-immolation was his delay in denouncing a man who blames whites for creating the AIDS virus to wipe out people of color and calls America a terrorist nation. Obama's denunciation of Wright yesterday and the time it took him to sever ties to Wright may well end up costing Obama large portions of the rest of the white voting demographic.

We may soon start to see the defection from his campaign of superdelegate support. The New York Times reports, "Eileen Macoll, a Democratic county chairman from Washington State who has not chosen a candidate, said she was stunned at the extent of national attention the episode [Wright's remarks] has drawn, and she said she believed it would give superdelegates pause. 'I'm a little surprised at how much traction it is getting, and I do believe it is beginning to reflect negatively on Senator Obama's campaign,' Ms. Macoll said. 'I think he's handling it very well, but I think it's almost impossible to make people feel comfortable about this.' "

HuffingtonPost.com quotes a SurveyUSA North Carolina poll showing Sen. Hillary Clinton closing in fast on Obama there. This poll was released the same day that North Carolina's governor, a superdelegate, endorsed Clinton and the same day that Obama finally denounced Wright. In other words, the full impact of both these events was not yet felt when this poll was taken:

April 29: A SurveyUSA North Carolina poll shows a considerably closer race than the other polling firms. SurveyUSA also gave a smaller initial lead that anyone else in the race, but the tightening is now showing across the board:

Barack Obama: 49%

Hillary Clinton: 44%"

As soon as polls start to show the extent of alienation Obama has produced among white Democratic voters, superdelegates won't be far behind. If Obama does not carry North Carolina next week by double digits, he will be in serious trouble. Look for calls by party leaders for him to drop out if his victory in North Carolina is not convincing.

In case you needed one, here from washingtonpost.com is a refresher on what Wright said on Monday:

From the moment he entered the room, Wright seemed to be looking to stir controversy; he was escorted by Jamil Muhammad, a leader of the Nation of Islam, which contributed to the minister's prominent security detail. Speaking before an audience that included Marion Barry, Cornel West, the New Black Panther Party's Malik Zulu Shabazz and Nation of Islam protocol director Claudette Muhammad, Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, defended the view that Zionism is racism, accused the United States of terrorism, repeated his belief that the government created AIDS to extinguish racial minorities, and stood by his suggestion that "God damn America."

And remember what Obama said about this man six weeks ago:

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community."

By Bonnie Erbe, U.S. News & World Report, April 30, 2008

When Barack Obama made his official announcement that he was running for President over 14 months ago in Springfield, Illinois, the Senator made sure that his pastor Jeremiah Wright had no speaking role and was kept away from the ceremony. Obama campaign manager David Axelrod has admitted that there were concerns back then about what Wright might say.

When Senator Obama made his speech in Philadelphia on race in America following the first round of Reverend Wright media exposure several weeks back, he admitted he had heard some of the Reverend's more controversial remarks in person in church.

"I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely -- just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed."

But now, the Senator has really had enough of Reverend Wright. In a press conference Tuesday, Obama condemned Wright, and claimed that Wright had offended him with his latest tirade on Monday at the National Press Club.

Many Americans did not have to wait for Wright's talk to the National Press Club to have taken offense. In fact, there is nothing the Reverend said Monday or with Bill Moyers on PBS, or at the NAACP dinner in Detroit (to thunderous ovations) that was in any substantive way different from what he has been saying over and over again for decades (to thunderous applause among the thousands packing Trinity Church). We had already heard about the US government bringing AIDS into the black community, and how Louis Farrakhan was a great American.

So why did this particular performance by Wright finally create the need for Obama to speak up more forcefully? That answer is simple: falling poll numbers in Indiana, North Carolina and nationally, and to that, we can safely conclude, Barack Obama takes great offense.

One of the charter members of the Obama media worship team, Chris Matthews, has already compared Obama's "courageous" actions in denouncing Wright to those of King Henry II telling Thomas Becket where to get off 8 centuries ago. That comparison will likely not resonate with many voters. Tom Shales, Hendrik Hertzberg, Andrew Sullivan, and other members of this flack troupe are sure to chime in with their vigorous applause, and with pleas for the media to get back to the real story of George Bush's crimes against humanity.

Barack Obama has been showing up at Wright's church for close to 20 years and was exposed to his brand of crackpot racist anti-American lunacy on more than one occasion during this long period. So it is really way too generous, I think, to applaud the Senator for his dramatic "Sister Souljah moment" with his late-to-the party denunciation of Wright. A real Sister Souljah moment would have required leaving Trinity Church before Wright became politically inconvenient for Obama, and not when Wright is beginning to threaten Obama's bid for the Democratic nomination.

Will Obama's pivot work politically? If he earns a split on May 6th, winning North Carolina, and losing Indiana, he will have avoided a political freefall. North Carolina is a state with a 21% African American population, and black voters make up about a third of Democratic Party primary voters. Given that Obama has been winning 90% of the vote among blacks, he would need but 30% of the white vote to win a narrow victory in North Carolina.

It is likely that Obama's team saw a sharp drop-off in white support in North Carolina with the latest Wright feeding frenzy the last few days. While most pundits have been focusing on the perceived tight race in Indiana, and assumed North Carolina was a lock for Obama, the Clinton team has been spending more money on media in North Carolina the last week than in Indiana, and sent Bill Clinton down to work the white rural areas, the same kinds of places where he helped deliver huge margins for Hillary in Pennsylvania.

Then came word that popular Governor Michael Easley was backing Clinton. So suddenly the Clintons are smelling the possibility of a sweep, including an upset in North Carolina, or at the least a very close finish there. These results would put more doubts in the minds of the nearly 300 super delegates who remain uncommitted that the Obama campaign is a train wreck waiting to happen in the general election.

One part of this story that I have not seen discussed is that while the Obama distancing from Wright is aimed at shoring up support among white voters, his campaign seems to take for granted that he will suffer no losses among black voters for his sharp statements Tuesday. In other words, they are counting on black voters winking and nodding their approval of Obama's words, as if Wright were out there on his own, when in fact he is not, and many ministers and black talk radio hosts speak just as Wright does, and have been doing so for years.

In fact, we have been told repeatedly these last few weeks, that whites just do not understand the black church vernacular, and we live in separate societies on Sundays. This may be true, but Obama is now saying he is not part of that angry chorus on Sundays, and his church's minister is out of line. Not to play the cynic, but I find this sudden split a bit inauthentic. Senator Obama has told us about Reverend Wright many times before: he was his pastor, his mentor, his moral compass, his sounding board, his teacher. But now Wright has said these horrible things at the National Press Club. And so, he must be sacrificed, at least for the benefit of lower middle income rural white voters in North Carolina and Indiana.

Barack Obama has been able to get away with projecting a different image to different groups as he has risen up the political ladder in Chicago. As long as he was a state senator or even a United States Senator, he could get away with fealty to Reverend Wright, dinner parties at Bill Ayers' house, all the while assuring white middle class and working class voters that he was a man interested in bipartisanship good government. But as many a politician before him has learned, a presidential race is an entirely different political beast.

By Richard Baehr, Real Clear Politics, April 30, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton appeared Wednesday to be gaining on Barack Obama in two key primary states, after her Democratic foe tried to quell another damaging uproar sparked by his fiery former pastor.

The White House rivals fought another day of fierce turf battles in midwestern Indiana and North Carolina on the east coast, which hold Democratic primaries on Tuesday in a crucial phase of the end-game in their gripping race.

Though Obama leads in nominating contests, elected delegates and the all-important fundraising stakes, Clinton's message seems to be hitting home after her campaign-saving victory in Pennsylvania last week.

But she needs to capitalize on Obama's recent struggles, as she tries to convince "superdelegates" -- the professional Democratic politicians who effectively hold the nomination in their hands -- that Obama is unelectable.

A Howey-Gauge poll in Indiana released Tuesday had Obama up by just 47 to 45 percentage points, well within the margin of error, with eight percent of likely primary voters undecided.

