Disaster

The National Press Club speech in Washington, D.C., and the NAACP speech in Detroit by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright were unmitigated disasters for Barack Obama’s campaign.

I initially thought that Wright’s efforts to redefine himself could only help Obama.

I was wrong.

Over the last four days, Wright seemed to go out of his way to offend just about every key voting bloc important for Obama if he is to do well in the general election.

Wright offended Catholic voters by making fun of Jack Kennedy for his Boston accent.

He offended independent voters by essentially spreading conspiracy theories such as the one that the CIA was somehow responsible for spreading AIDS in the black community.

He took on the media, blaming them for unfairly characterizing his ministry and his church as being radical. After listening to him speak, I think the media got it pretty much right.

He compared our troops in Iraq to the Roman soldiers who facilitated the crucifixion of Christ.

He said that the United States and al Qaeda use the same tactics.

Wright packed the National Press Club with strong supporters who egged him on to be more and more defiant. He didn’t need the encouragement.

The loud crowd of supporters only made the situation worse.

His performance was a complete disaster for Barack Obama. This story will never go away now.