Obama's Sister Souljah Moment

By Richard Wolffe - Newsweek
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - Web Link
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April 29, 2008

Outside of his rousing speeches, it's rare that Barack Obama shows any emotion on the campaign trail, other than to flash a grin at his supporters or to chuckle at one of his own jokes. Sometimes he reveals just enough passion to sound snippy at reporters when he feels their questions are trivial.

But nothing over the course of the 15 months of his presidential campaign—not his announcement in Springfield, Ill., his landmark victory in Iowa or his shock defeat in New Hampshire—nothing came close to the emotions on display at the back of a sports arena in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday.

In a narrow concrete space enclosed by tall black drapes set up for a press conference, Obama sounded both angered and saddened by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's performance at the National Press Club on Monday. For all the focus on polling and next week's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, it was clear that Obama's reaction to his former pastor was more personal than political.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," he told reporters. "I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I have known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday wasn't the person that I met 20 years ago. The comments weren't only divisive and destructive. I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate. I believe they don't portray accurately the perspective of the black church. They certainly don't portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Reverend Wright thinks that is political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, I may not know him as well as I thought, either."