Clinton had trailed by 15 points in the same poll in February.

A Public Policy poll had Clinton up eight points, weighting the average of recent polls in the state by RealClearPolitics.com in her favor, showing her up two points.

Indiana is a true battleground between the rivals, as it is packed with blue-collar white voters feeling the economic pinch who normally favor Clinton, but much of it is blanketed by the media market in Obama's hometown of Chicago.

In North Carolina, a state where Obama hopes a large African-American population will help carry him to victory, he leads the RealClearPolitics average by 10 points, but a Survey USA poll Tuesday had him up by only five.

Clinton got a boost on Tuesday with the endorsement of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley who declared that she made Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone, look like a "pansy."

Both Clinton and Obama were campaigning in Indiana on Wednesday, as their campaign teams blitzed North Carolina with ads and cranked up the political ground game.

US media commentators on Wednesday began to assess how deeply Pastor Jeremiah Wright's latest fiery comments had damaged the Obama campaign, after the Illinois Senator sharply rejected his friend of 20 years on Tuesday.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama said, portraying Wright, who made a weekend media tour, as antithetical to his calls for unity.

"I have known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years," he said of the man who conducted his marriage and baptized his two daughters, as he spoke to reporters in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

"The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago," Obama said.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe they end up giving comfort to those that prey on hate. I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black Church.

"They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs. If Reverend Wright thinks that is political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well."

Wright had previously said that AIDS was a racist plot created by the US government and said after the September 11 attacks in 2001 that black citizens should not sing "God Bless America" but "God Damn America" to protest their historic treatment by whites.

Neither Clinton nor Obama can now reach the 2,025 pledged delegates doled out in primary and caucus contests to claim the Democratic nomination outright.

So the fate of the party's presidential pick to take on Republican Senator John McCain lies in the hands of the nearly 800 superdelegates who can vote how they like at the party's convention in Denver, Colorado, in August.

AFP, April 30, 2008

South Bend, Ind.--As Hillary Clinton continues virtually non-stop campaigning between North Carolina and Indiana, the candidate and her team are showing signs of increased confidence.

After spending weeks blasting Barack Obama at any potential opening, Clinton aides have spent the past couple of days privately rather gleeful about Obama's plight with his former pastor, though they've said little publicly. Asked at a press conference on Monday about the matter, the candidate quickly sidestepped Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright to blast Arizona Senator John McCain, saying his condemnation of an ad being run by the North Carolina Republican Party that mentions Wright was not forceful enough.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving," noted one Clinton aide of Wright.

In recent days, Clinton's jabs at Obama have been gentle and often unnamed, far from her "meet me in Ohio" and "shame on you, Barack Obama" blasts on the eve of the vote in Ohio. She spent the weekend challenging him to debates, but even dropped that this week to criticize Obama for not supporting a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax.

Clinton aides think that even if the measure is a limited way to reduce gas prices, it allows the candidate to bash oil companies and cast her opponent against an idea that has political appeal.

Clinton continues to cast herself as the candidate of "solutions" rather than "speeches" in an implied criticism of Obama, but in a more mocking way than a sharp-edged tone.

"If all you had to do was show up in Washington and say 'let's change' I think Evan and I would have figured that out," she said in one stop in Indiana as she traveled there over the weekend with Sen. Evan Bayh.

Her operatives speak confidently about winning in Indiana. They are publicly playing down their chances of victory in North Carolina, but her schedule suggests otherwise. Clinton is almost spending as much time in the Tar Heel state as the must-win state of Indiana--as is her husband, who is campaigning extensively in rural towns in both states. Her aides think finishing only a few points behind Obama in North Carolina and winning in Indiana and other states in May could push her to a lead in the overall popular vote, even without counting votes in Michigan and Florida.

Ace Smith, Clinton's North Carolina state director, is repeating the campaign's mantra that a win in the Tar Heel State would be "the upset of the century." Clinton operatives in both Indiana and North Carolina are targeting independent voters in both states, believing a demographic that heavily favored Obama in early primaries is now shifting to the New York Senator. And the endorsement of Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina added to the Clinton camp's sense of momentum there.

"He's a very popular governor," Smith said.

Clinton herself seems to be speaking more easily about two controversial parts of her presidential run: her personality and her husband.

"Now, I know there are some people who say, 'Oh my goodness, she is tough,'" Clinton told a crowd in Salisbury, North Carolina on Monday. "Well, if you'd had my life you'd be tough, too."

Asked at a press conference that day about her husband's role in the campaign, she said,
"I'm very proud of the role my husband is playing in the campaign. I think it's very helpful to have the only successful two-term Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt campaign for me."

And in a more cosmetic change, Clinton's staff upgraded its travel from a 717 to MD-80 airplane. The former, smaller plane had a restroom only in the rear, forcing the Former First Lady to walk by the press corps every time she headed to the lavatory. The latter is more expensive to fly, suggesting the cash-strapped campaign may be in a slightly better financial situation.

Of course, many challenges remain for Clinton. Obama has an almost insurmountable lead among pledged delegates and in the popular vote and is gaining on Clinton's lead among superdelegates. Increasingly, the Democratic primary seems "demographically polarized" in the words of one of Clinton's staffers. White working class voters, older women and Latinos are sticking with Clinton, while the young, blacks and voters with college degrees side with Obama, a development that favors Obama in the long run, as he is already ahead and his base seems guaranteed not to abandon him.

And Clinton, who packed three fundraisers around four events on Monday in North Carolina, is still being vastly outspent in both of these key states by Obama, who almost never holds events to raise money because he is so effective online. The $300,000 Clinton raised in the Tar Heel State pales in comparison to what Obama raises many days without any effort.

And her negative ratings have spiked through the nomination process, making it harder to make her electability case to Democratic superdelegates.

But the New York Senator seems almost to be basking in the midst of an increasingly long campaign that has at times exhausted her opponent and her own staffers, who are constantly rotating on and off the road.

Comparing the campaign to a hiring decision, as she often does, Clinton told a crowd in Concord, North Carolina on Monday, "we've had the longest interview for any job."

But she quickly added, "I'm available and I would love to serve."

By Perry Bacon Jr., The Washington Post, April 30, 2008

Barack Obama is scrambling to put his presidential bid back on track after denouncing his former pastor.

Obama's move comes as he and Hillary Clinton push onward in a nomination struggle that is dividing the Democratic Party.

With key primaries in Indiana and North Carolina looming next week, their fight has given Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain weeks to unite his party and define his candidacy with few major challenges from the opposition.

At a news conference, Obama denounced Rev Jeremiah Wright whose comments and highly publicised appearances have threatened to sink his historic bid for the White House.

While he holds an apparently unassailable lead in elected delegates, the Wright controversy had created a heavy drag on Obama's momentum.

His refusal to sever ties to the theologian was seen as part of the reason Clinton turned in a nearly 10-point victory in Pennsylvania last week.

She has used her performance there to argue that the party's key superdelegates should back her as the most electable Democrat in the November general election.

There are about 800 Democratic superdelegates, officeholders and party officials who can vote for either candidate regardless of the results of state primary and caucus contests. Clinton has a narrow 21 superdelegate lead while Obama has outdistanced Clinton 1,729.5 to 1,595.5 overall.

With only nine state and territorial contests remaining, Clinton cannot achieve the 2,025 delegate count needed for the nomination without capturing most of the superdelegates who remain uncommitted.

That would put the party hierarchy at odds with Democratic voters and could further deepen the Democratic split.

The Press Association, April 30, 2008

DURHAM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Racially charged rhetoric by his former pastor has pushed U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama to a place he didn't want to be -- trying to ease white voters' worries about where he stands on race issues, while retaining black support.

The issue has disrupted Obama's campaign, in which he portrays himself as a uniter after years of American political and racial polarization. It threatens to jeopardize his edge over Hillary Clinton in the state-by-state race to be nominated the Democratic candidate for the November election.

