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Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting Saturday in Plainfield, Ind., where he addressed controversial sermons by his former pastor. (AP Photo)

The presidential contenders have all had their share of supporters whose insensitive remarks forced the campaigns to issue disavowals. This week, it was Barack Obama’s turn.

After a series of recorded sermons by Obama’s longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. sparked controversy over Wright’s fiery views on race, America and the Sept. 11 attacks, Obama responded Friday by firmly repudiating Wrights’ views in lengthy written statement and a round of cable news interviews.

On Saturday at a town hall meeting in Plainfield, Ind., Obama broached the matter with the public, saying they’ve probably heard comments “that were incendiary and that I completely reject.”

The question now is whether Obama’s response worked, and whether his connection to Wright will haunt the Democratic senator’s campaign and dampen his presidential hopes.

Rival Hillary Clinton has not yet drawn political attention to the sermons, and deflected questions Saturday.

“Ask the Obama campaign,” she said to inquiries about Wright.

Pollster Doug Schoen said it’s unlikely the Wright issue will play big in the primary, but that it poses trouble down the road.

“In a Democratic primary this issue has limited viability and utility,” he said. “In a general election, however … I think this could be a real serious problem for Barack Obama.”

Obama tried to put Wright’s sermons in perspective Saturday, saying: “It reminds me that we’ve got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country … But what I continue to believe in is this country wants to move beyond these kinds of divisions.”

In an interview Friday with FOX News, Obama said he personally never had heard the pastor’s controversial comments, though he joined his Trinity United Church of Christ nearly 20 years ago. He said the sermons now sparking controversy didn’t resemble the ones he remembers from Wright, which, Obama said, stuck to messages of faith, values and helping people in the community.

But Obama’s pastor long has been a lightning rod for controversy. For starters, Wright’s relationship with Louis Farrakhan, once described by Obama as a “close” relationship, has been of concern to many in the Jewish community.

And once Wright’s remarks were publicized last year, Obama backed out of plans to have Wright speak at his Feb. 10, 2007, presidential announcement.

Author Larry Elder said he doesn’t buy Obama’s new, firmer denunciation of Wright.

“How can Barack Obama dis-invite him … and now claim he had no idea that Jeremiah Wright made all these incendiary comments? It doesn’t work,” Elder told FOX News.

There’s too many variables on the campaign trail to measure the direct impact on his poll numbers, but pollster Scott Rasmussen pointed out that Saturday’s Rasmussen daily tracking poll showed Obama nearly tied with Hillary Clinton.

“That’s a big drop from Obama’s 8-point lead a day before,” Rasmussen said.

Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President Bush, suggested that the controversy and the timing of Obama’s disavowal show him to be little more than a shrewd politician.

“I think there’s a reason Republicans I talk to are increasingly looking forward to running against Barack Obama,” Fleischer said.

Wright, who presided over Trinity’s congregation until his retirement earlier this year, officiated Obama’s wedding to Michelle and baptized their two daughters. In Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father” from 1995, he writes the pastor had great influence over him in the early 1990s. And it was Wright who delivered a sermon “The Audacity of Hope,” which had such an impact on Obama that he made it the title of his second book, published in 2006. The theme of hope continues to be central to Obama’s surging campaign.

His repudiation of Wright has gradually risen to a crescendo.

Three weeks ago, Obama spoke to the Cleveland Jewish Community Leaders group and was asked about Wright. Obama noted the pastor occasionally was known to “say controversial things,” adding most of those controversial statements were “directed at the African American community.”

Obama assured the Ohio Jewish leaders he never heard anything anti-Semitic, and said “he is like an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don’t agree with.”

Obama’s camp released a somewhat stronger statement Thursday after FOX News had reported more on Wright’s sermons — in one, he repeatedly said “God damn America,” while in others he blamed the United States for the spread of HIV and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and highlighted what he saw as a racial divide between Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“Senator Obama has said before that he profoundly disagrees with some of the statements and positions of Rev. Wright, who has preached his last sermon as pastor at the church,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said. “Senator Obama deplores divisive statements whether they come from his supporters, the supporters of his opponent, talk radio, or anywhere else.”

Then Friday, Obama issued the written statement calling what he’s heard from Wright “inflammatory and appalling.”

Later Friday, Obama told FOX News that he could no longer lay low as he heard more of Wright’s remarks.

“Once I saw them I had to be very clear about the fact that these are not statements that I am comfortable with,” Obama said. “I reject them completely - they are not ones that reflect my values or my ideals or Michelle’s.”

Democratic strategist Tanya Acker said Friday that Obama has nothing to be sorry for, and his campaign is in the clear.

“There’s no basis for attributing those statements to Barack Obama,” she told FOX News. “We don’t play guilt by association here, and it’s not fair.”

Throughout the campaign, candidates seemingly on a weekly basis have had to respond to, denounce and sometimes fire supporters who made offensive comments. Obama’s foreign policy adviser Samantha Power left the campaign after calling Clinton a “monster” in an interview with a Scottish newspaper. Clinton fundraiser Geraldine Ferraro left the campaign’s finance committee after saying much of the attention being paid to Obama’s campaign was because he is black.

And earlier this month, Republican candidate John McCain distanced himself from Iowa Rep. Steve King after King said terrorists would be “dancing in the streets” if Obama were elected.

Obama said Friday the pastor has never been active in his campaign and that he is no longer on his African American Religious Leadership Committee. The campaign said Wright left that unpaid post Friday, without elaborating.

Obama said Friday that with Wright retiring from the pulpit, he doesn’t see an issue with his family remaining in the congregation. Wright delivered his final sermon last month and retired as leader of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

FOX News’ Jeff Goldblatt and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Top Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.