I think it's rather hard for anyone to argue that Obama didn't screw the pooch here. In a few poorly chosen words (spoken in San Franciso, of all places), Obama managed to put on public display why the Democratic party has had such a rough time reaching voters out of the urban area. Was there a grain of truth to his words? Certainly. Rural voters have a long history of voting against their own economic best interests and getting worked up over the conservative red herring of the week.

These towns have had it rough for the past forty years. Go across the country and you see the same thing over and over again. The factories that once provided stable enployment have shut down and moved overseas. The best jobs are often at the local Walmart (which is ironic since the corporate giant is responsible for so many of the local factories moving to the lands of cheaper wages and non-union labor). Kids grow up knowing that there's nothing there for them if they stay home.

There were many arguements that Obama could have made about reaching out to these voters and trying to understand why they so often vote against their own economic interests. He could have explained how the Republican party has repeatedly conned these people, getting them upset over gay marriage or Mexican fruit pickers rather. He could have pointed out that the Republican party has decimated the programs that would have helped these depressed areas and instead given the tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% and the corporations that shut down US manifacturing. He could have used Malcom X's words that they've been "bamboozaled".

Instead he talked about how they cling to their faith (which is odd, considering how often he spoke about his faith being so important in his life), and basically called them uneducated racists. Then trying to stem the bleeding, he tried to turn the issue arround on Clinton, mocking that she hardly spends her weekeneds in a "duck blind". But the problem for Obama is that Hillary didn't make the foolish comment. He did, and his fumbling afterwards to explain himself is causing a lot of people to start questioning him as an electable candidate. Rural voters already view the Democratic party as big city elitiest who don't know or don't care about rural issues. Obama's comments have lit a spotlight on the exact reasons why they feel this way.

Of all of the times for Obama to make a gaff like this, it could not have come at a worse time. He has not been able to put Clinton down for the count. We are just a week away from a new set of primaries that have surged in importance and where the rural vote is critical. Numerous superdelegates have not yet declared their allegences and will have fresh questions about Obama's readiness to run a general election campaign. But Obama has no one to blame for this problem than himself. This wound was entirely self-inflicted.

Well, I'd be perfectly happy if he did what he has been doing the past few weeks - trying to brush off the controvesy to no avail and make Clinton look like a better candidate for the general election. I have no qualms about people knowing that I'm a Clinton supporter or that I have severe misgivings about Obama. This does not make me a racist in any way, yet if one makes any sort of cricism of Obama you can be certain that the racist accusation will be quickly leveled.

Seriously, about Wright... one commentator said it best when he observed that Wright couldn't do more damage to Obama's campaign than if he was on Clinton's payroll. Obama cannot do much to keep the man quiet until after the general election (though I'm sure that one-way plan ticket to Reykjavík certainly must be a tempting option).

Obama has to accept that if he plans to be president of this country (and by that I mean the whole country, right down to the most ignorant rednecks in the flyover states - we may not like them but they are there), that Wright can no longer be an influence in his life. He has got to completely disassociate himself from both Wright and this specific church and repudiate the must repugnant of Wright's comments. Wright is certainly free to say what he wants (however misguided or ignorant) in whatever forum that will have him, but if Obama wants to fulfill the claims that he has made all along about leaving behind the devisiveness that his candiacy has been about fighting. He can use Wright to show that even a man as learned and giving as this minister is can still be misguided and bound by the devisions of the past. He needs to walk away cleanly and quickly.

If not, he might win the primary but his chances of winning the general election will be greatly deminished.