The Illinois senator has been put on the defensive before critical votes in Indiana and North Carolina next week, forced to denounce comments by Rev. Jeremiah White that could foster a view among white voters that Obama is a black radical.

Wright repeated assertions this week that the United States deserved some blame for the September 11 attacks and said Washington played some role in spreading AIDS to blacks, who are disproportionately affected by the HIV virus.

Extracts from some of Wright's sermons surfaced in the media last month, prompting a widely praised speech by Obama on race issues. At the time, Obama distanced himself from the views of the man who recently retired as pastor of the Chicago church which Obama has attended since 1992 and who presided over Obama's marriage and baptized his two daughters.

But on Tuesday, with Wright's appearances dominating the media, Obama roundly denounced them as "outrageous" and "appalling." "I want to be very clear that moving forward, Rev. Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign," Obama said.

Obama said he did not know the impact of Wright's views on voters. But African Americans interviewed in Durham, North Carolina, said they feared Wright's sudden prominence would give white voters a reason to abandon Obama's campaign.

"RINGING A BELL"

"He (Wright) keeps ringing a bell that doesn't need to be rung and I am saying 'why would he do that?'" said Wilma Dillard, owner of Dillard's Barbeque, a popular restaurant in a largely black suburb of Durham.

"For the educated whites, they may dismiss Wright but for the non-educated they will be intimidated and see it as a threat from the black man they have always feared," Dillard said in a view echoed by other African Americans.

Durham city councilor Michael Page, who is also a Baptist minister, said Wright's views should be seen in the context of his long fight against inequality but he also said blacks he knew were "livid" with the timing of Wright's remarks.

Black voters have helped give Obama an edge in his contest with Clinton and they will likely play a major role in North Carolina, where they constitute around 40 percent of the Democratic electorate, said politics professor Andrew Taylor at North Carolina State University.

In Indiana, where the race has been neck-and-neck, blacks represent a much smaller slice of the electorate and the state has a big population of less affluent whites, who helped Clinton win in Pennsylvania last week.

In one indication of the damage Wright could cause among white voters, people in a restaurant in Shelbyville, in southeast Indiana, said the pastor made them doubt whether Obama was trustworthy.

"I definitely don't like Obama because of the mess with him and his pastor. I don't think he's been honest about it," said Candace Demmin, 37, as she had lunch with her mother.

"How can you go to a church for 20 years and not hear your minister say something off-color? Either he's heard it and is lying about it, or he's lying about going to church as much as he does," said Demmin. She said she had yet to decide who to support in Tuesday's primary.

"SIT DOWN, SHUT UP"

Wright's comments are viewed as particularly sensitive for Obama because U.S. politicians running for state or national office rarely dwell on race, which can be a strongly divisive issue.

African Americans make up around 13 percent of the U.S. population and some express anger at what they say is continued discrimination in a country in which a history of slavery and other forms of racial oppression contradict national values.

Other Americans argue that the United States, while not perfect, has done much to overcome racial injustice and say blacks should let go of any bitterness and work harder to resolve problems they face.

Obama has made his ability to bridge America's divides a central part of his campaign and roots his capacity to heal a racial divide in part on the fact that he was born to a Kenyan father and white American mother.

But if Wright remains in the public eye he could serve to render Obama less neutral in terms of race, said Charmaine McKissock-Melton, a professor of English at North Carolina Central University who supports Obama.

"It (Wright's controversial appearances) makes Barack seem black and prior to this time he was just Barack Obama .... If you really want to help your candidate why don't you sit down and shut up," she said.

By Matthew Bigg, Reuters, April 30, 2008

While Hillary Clinton aides don't acknowledge it directly, her momentum from a win in Pennsylvania may be blunted on Tuesday by one of the persistent problems of her candidacy: her struggles with black voters.

While polls show her effectively tied with Barack Obama in Indiana, she would gain more among both delegates and in the popular vote if she won the other state voting on May 6, North Carolina. But experts expect that more than a third of the voters in the Tar Heel state will be black, and according to National Election Pool exit polling, Obama has won by double-digits in all of the states where more than 30 percent of Democratic voters were black: South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia.

Out of 32 states where exit polls were conducted, nine states had primary electorates where more than a quarter of the electorate was black, and of those, Clinton won only Tennessee, which she carried by 13 points on the strength of her 41-point margin among white voters.

Of course, other demographics suggest Tuesday's outcome is still up for grabs and largely dependent on turnout. In South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana, Obama won overwhelmingly in part because of his fervent support among blacks, who comprised more than 40 percent of the electorate. In Maryland and Virginia, where around a third of the voters were black, and in Georgia, he was helped by high-percentages of college graduates, another Obama strength, and by better-than-average performances among all white voters.

In North Carolina, about four in 10 likely voters have college degrees, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, compared to nearly six in 10 in Maryland and Virginia and more than half in Georgia. In some ways the Tar Heel State is closer to Tennessee, where 35 percent of Democratic primary voters were college graduates.

In short, a very strong finish for Clinton among white voters without college degrees could put her in position to win the state if she can also peel off a small amount of the black vote. Obama could blow her out if black turnout is over 40 percent or he performs as strongly among white working class voters as he did in a state like North Carolina's neighbor, Virginia.

By Jennifer Agiesta and Perry Bacon Jr., The Washington Post, April 30, 2008

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton this morning won the backing of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, and she's just announced another big superdelegate.

Rep. Ike Skelton, a well-respected Democrat from Missouri who is chairman of the House Armed Services committee, endorsed the former first lady.

Sen. Barack Obama narrowly won Missouri on Super Tuesday, but Clinton won 61 percent of the vote in Skelton's district, in western Missouri and comprising much of the Kansas City suburbs.

Skelton's endorsement comes a month after another powerful one from Pennsylvania Rep. Jack Murtha, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee chairman.

Here's Skelton's release:

Harrisonville, MO - Today, U.S. Representative Ike Skelton released the following statement regarding the Democratic Presidential contest:

"It is my intention as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention to vote for Senator Hillary Clinton because of her support in rural America, her commitment to National Security, and her dedication to our men and women in uniform."

By Christina Bellantoni, April 29, 2008, The Washington Times

After days of largely ignoring the media blitz his former pastor has waged, Barack Obama reversed course and denounced the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in the strongest and most direct terms yet on Tuesday. It was a decision that may help him reclaim some of the initiative in a tight presidential primary contest, but it is not without risks.

The decision to specifically address Wright's controversial statements came after the campaign maintained for days that Obama had said all he had to say on the subject - a sign that there has been growing concern that the controversy was damaging his candidacy. The result was not just a denunciation of Wright's comments, but of the man who attracted Obama into the Trinity United Church of Christ, married him and baptized his children.

The turning point was Wright's combative appearance in Washington yesterday at the national press club, where he stood by the comments he has claimed were taken out of context in press accounts over the past months. Wright maintained that the U.S. government was capable of acts of horror such as spreading AIDS through the black community, accused the government of committing terrorism abroad and called criticisms of such remarks an attack on the "black church."

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama said in a last-minute press conference today. The candidate said that after watching Wright's appearance from Monday, "what became clear to me was that he was presenting a world view that contradicts what I am and what I stand for."

Hitting on most of the major points in specific terms, Obama said "there are no excuses" for such comments. "They offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced."

In his much-heralded address on race relations after Wright's earlier comments began gaining wide circulation last month, Obama pointedly denounced the comments but not the man. That position changed today. Calling Wright's appearance Monday a "performance," Obama went further, saying his remarks "were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate."

With potentially pivotal contests looming in North Carolina and Indiana, the focus of the Democratic contest has been on Obama's political weaknesses. For weeks, questions revolved around pressure on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. But after her sizable win in Pennsylvania, the pressure has shifted to Obama to demonstrate he can deliver a knock-out punch.

