Taint from Wright sticks to Obama polls

Washington Times:

Most Americans say Sen. Barack Obama has failed to distance himself from his former pastor"s incendiary remarks, the new Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll finds.

In the poll, 66 percent said the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. hurt Mr. Obama and an overwhelming majority said Mr. Obama's repudiation of his former pastor did not rescue his presidential campaign.

Only 24 percent said Mr. Obama's denunciation made them "more likely" to support the senator's presidential campaign, compared with 27 percent who said they were "less likely" and 43 percent who said his explanation had "no impact" on their decision.

Mr. Obama had to field questions about Mr. Wright yet again yesterday morning as he made the rounds of television news programs on the eve of today's Indiana and North Carolina primaries.

The Illinois Democrat said voters will judge him separately from Mr. Wright.

"I think the American people recognize that I'm somebody who's always been about bringing people together, not dividing them," Mr. Obama said on NBC's "Today" program.

...

Obama's real problem is that he has failed to bring those closest to him together with those he would wish to reconcile with. It is his friends that have become the biggest obstacle to unity and hope. If he can't get his friends to join him in that objectives how can he hope to get those who oppose him to join him? It shows the hollowness at the core of his campaign. It makes his campaign look like a scam.

I don't think Obama agrees with what Wright has been saying, but his silence on the subject before it became public demonstrates he was willing to tolerate that hatred and nonsense while sitting in a congregation with views that were far from where he says he wants to take the country.

This poll contrast sharply with the NY Times/CBS News poll reported yesterday.