LCG Election Monitor Blog

Several months ago, a number of national news organizations—including the New York Times and the New Yorker—raised questions about Barack Obama’s ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  While those stories made a bit of noise among DC insiders, for the most part their electoral impact has been little to none.  Until now.

An ABC News review of dozens of publicly-available sermons by Pastor Wright, until recently Obama’s pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, has produced some alarming videos of the pastor in action.

This is a good example of how the jump from print to video can cause a substantial change in perception and impact.  Even if what is being said is nothing more than inflammatory religious oratory, the visceral power of video makes this potentially very damaging for Obama.  This may be a game-changer, if not in his primary battle with Clinton but in a potential general election contest.

Despite his vague “repudiation” of Pastor Wright’s comments, it will be very difficult to distance himself from his pastor of 20 years who married him and baptized his two children.  So far Obama has been able to tread carefully around issues of race with a message of unification and post-racial politics.  However, when the man who inspired the title of his political manifesto, The Audacity of Hope, is seen firsthand as someone espousing divisiveness and hate it may be impossible for Obama not to address issues of race and the black experience directly.

Tags: 2008 General Election, Barack Obama //