He needs to show not only that he can attract the kind of blue-collar, "Reagan Democrat" vote that has kept Clinton afloat in the race but also demonstrate to those all-important superdelegates who will decide the nomination that he has what it takes to win in November. Part of that is proving that he can handle the kind of crisis that Wright has become for his campaign.

In taking such an aggressive stand Obama may succeed in publicly distancing himself from the spectacle that the Rev. Wright has become, but his newfound outrage raises some further questions. In his Philadelphia address, Obama stood by his friend. "As imperfect as he may be," he said of Wright a month ago, "he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. … I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community."

In today's press conference, Obama said he sought in his earlier speech to "provide a context and to lift up some of the contradictions and complexities of race in America," but that he found Wright's comments Monday to be a "bunch of rants that that aren't grounded in truth." But many of Wright's "rants" were simply a confirmation of many of the statements which had stirred up controversy in the first place.

Despite his appropriate outrage over Wright's performances of late, Obama's claim that his longtime pastor is exhibiting new behavior is certain to come under scrutiny. "The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago," Obama insisted today. That comment, and any suggestion that the relationship between the two men was never as close as portrayed, are questionable.

Some of Wright's remarks that sparked this mess were made over five years ago, specifically his oft-played comment that the nation's "chickens" were "coming home to roost," which he made shortly after 9/11. Obama has indicated Wright was instrumental in attracting him to the church he joined and has said he titled his book, "The Audacity of Hope," after one of Wright's sermons. That 20-year relationship will not be easily broken as a result of one afternoon press conference.

"What I think particularly angered me," Obama said of Wright on Monday, "was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing."

In a New York Times profile of the Obama-Wright relationship in April 2007, Wright himself predicted such a split based on the controversial remarks that were already under some scrutiny. "If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," Wright told the paper over a year ago. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen."

Whether Obama's strong words of denunciation today were sincere or "political posturing" will be decided by the remaining Democratic primary voters, the party's superdelegates and, perhaps, the national electorate. But it's not a discussion that is likely to disappear entirely from the public's consciousness.



By Vaughn Ververs, CBS News, April 30, 2008

Hillary Clinton left North Carolina Tuesday with a big endorsement in her pocket while Barack Obama hopes he has left behind the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. as both played full-court-press Wednesday in Indiana, a state that will determine if Clinton gets to play on in the Democratic race.

Voting there is set for less than a week a way on May 6, the same day the two will battle for votes in North Carolina. The RealClearPolitics.com average of recent polls shows Clinton ahead of Obama by 2.2 percentage points., whereas in North Carolina, Obama leads Clinton in the same average by 10.2 percentage points.

Jobs and the economy were the name of the game Wednesday. Coming off more news that gas prices were reaching record levels and a stagnant national economic report, Clinton started her day with a campaign supporter in South Bend, Ind., heading to a gas station for a fill-up.

Although she was expected to do the pumping herself during what was billed as a "normal" commute for Deluxe Sheet Metal worker Jason Whilfing, Whilfing actually held the pump. But Clinton, as expected, picked up the tab: At $3.759 a gallon for about a half tank, the tab - on Whilfing's boss's truck, to accommodate security - came to $63.67.

Clinton and Obama have been trading barbs over a proposed gas tax holiday as oil prices near $120 a barrel. Obama, who has alternately called the plan a "scheme" and a "gimmick," is staunchly opposed to the idea of lifting the federal tax over the summer months, while Clinton says it will give a needed boost to the economy when it needs it most.

But jobs and work also were on the agenda for both candidates as the cross-crossed - Indy-style - across the state. Each was holding several events Wednesday related to the state's work force.

After the morning commute with Hilfing, Clinton was then going to visit with his co-workers at Deluxe. Then she planned on holding two events titled "Standing up for Jobs," first in Portage, then in Lafayette and a late event in Kokomo.

Obama - coming off a troublesome few days after dealing with blistering comments by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. - also plans to focus on his economic message Wednesday. After a noon stop in Indianapolis, Obama and his wife, Michelle, will hold stay in town to hold "a discussion with working families." After two more Indianapolis events, he heads to Bloomington, home of the Indiana University.

But before he even hit the trail Wednesday, Obama's message started with a swipe at Clinton over a new ad hitting the airwaves there, attacking Obama on his plans for the economy.

Obama's campaign released a statement dismissing the ad, saying, "It puts political point-scoring ahead of progress."

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama don't go long at campaign stops before uttering an applause-inducing, four-letter word: Jobs. Each has detailed plans to create millions of them.

But in historical context, the labor market isn't that bad - particularly in North Carolina. Nationally, the jobless rate is 5.1 percent. Here, it's 5.2 percent.

Back in 1982, the national rate rose as high as 10.8 percent. As recently as January 2002, the state rate was 7 percent.

Yes, the U.S. lost almost a quarter million jobs - 232,000 - in the first three months of the year. In 2001, though, it shed 325,000 in October alone.

There's no doubt the economy has slowed and recession might already have taken hold. But talk with voters in the Triangle and you'll find them most interested in the quality of jobs.

People are struggling to make ends meet. At least 219,000 people in the state work multiple jobs just to keep up.

For six months last year, Kim Hoover worked two. Then she tried to make it with just one.

"I couldn't afford to eat all the time," said Hoover who earned just over $20,000 all of last year.

So she went back to working two. She puts in 50 hours a week at Harmony Farms Natural Foods in Raleigh and as a bartender at downtown's Berkeley Cafe.

"You have to have money to survive, and there are too many people who aren't making it," said Hoover, 23, of Raleigh. "Something needs to happen."

That's the message on the campaign trail, too, where candidates have focused on oil, trade and other pocketbook concerns to appeal to middle-class voters.

"For the wealthiest of Americans higher gas prices may just be a nuisance," Clinton said at an appearance on Monday. "But for a lot of hard-working Americans, it is becoming a crisis."

Bert Morrison of Capital Sales in Raleigh, has not seen an influx of customers ailing from job cuts. He has seen people seeking quick cash to buy groceries or buy fuel to get to work.

"It's the worst I've ever seen it," who manages the decade-old store that buys used goods from people and resells them at a profit. "Their paychecks are spent. Now gas is $40, $50" to fill up.

"It's just a killer," he added.

Statewide, the average price of regular, unleaded gasoline rose 10 percent in the past month to $3.59 per gallon. The price is up 23 percent in the past year, according to data from AAA.

In the South, a gallon of milk is 18 percent more than a year ago. Eggs are 46 percent more per dozen. And potatoes cost 5 percent more per pound.

Wages have not kept pace with those kinds of increases. On average, private-sector wages in North Carolina increased 3 percent between September 2006 and September 2007, the most recent data available from the N.C. Employment Security Commission. The pace likely has slowed since.

"This goes with the territory of a recession," said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State University. "We tend to see wages and incomes not rise as much, and in some ways trail the overall cost of living."

North Carolina leaders in recent years have worked to improve the types of jobs in the state and insulate it from broader economic swings. Time was, manufacturing was the gateway to the state's middle class. In the past 10 years, 260,000 of those jobs have disappeared, largely due to international competition.

Today, state officials talk about jobs in healthcare and "green" industries as the path to a higher standard of living. North Carolina has set up a statewide workforce training network for biotechnology jobs and last year created the Biofuels Center to exploit demand for alternative energy.

The presidential candidates' proposals share similarities with those strategies to not only create jobs but add higher-paying ones. Clinton, for instance, has proposed raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. Obama wants to invest $150 billion in alternative energy over a decade, a move he says would create 5 million jobs.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has not yet outlined specific job strategies.

Morrison wonders if the ideas matter. Customers say, "`It's going to get better when somebody else is in,'" he said. "How is it going to get better? How do they have the magic ball?"

For her part, Hoover is undecided on a candidate. She hasn't had time to make up her mind.

Some days, she's at Harmony Farms by 11:30 a.m. and there until 7:30 p.m. She then heads to the Berkeley for an 8:30 p.m. shift that might go until 3 a.m.

