Obama Takes Questions on Sean Bell, Clyburn and Wright

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Obama Takes Questions on Sean Bell, Clyburn and Wright
By Alec MacGillis

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sen. Barack Obama weighed in today on the acquittals of New York City police detectives charged in fatally shooting an unarmed black Queens man, Sean Bell, saying he believed that the verdict needed to be respected and urging those who disagreed with it not to resort to violence. That would be "completely unacceptable and counterproductive," Obama said. "Well, look, obviously there was a tragedy in New York. I said at the time, without benefit of all the facts before me, that it looked like a possible case of excessive force. The judge has made his ruling, and we're a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down," he said in response to a question at a gas station in Indianapolis, where he was holding a news conference....

The verdict, which has touched off a storm of protest in New York, arrives at a delicate time in the campaign for Obama. After his loss to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary, some Democrats are quietly worrying whether Obama's difficulty in winning over working-class white voters could pose a problem for the party if he is the nominee.

Obama addressed that challenge, along with several other racially oriented questions, at his wide-ranging news conference, standing before a gas pump. He dismissed the comments made by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in an interview this week, in which Wright labeled as political posturing Obama's speech criticizing incendiary snippets of Wright's sermons. "I've commented extensively on my profound disagreements with some of Reverend Wright's comments. I understand that he may not agree with me on my assessment of his comments, and that's to be expected," Obama said. "He's obviously free to express his opinion on these issues. I've expressed mine very clearly -- I think that what he said in several instances was objectionable, and I understand why the American people took offense. As I indicated before, I took offense."

Obama also declined to engage with comments made this week by Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking black member of the House of Representatives, who said that Bill Clinton's actions during the campaign may have left an irreparable breach between Clinton and the black community. "I never believe in irreparable breaches. I'm a big believer in reconciliation and redemption," he said. "So, look, this has been a fierce contest. I've said repeatedly, come August there will be a whole lot of people standing on a stage with a lot of balloons and confetti raining down on the Democratic nominee, and people are going to be excited about taking on John McCain in November."

And he generally downplayed the challenge of winning white, working-class voters, saying he was confident that many of them would support him after he had a chance to draw a contrast with John McCain....

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/25/obama_takes_questions_on_sean.html?hpid=sec-politics

[Lady-Damai]

1. If something bad happens to old cranky white men...

Does Granpa McBush have an answer?


Is Obama going to be president to only black people? Black people make up only 13% of the American population. Are we the only people dealing with issues?


Why wasn't McClinton asked the same questions? Does that mean....... McClinton doesn't CARE about BLACK PEOPLE??????!!!!!!


:think:

[speedoo]

2. There has got to be some kind of "-gate" in that press conference somewhere.

But it has not yet surfaced to my knowledge.

Obviously Wolfson, Davis and McAuliffe are incompetent. Hillary better find some new mouthpieces.