Obama's pastor: Did I say god damn America? I meant, God damn America!; Obama reacts; Multiple updates added; Obama crashing?
In a sign of how damaging this story has become, Obama appeared yesterday on Fox News — for the first time ever, yes? — to respond.
Update: Team Obama throws Rev. Wright under the bus.
Update: Still more pushback from Obama himself. But Obama asserts that Rev. Wright “has never been my political advisor.” That’s false:
Though Wright and Obama do not often talk one-on-one often, the senator does check with his pastor before making any bold political moves.
Last fall, Obama approached Wright to broach the possibility of running for president. Wright cautioned Obama not to let politics change him, but he also encouraged Obama, win or lose.
And Obama’s claim that the statements at issue here “were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity” is Clinton-caliber parsing:
How plausible it is that Obama wouldn’t have known about Wright’s, er, greatest hits. Obama strongly implies he didn’t know his pastor had a habit of giving nutty sermons up until the outset of his presidential campaign. Is that believable?
No, it is not. What’s more, lying and misdirection hardly constitute a politics of “change.” Obama will survive this.† But the polish is off the apple.
†Unless, of course, someone produces video of Obama in the pews at Trinity during one of Wright’s hateful rants. Do you think a close inspection of Trinity’s DVDs is at this hour underway?
Update: Instapunk says this controversy will be Obama’s undoing — and maybe Clinton’s as well:
However they surfaced … the video excerpts from the sermons of Jeremiah Wright are the only significant revelation that occurred this week. … They are also fatal to Obama’s chances of winning the presidency. They are probably equally fatal to Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency. It’s up to the Democrat Party to figure out how to deal with the catastrophe, but catastrophe it is, and there are multiple reasons why.
Update: In fairness to Obama, here’s a little sample of the love and light that issue from McCain-supporting clergy:
Update: Hmm. Maybe Instapunk is right. Obama is nosediving:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton essentially even in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Obama 46% Clinton 45% … This reflects an unusually sharp change from yesterday’s results when Obama led by eight points …