"It gets very hectic for me," Hoover said. "I'm just getting burned out."

Recently, she put in her two-week notice at Harmony Farms. More shifts opened up at the Berkeley and, with tips, she can earn as much as she did with two jobs.

But with utilities, food and most other bills going up, she expects to continue with a familiar pastime.

"I'm still going to be looking for another part time job," she said.

By JONATHAN B. COX, McClatchy Newspapers, April 29, 2008

Torren Mayr is only 8 months old, but he's already been mentioned in a speech by a major presidential candidate.

When Hillary Clinton stepped to the stage at the Historic Salisbury Station Monday afternoon, she scanned the crowd.

Then she announced, "I see a 'Babies for Hillary' sign back there. That's a very smart baby."

Chuckles rippled through the crowd.

The "Babies for Hillary" sign was prepared by Torren's grandmother, Pattie Templeton. She babysits Torren on weekdays and took the child to see Clinton, driving from her home in Huntersville.

The sign was attached to Torren's stroller, though Templeton removed it and held it aloft as Hillary stepped to the stage.

"I just wanted to come see Hillary and I thought this was the best venue," Templeton said, noting that should Clinton eventually win the Democratic nomination and race for president, her grandson would forever be able to say he'd seen a president in person.

Even if he couldn't remember having done so.

Clinton's stop in Salisbury was part of a statewide stump that precedes next Tuesday's primary. She spoke in Graham before traveling to Salisbury, then made stops in Concord and Charlotte before the day was through.

Several hundred people gathered at the Salisbury depot, congregating under the metal roof outside the main building.

Bleachers were erected on either side of the stage where Clinton stood and a large American flag lined a wall. On the nearby railroad tracks, police officers cruised back and forth on Segways.

Other officers held the leashes of police dogs.

When a slow-moving freight train rumbled past while Clinton spoke, she paused and waved to the engineer. He responded by giving her a thumbs-up sign.

Johnsie Hege came to Salisbury Monday with her father, John Stewart, to have lunch at DJ's. They traveled from Winston-Salem.

Hege said they learned while in town that Clinton would be speaking, so they decided to have a look, though neither she nor her father have made up their minds who they'll be voting for.

"We accidentally came across this," Hege said of learning of Clinton's visit.

A number of those in attendance said they haven't decided the candidate they'll be supporting.

"I'm just curious," admitted Salisbury's George Taylor when asked his reason for coming to see Clinton.

John Thompson said he wasn't as much a Hillary supporter as he was a Bill Clinton supporter.

Then he noted, "If we get Hillary, we get Bill, too. They come as a pair."

Melissa Conrad brought her two children, Lindsey, 4, and Taylor, 6, to Monday's gathering.

Taylor is a kindergartner at St. John's Lutheran and said students in her class held a mock election recently.

Taylor said that while she voted for Clinton, the majority of her classmates did otherwise. She said Barack Obama was the leading vote-getter.

Melissa, Taylor's mother, said her children have taken an interest in this year's race.

"They've seen her in the newspapers and on TV," Melissa said of Clinton. "They wanted to be here today."

Jack Thomson, executive director of Historic Salisbury Foundation, found himself basking again in the glow of a big name visiting the depot.

In the past month, the facility has been visited by George Clooney and Renee Zellweger, plus both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Thomson noted that security for Hillary's visit was much more strict than it was for her husband's visit earlier this month. Officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security scrutinized every pocketbook that was carried into the depot Monday. Visitors also had to pass through metal detectors.

Genoal Russell, chairman of the Rowan County Democratic Party, said she felt attendance for Hillary's speech was curtailed by inclement weather.

Rain fell off and on throughout the day and a tornado watch was in effect for counties closer to Charlotte.

A bit more sunshine might have boosted attendance from the hundreds to the thousands, Russell said.

"But we have enthusiasm here," she said, laughing.

While the hierarchy of the local Democratic party isn't backing either Clinton or Obama, Donna Monroe, one of the party's members, isn't so bashful.

She said she's a full-fledged Clinton supporter.

"I think Hillary has the best chance to get our country back on its feet," Monroe said. "Things are in such a mess right now with the economy and all."

Then she paused before stating some of the reasons she feels Clinton is the best choice for president.

"A woman can multi-task," Monroe said, laughing. "And she can take a punch, too."

Clinton said much the same when she took the stage, alluding to past well-publicized marital problems that she and her husband have weathered.

"I know some say, 'She's tough,' " Clinton said. "If you'd had my life, you'd be tough, too."

After speaking in Salisbury, Clinton left for Concord, where she spoke to more than 500 people at Troutman's Bar-B-Que.

They stood beneath golf umbrellas and ponchos as a rain storm rolled through Cabarrus County. Blue skies and a warm sun arrived just as Clinton's vehicle entered the parking lot.

From a platform, Clinton spoke of her goals to address the economy, energy, health care and education. As in Salisbury, she asked the crowd to "hire" her as president.

"Look at my resume," Clinton said. "I want a chance to show you what I can do for you."

Inside Troutman's, supporters shared their thoughts about Clinton.

"I just think she'll make a great president," said Don Barnhardt of Concord. "She's the only pick we've got."

Cabarrus resident Regina Parham said Clinton "has the best record of all the candidates."

Teenagers and young adults shared their own assessment of Clinton.

"She's just awesome," said Alex Almeter, an 11th-grade student at Jay M. Robinson High School. "Super awesome."

Anita Honeycutt, an education major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, talked with Clinton then declared herself "at a loss for words.

"She is sweet and seems down to earth," Honeycutt managed. "I hope she gets elected."

By Steve Huffman, Salisbury Post, April 30, 2008

America's candidates for the presidency have contradictory views about oil prices and the environment

DO VOTERS worry more about climate change, America's dependence on foreign oil or the cost of filling their petrol tanks? The last may well be the most pressing. This week the president of OPEC, Chakib Khelil, raised the spectre of the price of a barrel of oil hitting an eye-popping $200. Even at nearly $120 a barrel, the current price, motorists are squealing. A poll released on Tuesday April 29th suggests that the price of petrol is the single greatest concern among voters today.

No wonder that the three candidates for president are tapping into these issues. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic rivals, both say they will do something about climate change and energy security. So does the Republican candidate-designate John McCain, and unusually forcefully for a member of his party. The politicians have been spurred along by a variety of forces, from Al Gore pointing to evidence of man's part in causing climate change, to pressure from religious environmentalists who see a God-given duty to act as stewards of the planet. Foreign-policy types, too, worry about America's reliance on oil from the Middle East.

Promises of fixes, from both sides of the aisle, typically involve America's optimistic view of its technological prowess. New fuels and greener cars are seen as a big part of a solution to climate change. But, in a sign of how the three candidates are distinct from George Bush, they also favour plans for capping carbon emissions and for the introduction of a system for trading carbon permits.

The immediate concern, however, is the cost of petrol. Combined with higher food prices and a crashing housing market, energy costs are making middle-class and poorer Americans feel vulnerable. Thus the politicians promise swift action. Mrs Clinton produced the biggest basket of ideas in a speech on Monday. Following an earlier proposal by Mr McCain, she wants to suspend the federal petrol tax of 18.4 cents for the summer driving season. This would be paid for with a windfall-tax on oil companies. Exxon, for example, is sure to announce bumper profits on Thursday. She wants to ban gasoline-price "gouging" and says she would go after "speculators" whom she says are driving up prices. And she talks of hauling OPEC to the World Trade Organisation and even to American courts for anti-competitive behaviour.

Not much of this would make a difference. Her suggestion that no more oil should now be added to America's nearly-full Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have only a marginal impact. Hitting oil companies with windfall taxes may generate revenue, which Mrs Clinton wants to put into research for green technologies (and hopefully generating what she calls "green-collar" jobs in hard-hit rust-belt states). But higher taxes could also discourage exploration and investment, curtailing supply and driving up oil prices again.

