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Obama Campaign Press Release - Obama Campaign Response to McCain Comments in Florida

April 27, 2008

Chicago, IL - Obama campaign spokesman, Hari Sevugan, released the following statement in response to Senator McCain's comments made earlier today in Florida:

"By sinking to a level that he specifically said he'd avoid, John McCain has broken his word to the American people and rendered hollow his promise of a respectful campaign. With each passing day, John McCain acts more and more like someone who's spent twenty-six years learning the divisive, distracting tactics of Washington. That's not the change that the American people are looking for."

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MCCAIN SAID THAT HE KNOWS OBAMA DOES NOT AGREE WITH WRIGHT...

McCain Said That He Knows Barack Obama And Knows That He Does Not Share The Views Of Reverend Wright. John McCain said, "I think that when people support you it doesn't mean that you support everything they say. Obviously those words and those statements are statements that none of us would associate ourselves with. And I don't believe that Senator Obama would support any of those himself." McCain went on to say after being asked if he would attend a similar church, "Obviously that would not be my choice. But I do know Senator Obama, he does not share those views. And we get sometimes-a lot of those statements I have just heard for the first time that you mentioned. But I know that for example I've had endorsements from some people that I didn't share their views but they endorsed mine. So I think we have to be very careful about that part of it." [Youtube, 3/14/08, McCain On Hannity And Colmes]

...AND THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SAID THEY WOULD NOT USE IT AS AN ISSUE

McCain Advisor Mark McKinnon Said That The McCain Campaign Would Not Use Jeremiah Wright Or Louis Farrakhan Against Obama. "McKinnon said the McCain campaign would not use Jeremiah Wright or Louis Farrakhan against Obama in the fall." [Texas Monthly, 3/26/08]

Charlie Black Said That McCain Doesn't Want To Get In The Middle Of A Discussion Of Obama And Jeremiah Wright And McCain Doesn't Believe That Candidates Should Be Held Personally Accountable For Their Friends And Supporters Views. Joe Scarborough asked Charlie Black if John McCain was troubled by the fact that Jeremiah Wright is Obama's "spiritual advisor." Charlie Black said, "You know what, what Senator McCain has said repeatedly is that these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them. And fortunately, I heard your report earlier that Senator Obama has repudiated these very unusual views. But John McCain believes is that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for their public policy views, the things we've described before, big government versus smaller government." Scarborough then asked, "So this isn't an issue for John McCain?" Black replied, "I don't think Senator McCain wants to get in the middle of a discussion about Senator Obama's former pastor or his faith. He believes that people who endorse you, people who befriend you are entitled to their own views, but you are not held personally accountable. That when somebody endorses you or befriends you, they're embracing your views, the candidates' views, not the other way around." [MSNBC, 3/14/08]

Huckabee Said It Would Be Presumptuous To Assume "That Just Because The Pastor Says Something In The Pulpit Everybody In The Pew Agrees With It. Huckabee said, "I think I'd be a little presumptious to ever assume that just because the pastor says something in the pulpit everybody in the pew agrees with it. That's rarely the case. Influential sure, necessarily transferable, usually not." [Youtube, 4/25/08]

MCCAIN'S PASTOR AND CLINTON'S PASTOR DEFEND WRIGHT

John McCain's Pastor Was Sympathetic To Reverend Wright And Said That Obama Did A Fine Job In Response By Preserving His Friendship With The Pastor While Disagreeing With Him. John McCain's pastor Dan Yeary "was sympathetic as a fellow pastor and said while he did not agree with Wright's comments, all preachers eventually got caught in the trap of their own exuberance. "All preachers have a tendency to overstate because our passion is so intense. But I thought Obama did a fine job in response. He preserved his friendship with his pastor while disagreeing with him,' Yeary said. "I'm sure John McCain would probably say the same thing about me if he were asked "So, do you agree with everything your pastor says?'' he added with a laugh." [Reuters, 3/22/08]

