Obama's Weak Response to His Pastor's Sermons (UPDATE: Wright Leaves Obama Campaign)

Related post: Obama's Church Blows It

Damage control is now in full effect at the Obama campaign, but the initial response from Obama is weak:

Confronting the content of some of Wright’s sermons, parts of which have been aired this week on FOX News, Obama on Friday moved to condemn the remarks in his firmest statement on the matter to date, after initially stopping short of a full repudiation.

“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy,” he said in the statement. “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.”

Obama said he never personally heard Wright preach the statements at the center of the controversy, but that he first learned of them when he launched his presidential campaign.

He may never have personally heard those particular words, but if he attended that church for 20 years, I guarantee you he's heard plenty of messages with similar sentiments. He's rejecting "the statements...that are at issue", not rejecting the message contained in those statements. What about the anti-white black separatist stuff?

Nice try, Barack, but this isn't going away that easy. Now the press will have lots of reasons to examine other messages from Rev. Wright.

UPDATE: From the Obama campaign:

Spokesman Tommy Vietor emails:

"Rev. Wright is no longer serving on the African American Religious Leadership Committee."

That cuts Wright's only formal tie to Obama, and answers what was sure to be a question in Obama's interviews tonight: If Geraldine Ferraro had to leave the Clinton campaign, why is Wright different.

This thing went nuclear amazingly fast. According to Major Garrett at Fox News, just this morning the Obama campaign had no comment on the whole Rev. Wright matter, but by late afternoon Obama was doing three cable news shows and getting rid of the bigoted pastor. This won't, however, make it go away. People will still wonder why Obama continued to attend and support this church despite a history of lunatic rantings from his "spiritual mentor".

Jim Geraghty adds this:

Wright's church sells his sermons on video. You can get them on the web. It is tough to believe that the Clinton campaign doesn't have every video of every sermon they could get their hands on. It's also hard to believe that there isn't a single video with regular church member Barack Obama visible in the audience. (The excerpts I have seen have quite a few reaction shots from the flock.)

What are the odds that the Clinton team can find a video with Obama in the background, with Wright saying something controversial?

And what are the odds that if that video exists, it gets dropped on the press in the closing days before Pennsylvania?

(One Republican strategist told me this afternoon he cannot imagine that the Clinton camp doesn't already have something in this vein. This strategist is speculating, but he's been around the block a few times.)

If Hillary can't beat Obama with this kind of material to work with, she would never beat John McCain.

I'm guessing the race is on to see who can come up with that video first.