Did you hear about Barack Obama FINALLY fully denouncing Rev. Wright today?
It was his strongest condemnation yet of the Reverend and Obama truly seemed angry today. I think it’s something he really needed to do, as his association with Reverend Wright was truly isolating Obama from the potential voters he needs to attract if he’s going to win the election in November. Reverend Wright’s comments yesterday at the National Press Club were over the top.
In case you missed it, here’s some of what Obama said today:
I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday. I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I’ve known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. 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. They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought either.
Now, I’ve already denounced the comments that had appeared in these previous sermons. As I said, I had not heard them before. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church. He has built a wonderful congregation. The people of Trinity are wonderful people, and what attracted me has always been their ministries reach beyond the church walls.
But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses.
They offend me. The rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that’s what I’m doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.
Let me just close by saying this. We started this campaign with the idea that the problems that we face as a country are too great to continue to be divided, that in fact all across America people are hungry to get out of the old, divisive politics of the past.
I have spoken and written about the need for us to all recognize each other as Americans, regardless of race or religion or region of the country, that the only way we can deal with critical issues like energy and health care and education and the war on terrorism is if we are joined together. And the reason our campaign has been so successful is because we have moved beyond these old arguments.
What we saw yesterday out of Reverend Wright was a resurfacing and, I believe, an exploitation of those old divisions. Whatever his intentions, that was the result. It is antithetical to our campaign. It is antithetical to what I am about. It is not what I think America stands for.
And I want to be very clear that, moving forward, Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks, but what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you and the American people, is that when I say that I find these comments appalling, I mean it.
The full transcript is here.
It was a very strong statement by Barack Obama. It’s not fair that he’s being dragged down by Reverend Wright. No matter who you’re supporting in this campaign, I hope you can agree with that, and hopefully, after today, we can move forward and the campaign can focus on the real issues.
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#1 by Debbie on April 30th, 2008
He really should have done this a long time ago. When I first heard about all of this (what, almost 2 months ago) I was done with him (not that I’m stating which candidate I’m for…I was just done listening to anything he had to say). Had he said these things right after it all went down, instead of giving him “the benefit of the doubt,” I may have let it go.
#2 by Lauren on April 30th, 2008
This whole thing should have just been left alone honestly. Obama already stated he didn’t agree with what he said a long time ago. Wright isn’t running for president, Obama is.
#3 by Daddy Dan on April 30th, 2008
Debbie: I agree that he should have done this long, long ago. I can’t say that I was done with him, because I’d never really planned on voting for him in the first place. If you remember though, right after it happened I had a post titled “Obama is Done.” He really needed to come out right away and he didn’t, at least enough to quickly heal the wound. That said, I really was impressed with his recent comments.
Lauren: He did, but not strongly enough. I think it is fair for voters to take everything important to them into account when they decide who to vote for. His association with Wright (for over 20 years) is something to take into account, but it’s turned into the entire focus of the media and I don’t think that’s right.