Energy economists dispute whether speculators are really responsible for much of oil's current high price, and thus whether attacking them would do much good. In any case, spotting speculators might be tricky: oil traders, including arms of big firms such as Exxon and Chevron, help to keep the market liquid and thus generally to keep prices lower than they might otherwise be. Clamping down on them might have the opposite effect. As for "gouging", it is not clear how much of that, versus reasonable price increases, is really going on. Isolated cases are already being prosecuted and the more could follow, for example on anti-competition grounds. Talk of hauling OPEC countries to court, essentially to force them to stop acting like OPEC, may play well among voters but seems most unlikely to convince producers to turn on the taps.

The most obvious thing that the government could do to lower oil prices would be to cut taxes, as Mr McCain and Mrs Clinton suggest. But this, of course, would encourage driving and would send more profits to the oil companies and to the exporting countries. Mr Obama has opposed suspending the tax (although he joins Mrs Clinton in wanting a windfall tax on oil companies) saying it would save consumers less than $30 over the summer, and would take much-needed money out of the fund that maintains American roads and bridges. Mrs Clinton, for her part, says that her windfall tax would prevent any raid on the highway trust fund.

Voters have good reason to worry about energy, security and their environment. But they may have to get used to more pricey petrol. Historically cheap gasoline, partly as a result of low taxes, has enabled what even George Bush has called an American addiction to oil. More pricey oil might be one factor that reduces carbon emissions. And the candidates to be president will not, in any case, have the power to pull the oil price down again, whatever they may promise now.

The Economist, April 30, 2008

When Hillary Clinton met on Capitol Hill last week with Indiana Rep. Brad Ellsworth and North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler, she also pressed a number of others to back her, and today one did.

That'd be Ike Skelton, of Missouri. Clinton won in Skelton's western Missouri district back in February.

"It is my intention as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention to vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton because of her support in rural America, her commitment to National Security, and her dedication to our men and women in uniform," Skelton said.

Two other names to watch for from that meeting, whose districts Clinton also won: Rep Jason Altmire, from western Pennsylvania, and Rep. Dan Boren, whose eastern Oklahoma nearly touches Skelton's. Boren's father, former Oklahoma Gov. and Sen. David Boren, has endorsed Obama.

By Michael McAuliff, New York Daily News, April 29, 2008

Hillary Rodham Clinton will pick up the support of another influential superdelegate this morning when Bill George declares his support for the senator from New York.

George, the president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, had been one of six remaining undeclared Pennsylvania superdelegates.

The remaining five are all Democratic members of Congress -- U.S. Reps. Tim Holden, Chris Carney, Jason Altmire, Mike Doyle and Bob Brady.

On Tuesday, Clinton picked up the support of another superdelegate, Mike Easley, the governor of North Carolina, which holds its primary on Tuesday,

With George's support, Clinton extends her lead over fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama to 16-5 among Pennsylvania superdelegates.

Superdelegates are the roughly 800 Democratic party leaders and elected officials who will vote along with elected delegates for a nominee. Unlike the elected delegates who run pledged for a specific candidate, superdelegates are free to vote for any candidate.

With neither Clinton nor Obama able to win enough delegate votes in the remaining nine primary and caucus contests to clinch the nomination, coveted superdelegates hold the key to deciding the nomination.

By BRETT LIEBERMAN, The Patriot-News, April 30, 2008

Cutting loose Jeremiah Wright to get back in step.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright married Barack Obama 15 years ago, and today Obama tried to divorce him. In his strongest remarks to date, Obama said he was outraged and appalled by his former pastor's recent TV tour. "The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago," Obama said. "His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church."

By putting down his foot, hard, Obama certainly reassured his allies and supporters who hoped he would react to Wright's newest flamboyance with passion rather than the cool jazz aspect that Obama has used for so much else in the campaign. He didn't pound the podium—that would have been out of character. But the denunciation could only have been more thorough if Obama had asked Wright to quit talking by appealing to his sense of Christian charity. Wright's three-day speaking tour has distracted and infuriated the Obama campaign, and the candidate let that show.

It's too early to tell if Obama's remarks will dispel the fallout from his former pastor turned wrecking ball, but they were the right first step. Before Obama can put Wright behind him, he had to put himself back at the center of his own campaign. That's what today was about—taking control of his destiny. And that's how his campaign aides and allies talked about Obama's break with Wright. "This was a human reaction from a man who woke up this morning and saw what Reverend Wright had done was put his personal vanity ahead of changing this country and who thought enough is enough," said one Obama aide.

Since Obama offered his theories on bitter small-town people at a San Francisco fundraiser a few weeks ago, he has at times seemed to be at the mercy of external forces. He is still ahead in the delegate counts that matter but he hasn't seemed like a commanding front-runner. You could sense this in the expression on his face in the cutaway shots during the Philadelphia debate two weeks ago. He looked exhausted and irritated that he was being bled to death by paper cuts, on issues from his lapel pin to Wright to his association with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. His performance on the stump was mirroring his performance in his scrimmage today with the Tar Heels - he was struggling to keep pace, and if he did score, it was only when few were watching.

When campaigns get knocked off balance they can overreact. The Obama team did this during the waning days of the Pennsylvania primary by taking on Hillary about her Bosnia exaggerations (after the candidate suggested he wouldn't). Or by trotting out new slogans every week as Hillary Clinton often has. Now Obama is trying to find his way back to his core message of change, which is why he denounced Wright's remarks not only on their own terms but because they were antithetical to his entire worldview. "My reaction has more to do with what I want this campaign to be about," said Obama. "In some ways, what Reverend Wright said yesterday directly contradicts everything that I've done during my life. It contradicts how I was raised and the setting in which I was raised; it contradicts my decision to pursue a career of public service. It contradicts the issues that I've worked on politically."

Perhaps just as important for Obama's attempt to regain control of his campaign was the fight he picked Tuesday with Clinton and John McCain over lifting the gas tax for the summer driving season. The other candidates have backed this crowd pleaser, but Obama labeled it as a phony Washington solution that wouldn't do much to help real people. "This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election," he said at a town hall meeting Tuesday in Winston Salem, N.C.

Substantively, he's got lots of economists and policy experts on his side. By presenting himself as a speaker of hard truth, Obama sought to return to his presentation as the politician who will tell people what they need to hear (that solutions to gas prices are not easy) rather than what they want to hear (that they're getting a big government giveback).

The fight also allows him to tie Clinton to McCain, a useful if small advantage in this endless primary season. A scrape with Hillary over any policy differences is a relief from the swirl of distractions that have been plaguing the Democratic race. Clinton responded Tuesday with a new ad on the gas-tax relief plan, saying it showed that Obama failed to act. Hey, a real issue to mine.

Of course, there are still a number of factors out of Obama's control, including the reaction of voters to Wright, the appetite and attitudes of the press, and the extent to which Clinton allies can keep the story alive. Perhaps the most unpredictable variable is Wright himself, who, as Obama ruefully pointed out, is hardly coordinating with the campaign. Extricating himself from the relationship may be more complicated for Obama than the simple: I want a divorce.

By John Dickerson, The Slate, April 29, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ike Skelton endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, wading into the presidential fray after months on the sidelines.

In a statement, Skelton, D-Mo., said he decided to back Clinton because of her support for "rural America, her commitment to National Security, and her dedication to our men and women in uniform."

A spokeswoman said the Lexington Democrat, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, was not available for comment.

Skelton's move comes as the pressure on superdelegates intensifies in the protracted nominating battle between Clinton, D-N.Y., and her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Superdelegates are the party leaders and elected officials who have a vote at the Democratic National Convention and are likely to decide the nominee.

The battle for superdelegate endorsements has become ever-more crucial because neither candidate is likely to win enough pledged delegates, secured through primary or caucus victories, to wrap up the nomination.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, has urged superdelegates to make up their mind by soon after the last primary in June, so the party can come together to face GOP nominee and Arizona Sen. John McCain.




