The Wright and the Wrong

Barack Obama has had his long-awaited day of reckoning, finally and unequivocally ridding himself of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright once and for all. He said what he had to, yet the question of why he allowed a connection with Wright to linger for nearly two months is a mystery that will endure. Why, when he knew not only of Wright’s notorious rants, but of his narcissism, did he trust that a continued relationship was safe in the treacherous waters of presidential politics?

The question Americans will continue to ask about the Wright episode centers on Obama’s judgment, a circumstance that threatens to undercut one of his greatest selling points. Judgment is a cornerstone of the Obama candidacy. Obama’s Chicago friends have surely informed him over the years of Wright’s radical views, should it ever be true that Obama hadn’t heard them in church.

But even beyond the positions Wright held and espoused is his bombast, his callousness and, yes, his cruelty. Let’s take one small example: I am paid to notice that Wright mocked the accent of John F. Kennedy over the weekend, not on Monday morning at the National Press Club. Kennedy is not only a revered president, but one who was gunned down and killed in service to this country. Was there not an Obama staffer somewhere concerned enough about what this would say to the Catholic voters Hillary Clinton is winning and Obama is losing? Will those voters notice, as I did, how long it took Obama to react?

I think Indiana is lost. And Obama’s sorry past with the good pastor will have much to do with it.

***
AFTER INDIANA & NORTH CAROLINA … ASK A.B. returns Thursday, May 8. Please join my weekly Q & A video posts by sending useful, interesting and entertaining questions to askab@digital-stage.thehill.com.