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

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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.

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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.

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.

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 . . .

Barack Obama is not just lagging among blue collar voters, he's got a big age problem to overcome and his popularity with younger voters isn't enough compensation:

In the Pennsylvania and Ohio primaries, Obama lost older whites by 30 percentage points, while Clinton split white voters under age 30 in both critical contests. Obama’s senior problem is even greater among Hispanics. The Illinois senator lost older Latinos by 40 to 60 percentage points in Texas, New Mexico and California.

....Older, college-educated voters consistently favor Clinton, though by small margins. Obama’s weakness is largely among seniors without college degrees, whom Clinton wins 3-to-1.

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Karl Rove, writing in Newsweek, says Obama needs to recover from his recent fumbles. He offers six tips:

• Get a new stump speech, the message in his current one has become old and tired.
• When you're on the defense, as with Rev. Wright, choose one explanation and stick to it.
• Get back to the Senate and do some work there. His legislative record is thin and needs bolstering. He says, pick an issue and own it.
• Get back to the Senate, part II: Also, he hasn't shown he has the unifying ability he claims in his red states, blue states unity pitch. He should introduce bipartisan bills that Republicans can get behind. Also, name some specific Republicans he'd put in his Administration.

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Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have responded to today's Supreme Court ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd., upholding the Indiana voter id law:

Obama:

"I disagree with the decision, but we're going to do everything we can in our campaign — I trust that not only the Democratic party but fair-minded Republicans are going to do whatever they can — so that people at the state level can exercise the franchise."

Hillary:

"I have questions about it. Now obviously the law's the law, and has to be followed, but I hope it doesn't in any way suppress or deter voter turnout."

The Brennan Center, which coordinated the amicus briefs, calls the case the most important voting case since Bush v. Gore.

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Barack Obama, who has not been known for accessibility to the press the last few weeks (see the waffle story) called a "hastily arranged press conference" today to again disassociate himself from Rev. Wright, including his most recent remarks. The press conference lasted six minutes on the airport tarmac and he took three questions.

"Some of the comments that Rev. Wright has made offend me, and I understand why they offend the American people. He does not speak for me. He does not speak for the campaign," Obama said.

"Many of the statements that he's made, both that triggered this initial controversy and that he's made over the last several days, are not statements that I have heard him make previously. They don't represent my views," the senator added.

He asked that he be judged by his "20 years of service" and the values he's espoused more than by his past associations. More...