By Deirdre Shesgreen, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, April 29, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senator Barack Obama broke forcefully on Tuesday with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in an effort to curtail a drama of race, values, patriotism and betrayal that has enveloped his presidential candidacy at a critical juncture.

At a news conference here, Mr. Obama denounced remarks Mr. Wright made in a series of televised appearances over the last several days. In the appearances, Mr. Wright has suggested that the United States was attacked because it engaged in terrorism on other people and that the government was capable of having used the AIDS virus to commit genocide against minorities. His remarks also cast Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, in a positive light.

In tones sharply different from those Mr. Obama used on Monday, when he blamed the news media and his rivals for focusing on Mr. Wright, and far harsher than those he used in his speech on race in Philadelphia last month, Mr. Obama tried to cut all his ties to - and to discredit - Mr. Wright, the man who presided at Mr. Obama's wedding and baptized his two daughters.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church," Mr. Obama said, his voice welling with anger. "They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs."

One week before Democratic primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, contests that party officials are watching as they try to gauge whether Mr. Obama or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the stronger nominee, the controversy surrounding Mr. Wright again erupted into a threat to Mr. Obama's ability to show that he could unify the Democratic Party and bring the nominating contest to a quick and clean end. With Mrs. Clinton having shown particular strength among working-class white voters in recent big-state primaries, the racial overtones of Mr. Obama's links with Mr. Wright have been especially troublesome for the Obama campaign.

Asked how the controversy would affect voters, Mr. Obama said: "We'll find out."

At a minimum, the spectacle of Mr. Wright's multiday media tour and Mr. Obama's rolling response grabbed the attention of the most important constituency in politics now: the uncommitted superdelegates - party officials and elected Democrats - who hold the balance of power in the nominating battle.

Eileen Macoll, a Democratic county chairman from Washington State who has not chosen a candidate, said she was stunned at the extent of national attention the episode has drawn, and she said she believed it would give superdelegates pause.

"I'm a little surprised at how much traction it is getting, and I do believe it is beginning to reflect negatively on Senator Obama's campaign," Ms. Macoll said. "I think he's handling it very well, but I think it's almost impossible to make people feel comfortable about this."

It was the second straight day that Mr. Obama had responded to Mr. Wright, a former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago whose derisive comments about the United States government have become a fixture of cable television. Saying that he had not seen or read Mr. Wright's remarks when he responded to them on Monday, Mr. Obama said he was "shocked and surprised" when he later read the transcripts and watched the broadcasts, and he felt compelled to respond more forcefully.

"I'm outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Mr. Obama said. He added: "I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I'm about and who I am."

The press conference came in what may well be the toughest stretch of Mr. Obama's campaign as he grapples with questions about Mr. Wright as well as the fallout from his defeat last week in Pennsylvania. He set out this week to reintroduce himself but instead found himself competing for airtime with Mr. Wright and trying to bat away suggestions that he shared or tolerated Mr. Wright's views.

As he answered question after question here, Mr. Obama appeared downcast and subdued as he tried to explain why he had decided to categorically denounce his minister of 20 years. His decision to address reporters not only stretched the Wright story into another day but also marked at least the third time he has sought to deal with the issue, including his well-received speech on race last month in Philadelphia.

"The fact that Reverend Wright would think that somehow it was appropriate to command the stage for three or four consecutive days in the midst of this major debate is something that not only makes me angry, but also saddens me," Mr. Obama said.

Even amid the wall-to-wall news coverage about Mr. Wright, Mr. Obama won the support of two more superdelegates, including Representative Ben Chandler of Kentucky. Meanwhile, Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri and Gov. Michael F. Easley of North Carolina announced their support for Mrs. Clinton.

The first real evidence of whether the controversy has extracted a political price could come on Tuesday. Superdelegates suggested that they would watch closely to see how voters respond in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries and beyond.

Bob Mulholland, a superdelegate from California, said the difficulties Mr. Obama had experienced put a premium on results in the remaining contests.

"We've got nine elections to go through June 9," Mr. Mulholland said in an interview. "I've never been involved in a successful presidential race where the candidate had no trouble in the primary. It's challenging to him. He is a young man, and this is the first time he's run for president. I see this as a learning experience."

Asked how he thought Mr. Obama was doing, Mr. Mulholland paused before responding. "Getting better," he finally said.

The appearances by Mr. Wright, which began Friday and concluded Monday, were anticipated by the Obama campaign, but aides said they were taken aback by the tenor of the remarks. His first interview, with Bill Moyers on PBS, offered few hints of what he intended when he arrived at the National Press Club on Monday.

"At a certain point, if what somebody says contradicts what you believe so fundamentally, and then he questions whether or not you believe it in front of the National Press Club, then that's enough," Mr. Obama said. "That's a show of disrespect to me. It's also, I think, an insult to what we've been trying to do in this campaign."

Mr. Obama became a Christian after hearing a 1988 sermon of Mr. Wright's called "The Audacity to Hope." Joining Mr. Wright's church helped Mr. Obama, with his disparate racial and geographic background, embrace not only the African-American community but also Africa, his friends and family say.

Mr. Obama had barely known his Kenyan father; Mr. Wright made pilgrimages to Africa and incorporated its rituals into worship. Mr. Obama toted recordings of Mr. Wright's sermons to law school. Mr. Obama titled his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention "The Audacity of Hope," and gave his next book the same name.

As Mr. Wright's more incendiary statements began circulating widely, Mr. Obama routinely condemned them but did not disassociate himself from Mr. Wright. In his speech in Philadelphia, Mr. Obama tried to explain his pastor through the bitter history of American race relations.

Five weeks later, the men seem finished with each other.

"Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this," Mr. Obama said Tuesday. "I don't think that he showed much concern for me. More importantly, I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do in this campaign and what we're trying to do for the American people."

By Jeff Zeleny and Adam Nagourney, The New York Times, April 30, 2008

A day ago, we asked if yesterday would be the day Jeremiah Wright would go away, at least in the context of the Obama-Clinton primary race. Well, not quite. Obama made sure the story would last one more day by holding a press conference in which he unequivocally denounced Wright.

That denunciation -- just like his speech on race more than a month ago -- has received universal praise. It made him look strong, and it might have even helped him a bit if he wins the nomination (after all, denouncing him now is MUCH better than doing so in October). But the criticisms still to be leveled against Obama are twofold: 1) it was late and 2) he did this only after Wright personally attacked him; Obama didn't get angry over the OTHER things Wright said, but only when Wright made it personal.

One thing still hanging in the air: will Wright respond; he did a sort-of response through a blind quote in the New York Post but considering how upset black church leaders seem to be with Wright, he may end up keeping quiet.

Clearly, superdelegates were the most important audience yesterday. They may be relieved Obama finally showed an ability to deal with a baggage crisis head-on, but they still will want to know if Wright will continue to dog him. Obama's back was against the wall and he delivered. But like every other time, it feels a little late, the question is, was it TOO late.




By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro, MSNBC, April 30, 2008

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - Barack Obama can talk about his childhood years in Kansas and upbringing by his white Midwestern grandparents, but if voters at one small-town Indiana cafe are any indication, he has a long way to go to convince them he represents heartland America.

"Obama has great ideas but his background scares me," said Chris Leighton, 60, a secretary having lunch at the Chaperral Cafe in Shelbyville, in southeast Indiana. "Everyone talks about him being a Muslim and having ties to terrorism, but how do people really find out?"

The incorrect belief that the Illinois senator is a Muslim was shared by half a dozen others in the restaurant - a sign that dirty campaign tactics and Internet innuendo has taken root among some voters in Indiana, the next state to vote.

Construction worker Ron Debaun, 61, said he hadn't yet decided whether he would support Obama or Hillary Clinton in Indiana's May 6 primary, noting they both "have good ideas." But he's leaning toward Clinton.

