The Wright Comeback Tour

"With eight days to go before the Indiana primary, as Illinois Sen. Obama tries to convince white rural voters in Indiana that he shares their values, campaign officials acknowledged that the appearance by Wright may hurt his candidacy."

Chicago Tribune: "The latest Wright eruption renewed questions about how long the story will remain in circulation and whether it is -- or should be -- an issue Obama must address for the rest of the presidential campaign. The Wright story presents potential peril for Obama, increasing the urgency for the campaign to shift the focus."

New York Post: "Barack Obama's worst nightmare, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, yesterday delivered his most brutal wallop to his pal's campaign as he hailed hatemonger Louis Farrakhan and accused the United States of committing terrorism."

The reverend himself is not exactly getting rave reviews. "Mr. Wright revealed himself to be the compelling but slightly wacky uncle who unsettles strangers but really just craves attention," says Alessandra Stanley in the NYT.

Joe Klein: "I've been to dozens and dozens of African-American church services over the years, including the investiture of one of my friends as an AME minister two years ago, and I have very rarely, if ever, heard the kind of rants that are part of Reverend Wright's canon . . .

"Wright's purpose now seems quite clear: to aggrandize himself -- the guy is going to be a go-to mainstream media source for racial extremist spew, the next iteration of Al Sharpton -- and destroy Barack Obama."

CBN's David Brody: "Jeremiah Wright did Barack Obama no favors. Pastor Wright's appearance at the National Press Club started out as a great opportunity to explain the importance of the black church experience. Instead it turned into a circus atmosphere and ensured that the Wright controversy is not going away and has the potential to single-handedly take down Obama's campaign . . .

"His important message got lost because he seemed to relish taking on the media who he clearly has 'issues' with."

Atlantic's Marc Ambinder has one telling sentence: "On Rev.Wright's revenge tour, there's not much to say, other than that he seems to very much enjoy the attention, seems to believe that he's been the victim of a massive, racist conspiracy, seems to equate criticism of him with Jesus's crucifixion, and seems not to care about Barack Obama's politics or aspirations anymore."

Salon Editor Joan Walsh says Wright didn't exactly help himself with the Moyers sitdown:

"I was profoundly depressed by the conversation between PBS's Bill Moyers and Barack Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ, broadcast on PBS Friday night. I found myself thinking this race might be either too short, or too long, for Obama to win the presidency. It's too long because already, for some people, the thrill is gone, the honeymoon is over, even Obama's media fans are starting to ask tough questions. It's too short because the 'national conversation on race' we all keep promising to have has barely begun, and it would take longer than November to hash out how much Wright's role in Obama's life should mean to voters. But the Moyers-Wright interview had to be troubling to anyone who cares about race relations, American politics or the Obama campaign. Now there are new and longer taped excerpts from Wright's incendiary sermons, and Obama's pastor will also be at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Monday morning. Clearly the Wright story isn't going away.

"As Wright described it to Moyers, America would seem to be all about dispossessing the Indians, enslaving blacks, interning the Japanese and now killing Iraqis. He said nothing about Americans who fought any of that (and nothing about white ethnic groups who also faced WASP prejudice). Note that, in his defense, Wright didn't say: 'Hey, I'm a guy who also talks a lot about the promise of American democracy, and the way Americans of every race have worked together to try to make the country live up to that promise. Here's a sermon about the heroes of the civil rights movement! Even some who weren't black!' (I'm not saying Wright never gave any sermon like that; maybe he did, but that's not what he pointed to in self-defense.) He used his hour with Moyers to argue that his thoroughgoing critique of American evil is, well, true."