Are you sick of Jeremiah Wright yet? Bloggers aren't--and it seems Obama, of all people, won't let the issue die. His "typical white person" comment blew up, and his campaign circulated a photo (right) of Wright shaking hands with President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1998. Now bloggers wonder: Who exactly does this photo hurt?
Kate Phillips at the NYT Caucus blog reported last night:
During one of the most difficult periods in the presidency of Bill Clinton, he addressed a group of clerics at an annual prayer breakfast in September 1998 just as the Starr report outlining his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky was about to be published.
Among those in attendance, was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who is seen shaking hands with Mr. Clinton in a photograph provided today by the Obama campaign.
The report continues: "There is nothing in the picture or the note that addresses whether Mr. Clinton had met Mr. Wright prior to the White House meeting or whether he or Mrs. Clinton knew anything about Mr. Wright's views."
Politico's Ben Smith reports that the campaigns got into a war of words over the photo, with Clinton's spokesman calling the stunt "pathetic" and Obama's spokesman responding that Clinton's response is "hypocrisy." And McCain is looking better by the minute.
Most bloggers agree that this actually hurts the Obama campaign. Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan says, "The idea that a photo of Bill Clinton shaking hands with Wright at a White House breakfast is anywhere in the same ballpark with Obama's 20-year relationship with the controversial pastor is downright silly and insulting to voters' intelligence." Jake Tapper agrees and snarks, "I can't even believe anyone had the temerity to push the photo. The audacity of hope, I suppose."
Right-wing bloggers see that both campaign spokesmen were correct: Obama's campaign is pathetic, and the Clintons are, as expected, hypocritical. Jules Crittenden says, "I suppose they could say, fool me once, shame on you, fool me for 20 years, shame on you. No wonder Hill doesn't want to tackle this directly." Come to think of it, we never heard a vociferous denunciation of Wright from Hillary, did we? Allahpundit adds, "Is Billy Jeff's culpability in not thoroughly vetting his audience the same as Obama's in patronizing a hate merchant for 20 years? Not remotely, but anything that makes the Clintons squirm is worth linking." Agreed. And Ace notes that they're all the same: "Isn't it funny that previous bad Democratic behavior is being used by the media to excuse current Democratic bad behavior?"
Allahpundit updated with another important point: Is Obama's circulating the photo "a tacit admission that associating with Wright is improper and scandal-worthy?" If Obama wouldn't denounce his pastor--and if Wright is no different than Obama's "typical white" grandmother--why even circulate the photo, hm?