What doesn't he like about Obama?

"His Muslim ties," said Debaun.

Why does he think Obama is a Muslim?

"Let's just say that he admits it himself," he said.

Retired locksmith Leslie Hedman, 61, said he doesn't like any of the three candidates - Clinton, Obama, or Republican John McCain - because none are committed Christians.

"Obama is a Muslim," he said. Where did he hear that?

"He said he was but then he said he's not," said Hedman.

Ironically enough, many of the lunchtime crowd said they were also turned off by Obama's ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright - the former pastor of Obama's Christian church in Chicago, Trinity United Church of Christ.

"I definitely don't like Obama because of the mess with him and his pastor. I don't think he's been honest about it," said Candace Demmin, 37, as she had lunch with her mom.

"How can you go to a church for 20 years and not heard your minister say something off-color? Either he's heard it and is lying about it, or he's lying about going to church as much as he does," said Demmin. "In which case he's not the Christian he says he is."

Obama strongly denounced his former pastor on Tuesday and called his racially charged comments "appalling."

And if Obama's Muslim ties and Christian pastor aren't bad enough, his atheism is the last straw.

"A person who doesn't believe in anything? I don't want anything to do with him," said cafe owner and Clinton supporter Shirley Bailey, 70. "He says he won't take an oath on the Bible, he won't salute the American flag. That doesn't sit well with me."

Obama was sworn in at the U.S. Senate with his hand on a Bible. He stopped wearing an American flag lapel pin - standard issue for U.S. politicians - saying that a pin on the chest matters less than what's in the heart.

Reuters, April 29, 2008

Sen. Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary underscores the need for the Democratic Party to bring the nomination battle to a swift and fair conclusion as soon as possible. The best way to do that is to move the Democratic nominating convention from the end of August to the end of June.

Why? When Democrats vote in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday, they will probably render a split decision, with Sen. Barack Obama handily winning in the South and Mrs. Clinton eking out an industrial Midwest victory. The back and forth could well continue through the last primary on June 3. If neither candidate achieves the 2,025 delegates needed for nomination by then, the bitter campaign could go right through the summer.

While the laws of addition seem to deny the possibility of a Clinton nomination, the New York senator has shown no inclination to bow out. And in truth, she's not really all that far behind and can credibly claim strong support among many Democratic voters.

Calling the roll of delegates as soon as possible is really the only decisive and fair way to settle this contest in a way that puts the Democratic nominee in the best position to defeat Republican John McCain in November. Moving up the convention to June 28 through July 1 would allow both candidates to compete in each remaining primary and yet avoid carrying the battle for delegates through the summer. It also would let the Democrats end with a patriotic flourish as the convention concludes just before Independence Day, and it would give them the summer to unify the party after the long, bitter campaign.

Yes, changing the convention dates would be a logistical nightmare, and it would sharply break with tradition. Moreover, if the Democratic nominee accepts federal campaign money, he or she might be put at a financial disadvantage with respect to the Republican, allowed to spend only that sum and no more for the long slog from early July to November.

But these issues are trivial compared with the increasing possibility of forfeiting the presidency because of a vitriolic campaign that seems never to end. The front-loading of the primary calendar has made the late August convention an anachronism that is now a heavy albatross around the neck of the Democratic Party.

Moving up the convention would force the remaining 309 uncommitted superdelegates to decide sooner rather than later in a way that the implorations of party leaders or editorial boards never could. A late June convention could mean a decision by late May - or sooner.

This plan also has an important advantage over Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposal for the superdelegates to decide the issue with a post-primary-season conclave. The result of such a conclave - unlike the result of a full-party convention - would probably be seen as illegitimate by whoever lost out. Instead of bringing the party together, it could well split it further apart.

The times have changed. For many years now, the great majority of Democratic delegates have been chosen by the voters. But the date of the convention is just where it's always been, months after the last polls close. It's time for the Democratic National Committee and party chairman Howard Dean to show real leadership. Move the convention to the end of June and put the party in the best position to end the tragic foreign and domestic legacy of George W. Bush.

Let the roll call begin!

By Tom De Luca, The Baltimore Sun, April 30, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sen. Hillary Clinton is reminding economically hard-hit voters how much better they had it in the 1990s, but bringing up the past also risks taking them back to the scandals and partisan divides associated with former President Bill Clinton -- memories Sen. Barack Obama has tried to exploit.

The criticism points to an enduring problem within the Clinton campaign. For more than a year, Clinton aides have grappled with how to emphasize the positive aspects of the Clinton presidency while allowing Sen. Clinton to forge her own identity and avoid being a reminder of what people didn't like about the 1990s.

"We recognize we can't rest on the laurels of the 1990s," says Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee. "But at the same time a lot of people from all demographics have fond memories of what their lives were like in the '90s."

The former first lady recently began citing more statistics about the decade. Her stump speech now paints a detailed portrait of a time when the World Trade Center towers were still standing, more than 22 million jobs were created, the budget was balanced and the average American family's income increased by $7,000.

"Sometimes during this campaign I hear criticism of the 1990s. That's fair. It's an election and we've got to expect to be criticized," Sen. Clinton told an audience last week in Fayetteville, N.C. She continued with a line she has repeated often: "But I always wonder what part of the 1990s they didn't like: the peace or the prosperity?"

The predicament this creates for her campaign was on display during a "Solutions for a Strong Military" event last week in Asheville, N.C. Standing on the stage with retired generals, Sen. Clinton spoke proudly of the relative peace during her husband's administration. "Compared to what we saw during the 1990s, we have fallen backward," she said.

Just then, an Obama supporter in the audience yelled, "Yeah, but your husband also got impeached for infidelity," referring to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

At a forum in Kokomo, Ind., last week, Sen. Obama blamed Sen. Clinton's failure to achieve health-care reform in the early years of her husband's first term on the secrecy and divisiveness of his administration. "All these folks talk about how much experience they've got. Why is it that they haven't been able to get it done?" he said.

Sen. Clinton's efforts to balance the good times of the 1990s while dodging the bad have intensified as the race has moved into Indiana and North Carolina, which hold their contests next week, and West Virginia and Kentucky, which vote on May 13 and May 20, respectively.

These states have low-income, rural demographics -- similar to those found in Mr. Clinton's native Arkansas -- whose members particularly prospered during the 1990s, Clinton aides say. Sen. Clinton "is associated with a decade synonymous with job growth and economic stability," says Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a Clinton backer.

Phyllis Pate, a 67-year-old retired government worker and Clinton supporter in Lumberton, N.C., says fond memories of the 1990s helped her decide to vote for Sen. Clinton. "Bill [Clinton] got us out of the deficit. She can get us out of the deficit, too," Ms. Pate says.

Sen. Obama, meanwhile, has ratcheted up his criticism that Sen. Clinton represents the divisive politics of the past and has characterized the 1990s as a time when Washington was defined by special-interest influence and partisan bickering.

Sen. Clinton fought back Monday. "Frankly, I wear that as a badge of courage," she told reporters at a press conference in Graham, N.C., when asked if the divisiveness of the 1990s should be a concern to voters.

The number of employees on nonagricultural payrolls grew from 109.7 million in January 1993, when Mr. Clinton took office, to 132.5 million in January 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of people living in poverty decreased from 38 million in 1992 to 31 million in 2000, according to the Census Bureau.

"Bill Clinton is remindful, despite what his detractors say, of an economy that worked in the heartland," says Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant who has worked for Mr. Clinton. "That imagery is important."

But even as she plays up the 1990s, Sen. Clinton has had to distance herself from some of the unpopular policies of her husband's administration, namely the North American Free Trade Agreement, which she has said she opposed.

In an election about the future, just talking about the past can turn some voters off. "The '90s, they were a much better time economically," says Bettie Neal, a 60-year-old real-estate broker from North Carolina's Outer Banks. "But we can't keep looking back. There's so much to do ahead, and we can't afford to get stuck looking in the rear-view mirror."