A Show of Strength

Barack Obama did what he needed to today, though he didn't seem to enjoy it very much. After Rev. Jeremiah Wright's appearance at the National Press Club, Obama didn't have much choice but to separate himself from his pastor. I'm not entirely sure what Wright's motives might be, but right now, in staking out extreme positions such as AIDS being an attack on blacks by whites and in cozying up to Louis Farrakhan can't be seen as much beyond an attack at Obama. Bob Herbert had some speculation about that Wednesday morning.

Although it barely changed anything in terms of the numbers in the race, Hillary Clinton's 9-point win in Pennsylvania last week may be hurting Obama in terms of his ability to close his hold on the nomination. His momentum doesn't seem to be expanding, and the whole contest just seems to be lingering when he needs to wrap things up. Obama needed to prove that he's a strong candidate in charge of his own destiny. And that's what he did. Standing up to Wright and addressing one more problem of his candidacy was his attempt to pull the momentum back in his direction. He seemed saddened by his task today, but he also seemed angry that Wright would try to back him into this kind of corner. I found him persuasive, but we'll have to wait and see what kind of reaction he gets. I linked to the Chicago Tribune above (and that link also includes video of Obama's appearance and statement) because it will be interesting to see what the Chicago reaction is by people who know both Obama and Wright. Will they take sides? Stay tuned.