Barack Obama and his camp made the right political choice in having Barack Obama denounce and reject the Rev. Jeremiah Wright (and not just his words) today. This decision was also the right thing to do. What Wright has stated now on numerous occasions, both in the pulpit and elsewhere, is appalling, foolish, offensive, divisive and delusional.

Obama should have done this long ago. And while I am sure his Philadelphia speech was lovely, it really was not about what Jeremiah Wright had said and done. Today, finally, Barack Obama addressed the issue of Jeremiah Wright. And he did so quite well.

Of course politics is central to all of this. Obama is a politician. But I think his words today were sincere and heartfelt as well as politically shrewd today. Let's hope he has limited the damage.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

More . ..

Following up on the thread below about Barack Obama's press conference today on Rev. Wright, Chris Matthews says Obama needs to turn the conversation back to the economy and win both North Carolina and Indiana. If he doesn't and Hillary does well, the race will go on until August. (I disagree with that and believe it will be decided by the superdelegates in June.)

CNN's Bill Schneider says the same. This is an attempt to win Indiana and N.C. and get Hillary out of the race.

Candy Crowley said it was hard to see on tv but he was uncharacteristically very emotional.

Shep Smith on Fox says the same.

CNN will replay the entire press conference, including his statement and the q & a at 3:00 pm ET.

Comments closed. New post here

Update: The live-blog below is of the q and a after the statement, when I first tuned in. I'm watching a replay of his speech and it's even more harsh on Rev. Wright. It was unequivocal. Be sure to watch the replay of his original comments. CNN will replay at 3pm ET.

Barack Obama is on CNN now giving a live press conference on Rev. Wright. I'll live blog.

He's throwing Wright under the bus. When he hears conspiracy theories about AIDS or that Farrakhan is a great person, it goes directly contrary to what he believes.

The person he saw yesterday was not the person he has come to know over 20 years. He understands Wright felt villified and attacked and wanted to defend himself. But the insensitivity and outrageousness of his statements and performance during q and a period shocked and suprised him.

More....

PPP's Indiana poll has Clinton up 8, 50-42. The story is familiar:

[Clinton] leads 54-38 with white voters [(85% of the vote)], 54-39 with female voters [(55%)], and 55-36 with voters over the age of 65 [(21%)]. Obama, as usual, does well with black voters (73-21) [(12%)] and voters 18-29 (50-40) [10%].

Indiana has an open primary but it’s unclear who will benefit from that. Clinton leads 48-47 with the 14% of voters who described themselves as Republicans. Obama has the 52-37 edge with voters who described their affiliation as being ‘other’ than either Democratic or Republican. Those voters made up 12% of the survey.

James Lee Woodford was released from a Texas prison today after serving 27 years for a murder that DNA evidence now shows he didn't commit.

Woodward is the 18th Dallas County inmate, and the 31sth in Texas, to be exonerated by DNA testing.

Also today, State Senator Rodney Ellis announced that Texas will hold a summit on wrongful convictions on May 8 at the state capitol. [More...]

Adam Liptak in the New York Times examines the results of a new study on the death penalty and crime. There are two key findings.

The first one is not a surprise: The death penalty is imposed more often when the victim is white.

The second is potentially ground-breaking:

It found that the race of the defendant by itself plays a major role in explaining who is sentenced to death.

It has never been conclusively proven that, all else being equal, blacks are more likely to be sentenced to death than whites in the three decades since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Many experts, including some opposed to the death penalty, have said that evidence of that sort of direct discrimination is spotty and equivocal.

More...

I am with Kos, Fox should NEVER be legitimized.

Obama was wrong to go on Fox and so is Clinton.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

In the latest SUSA NC poll, Obama's lead is down to 5 (More on the flip on the SUSA poll. In the latest Ras NC poll, Barack Obama maintains a healthy lead, though down from his previous 23 point margin. The demographics are the political destiny again:

The demographic results in North Carolina are similar to the dynamics seen nationally and in most primaries—Clinton leads by fifteen points among White voters while Obama leads 80% to 11% among African-Americans. Clinton does well among White Women and older voters while Obama leads among those under 65.

We can figure out the crosstabs based on Ras' turnout model:

As reported yesterday, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today endorsed Hillary Clinton.

"It's time for somebody to be in the White House who understands the challenges we face in this country," Easley said, adding a gentle dig at rival Barack Obama's signature slogan of hope.

"There's been lots of 'Yes we can, yes we should.' Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver," Easley said.

Hillary, who praises Easley's economic record in the state, added:

"The governor and I have something in common — we think results matter," Clinton said.

Easley ended his remarks saying Hillary "makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy".

Easley is Clinton's second N.C. superdelegate. Six other N.C. superdelegates support Obama.

The Wall St. Journal today (free link) examines the current preferences of the 795 superdelegates:

Obama leads among those who are elected officals (governors and senators) while Hillary leads among the non-elected state and party officials. 300 or so superdelegates remain uncommitted.

The superdelegates in these two groups have different predominant concerns. For those who are elected officials, the dominant concern is their own political future. For those who are non-elected, the key factor is electability of the Democratic candidate in November.

By the numbers:

Elected superdelegates include 28 governors, 234 House members, 49 senators, mayors of big cities and state officeholders

Non-elected superdelegates: More than 400.

A graphic showing the current status of superdelegates is here.

As eriposte predicted, rabid Obama supporters are forwarding the idea that Clinton made Wright do it.

Some people have totally lost it this campaign season.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I have found the only other person (besides Mario Cuomo) in America who agrees with me that Dems need a Unity Ticket, Dewayne Wickham of USA Today:

If Democrats are going to win the White House in November, they need a shotgun wedding in June. This is not something that either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton wants to hear, nor is it anything party leaders have been willing to say — at least not publicly. But without both Clinton and Obama on the same ticket, Democrats stand a good chance of suffering a humiliating defeat in the general election. MORE . . .