Obama's bad day

NY Times:

Senator Barack Obama said Friday that he had made repeated lapses of judgment in dealing with an indicted Chicago real estate developer, Antoin Rezko, and acknowledged that Mr. Rezko had raised more money for his political campaigns than he had previously disclosed.

Mr. Rezko, who is on trial on federal corruption charges, had raised as much as $250,000 for Mr. Obama during his first three political races. Previously, Mr. Obama’s campaign estimated that Mr. Rezko had raised about $150,000 for him.

In an interview with The Chicago Tribune that was posted on the newspaper’s Web site on Friday evening, Mr. Obama said he had made a mistake by engaging in a real estate deal with Mr. Rezko. The deal involved a new home Mr. Obama and his family bought in Chicago in 2005; Mr. Rezko acquired an adjacent parcel of land to help complete the sale.

“The mistake was he had been a contributor and somebody involved in politics,” Mr. Obama told the paper. Voters concerned about his judgment, Mr. Obama said, should view the transaction as “a mistake in not seeing the potential conflicts of interest.”

For months, Mr. Obama has sought to put to rest questions surrounding ties to Mr. Rezko, who is accused of shaking down companies seeking business with the State of Illinois. Mr. Obama, an Illinois Democrat, is not part of the case against Mr. Rezko.

After previously declining interview requests to talk extensively about Mr. Rezko, the Obama campaign changed its strategy on Friday and talked at length with The Tribune.

Mr. Obama told the newspaper that when he asked Mr. Rezko about reports of his questionable political dealings in 2005 when he bought the house, Mr. Rezko dismissed his concerns. “My instinct was to believe him,” Mr. Obama said.

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If that was not enough to make you question Obama's instincts, there was always his minister's sermons to make you question his judgment on the selection of a mentor. He spent last night also doing the rounds on cable shows explaining that he did not really agree with Rev. Wrong when he wasn't Wright.

Obama has obviously been put on defense by the CD's of his minister's sermons and a refocus on his relationship with Rezko. It has become a problem to explain that has gotten him off message for now. The two past associates are not the same problem as that Spitzer faced with his association with a prostitute, but they raise a serious issue about his judgment when it comes to the character of his political and personal associates. I do not think a few interviews will solve this problem, but they are at least a recognition that there is a problem.

They may not be a big enough problem to deny him the nomination, but they probably should be a big enough problem to deny him the Presidency. Like John Kerry he has ridden to the nomination with out too much critical coverage from a media that wanted him to win, and now when the critical coverage begins it is too late for the Democrats to change their minds unless this criticism reaches critical mass in time to persuade the Super Delegates to choose Hillary Clinton.

Rev. Wrong is no longer Wright for Obama's campaign, but what about the effect of those 20 years or rage and hate masquerading as sermons? Haven't they been responsible for the pessimism that colors his "hope"?