Centerfield

The Wright issue is far from over. There is no way whatsoever that Obama could not understand the nature of the church. You can not attend a church that engages in liberation theology and feign surprise about what is being preached, unless you were only going to make you look like you cared about religion. Either way, Obama is lying about something.

While the Dems won't push the issue hard, in the general election there will be a crash course on what Liberation Theology is and it will scare the heck out of a lot of the middle of the road voters.

I hear people complaining about why doesn't McCain get slammed more for Hagee. That is an apples and oranges situation. McCain does not attend Hagee's church nor did he go for twenty years.

Wright is never going to be a good spot for Obama. It will be the albatross around his neck in November assuming he is the nominee.

How many people who heard his first speech think he's untested and callow anymore?

Me. And I've heard him in person too.

I think you're a bit too enamored with Obama to see it objectively. While you might find his speeches to be mesmerizing, many will still be a bit put off by his mannerisms. I think the national media is beginning to lose interest in the flavor of the month as well. (See this AP story about his treatment of national media.)

While McCain may be wary about hammering Obama on Wright, a testament to his own integrity I believe, there are still going to be plenty of people that will drag this up again and again, and it will scare the heck out of voters, as Jim says.

I found the recent story interesting where Obama said people are "tired of hearing about that story." I'm sure the passionate Obama supporters are, but they're not really the ones that matter. And to undecideds and those ticked off Hillary backers, this is a major factor for them to consider.

Jim_M, every time this comes up, Obama comes down 4-5, then goes back up a little farther once the country hears his response.

Yeah, Tully, I know, get off my lawn, kid Obama.... But you've already decided "yecho," so of course you're meowing. You can meow about Obama, and I've been meowing about Reagan half my life.

Of course, there can be no certain answer to whether Obama has it in him to go all the way until November. You clearly already know what I think about it....

Even if I'm not inclined to vote for him this cycle, I've been impressed with McCain on his approach to this issue so far - he DOES deserve credit.

You can meow about Obama, and I've been meowing about Reagan half my life.

Reagan's not running. Not to put too fine a point on it, but living in the past does not win elections in the present.

When the Wright flap first blew up in his face, Obama tried to tap-dance around it and so guaranteed it would come back to haunt--and I said so then. It didn't go away. If he'd grappled with it squarely the first time around he would've reduced the damage greatly. If he'd addressed it even farther back before repudiation got forced on him, such as when he first came to the Senate, he'd have completely immunized the issue, leaving it no traction but with people who wouldn't vote for him anyway. Old news.

But he didn't do that. Ooops! Rookie error.

Yeah, "untested and callow" would be a fair descript IMHO as to the nature of that particular error. He's not up against another rookie, he can't afford rookie mistakes.

No, Tully, he handled it exactly right. Think about it a bit. The first time, he was showing the loyalty that old friends deserve, even ones you don't agree with. He made it clear he didn't agree, but disassociating himself at that point would've been a nasty, DC thing to do.

If Wright's hurting Obama, why'd he just beat expectations in Indiana? He WAS polling badly there before Return Of Wright, and seemsto've only narrowly lost there. If he's so callow and messed up Wright, how did he improve his margin so?