Why the Press Turned on Obama

Correction of the Week

"A headline and an article on Monday about a Vanity Fair photograph showing the actress Miley Cyrus in a suggestive pose left the incorrect impression that she was bare-breasted. While the pose was indeed revealing, she was wrapped in what appeared to be a bedsheet; she was not topless." -- New York Times, April 29.

Furthermore . . .

Returning to politics, and Pastor Wright, Newsweek reports that Oprah left his church awhile back. And some church member tells the New York Post that the rev stole his wife. Hmmm.

Well, Obama was cautioned when he joined the church more than 20 years ago, the Chicago Tribune reports: "The pastor warned him that getting involved with Trinity United Church of Christ might not be 'a feather in your cap.'

"Obama was a community organizer trying to build support for his group on the South Side of Chicago, and a friendly minister at another church had suggested he'd have more luck with black clergy if he joined a congregation himself. 'Some of my fellow clergy don't appreciate what we're about,' Wright told him that day, as Obama would later recount it. 'They feel like we're too radical. Others, we ain't radical enough.' "

Poll results on Wright offer a mixed verdict for Barack: "A majority of American voters say the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll . . .

"But nearly half of the voters surveyed, and a substantial portion of the Democrats, said Mr. Obama had acted mainly because he thought it would help him politically, rather than because he had serious disagreements with his former pastor . . .

"While just 24 percent of voters said they thought the Reverend Wright issue would matter a lot or some to them in the fall, 44 percent said it would matter a lot or some to "most people you know." And while just 9 percent of Democrats said the issue of Mr. Wright would matter a lot to them should Mr. Obama be their party's nominee, even that small a slice of the electorate could be problematic for Mr. Obama if he wins the nomination and the contest against Mr. McCain turns out to be close."

USA Today also polls on the issue:

"One-third of likely voters say Obama's ties to Wright make them less likely to vote for him. But Obama isn't the only candidate with divisive connections: One-third of likely voters say Clinton's association with Bill Clinton, her husband and the former president, makes them less likely to support her. Meanwhile, 38% say McCain's link to President Bush makes them less likely to vote for him."

Democratic commentator Kirsten Powers looks at Obama and sees a "toughness gap":

"Obama likes to say, 'I may be skinny, but I'm tough.' Hillary throws back shots and threatens to obliterate Iran.

"He complains about tough questions from George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson. She sits down with Bill O'Reilly.