Clinton's Wright Stuff

It's impolitic to talk about religion at the water cooler. But that was before the Rev. Jeremiah Wright appeared in an endless loop on Americans' TV screens and computer monitors.

After sidestepping questions about the Wright controversy, Hillary Clinton wad ed into the raci

al water during a meeting with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

He would not have been my pastor. You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.

Clinton noted her denunciation of Don Imus' racially offensive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team:

You know, I spoke out against Don Imus, saying that hate speech was unacceptable in any setting, and I believe that. I just think you have to speak out against that. You certainly have to do that, if not explicitly, then implicitly by getting up and moving.

The Obama camp fired back. In a statement, campaign spokesman Bill Burton said:

After originally refusing to play politics with this issue, it's disappointing to see Hillary Clinton's campaign sink to this low in a transparent effort to distract attention away from the story she made up about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. The truth is, Barack Obama has already spoken out against his pastor's offensive comments and addressed the issue of race in America with a deeply personal and uncommonly honest speech. The American people deserve better than tired political games that do nothing to solve the larger challenges facing this country.

Yes, Barack Obama's "uncommonly honest speech" was largely well-received . But that's not the end of the story. According to a CBS News analysis:

Despite Obama's attempt to defuse the issue of race in his major national address last week, it is unlikely he did so. In a CBS News follow-up survey after Obama's speech, his overall favorability ratings were unchanged, and the speech appeared to have made as many viewers less likely as more likely to support him. While those who followed the speech gave it very positive ratings, alleviating the long-held and entrenched racial concerns of some voters will require much more.

So like it or not, Wright will remain a drag on Obama's candidacy.