Clinton's Former Pastor In Arkansas "Expressed Sympathy" For Rev. Wright And Said That Wright's Sermons Were "A Totally Different Animal When You Look At Its Full Context." "One of the Democratic presidential candidates has a pastor who opposed both Iraq wars, supports same-sex marriage, opposes the death penalty, and has been a passionate critic of American foreign policy. The clergyman isn't the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Senator Obama's spiritual leader who has become a household name and a campaign issue for his fiery rhetoric, but the Reverend Edward Matthews, a little-known Arkansas preacher who is the closest Senator Clinton has to a pastor of her own. While Mrs. Clinton says she would have quit Rev. Wright's church, Rev. Matthews expressed sympathy for Rev. Wright in a 35-minute phone interview with The New York Sun. "We preachers get irresponsible,' Rev. Matthews, the former pastor of First United Methodist Church in Little Rock, said yesterday with a laugh...Rev. Matthews, 73, cited in particular the period during the Vietnam War, when he spoke out against America's stance on colonialism. "I've come pretty close to saying in some sermons, I guess, what Jeremiah Wright did," Mr. Matthews, referring to a time in the 1960s after he returned from a stint as a missionary in the Congo. He described his preaching style as "about as blasé as they come" compared to Rev. Wright's, but he said that both his sermons during the Vietnam era and Rev. Wright's today shared a critique of American foreign policy and the belief "that America's going to have to get its act together, you know, that if we're going to be a leader, we can't just say, 'America right or wrong.' He said that Rev. Wright's sermon was "a totally different animal when you look at its full context." [New York Sun, 4/2/08]

CONSERVATIVES AGREE THAT OBAMA DOES NOT SHARE WRIGHT'S VIEWS

Powell Condemned Rev. Wright's Remarks But Praised Obama's Speech On Race, The Way He Handled the Issue, and Wright's Contribution to the Community. "Returning to presidential politics, Powell condemned controversial remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of 20 years, as "deplorable' but complimented the Democratic candidate for his speech on race that followed in the aftermath. "Rev. Wright is also somebody who has made enormous contributions in his community and has turned a lot of lives around,' Powell said, "And so, I have to put that in context with these very offensive comments that he made, which I reject out of hand.' Powell added that he does not know Wright, and praised Obama's response. "I think that Sen. Obama handled the issue well . . . he didn't look the other way. He didn't wait for the, for the, you know, for the storm to go over. He went on television, and I thought, gave a very, very thoughtful, direct speech. And he didn't abandon the minister who brought him closer to his faith,' Powell told Sawyer. Powell, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in almost every election since he retired from military service and public life, expressed admiration for Obama. "It was a good (speech),' Powell said. "I admired him for giving it. And I agreed with much of what he said.'" [ABC News, 4/9/08]

Abigail Thernstrom In The National Review Liked Obama's Speech On Race And Said Reverend Wright's Views "Are Clearly Not Those Of The Illinois Senator." Abigail Thernstrom wrote in the National Review, "I guess I'm not supposed to like Senator Barack Obama's Philadelphia speech - at least if I want to keep my conservative credentials intact. But I did - and join Charles Murray in celebrating its subtlety, seriousness, and patriotism. What other prominent contemporary black politician could or would have given such a speech? Yes, Rev. Jeremiah Wright is full of hateful, anti-American rhetoric, but his views are clearly not those of the Illinois senator. Indeed, the Philadelphia speech had something of Martin Luther King Jr.'s belief in what Obama called his "the decency and generosity of the American people.' As King did, Obama appealed to our better angels, asking Americans to join him in continuing the "long march . . . for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America.' And he distanced himself from those who, like Wright, depicted a "profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that is right with America.'" Rev. Wright, as Obama says, is the product of a certain era - thankfully gone. (As are Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, and most civil-rights icons, he could have added.) Do I wish Senator Obama had walked away from Trinity Church? Sure. I suspect the reasons he did not do so are psychologically complex. In any case, Wright's Afrocentric, hate-America views, are clearly not those of Obama himself, who lives, as he says, in the only country on Earth in which his story is even possible." [National Review, 3/20/08]

Barack Obama, Obama Campaign Press Release - Obama Campaign Response to McCain Comments in Florida Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/293025

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