Obama’s lawmakers try to shrug off Rev. Wright

Lawmakers supporting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) say they have no fears about a backlash against Democrats or their candidate because of the controversial remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), an Obama supporter whose state has a key primary Tuesday, said he’s not worried: “African-Americans I’ve talked to feel it’s imperative for him to distance himself from Rev. Wright.”  

{mosads}Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), another Obama supporter, was irritated to be asked about Obama’s former pastor this week.

“I think any rational person understands that this guy is into another zone and is certainly aware that he does not speak for Sen. Obama,” Watt said.

Wright has emerged in recent days with a sharp-tongued defense of his ministry and his controversial remarks at the National Press Club, a speech to the NAACP and a television appearance. In those appearances, Wright has reiterated some of his charges against the U.S. government, including a suggestion that the government invented the AIDS virus to destroy “people of color.”

Such remarks drew criticism from Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president.

“I don’t have much to say about it, but I don’t know why he continues to choose to be in the news,” Meeks said. “The black church is different than any other church — everybody knows that. But he’s made some other provocative remarks that all of us have to be wary of and distance ourselves from.”

In addition to the Tuesday primary, where Obama must do well, the Wright issue has been fanned in North Carolina by a state Republican Party television ad that highlights Wright’s comments.

Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), suggest worries behind the scenes about the re-emergence of Wright are more serious. After coming off the floor Tuesday night, Cleaver said an Obama supporter had just told him, “We’re scared to death.”

Cleaver has a unique perspective. He’s a black preacher himself, and a supporter of Clinton’s. He worries that white voters will be angered by Wright’s remarks, and that black voters will be put off by Obama’s rejection of his onetime spiritual leader.

“I don’t think there is a way out of this,” Cleaver said. “If African-Americans are convinced that Obama was treated fairly, they will come out. If not, we will lose the black vote for two decades — the young black vote.”

But other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including prominent Obama supporters, aren’t so worried.

“I think Sen. Obama said everything he needed to say,” said Butterfield, who has been tapped by the Obama campaign to help deal with the uproar over Wright’s remarks. This weekend he’ll be making appearances and doing interviews in his home state to help put distance between Obama and Wright.

“Voters need to evaluate his record and not be distracted by the outrageous comments of Rev. Wright,” he said.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), who is neutral in the Democratic race, said he doesn’t think voters will punish Obama for the statements of his former pastor.

“It may be the case that what has happened may have helped Sen. Obama distance himself further from that than he was willing to do earlier,” Miller said.

Cleaver acknowledged that the uproar about Wright benefits the candidate he’s endorsed, but he takes no comfort in seeing the black church depicted as a hotbed of anti-American radicals.

He said he’s never heard black preachers refer to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks as “chickens coming home to roost” or say “God damn America.” But he does consider Wright one of the lions of the black church.

“Where Obama went to church should be irrelevant,” Cleaver added. “I don’t want to suggest that anyone should become an atheist, but if people are going to be bludgeoned for what their pastors say, maybe we need only agnostics to run for president.”

He also said that the whole affair has shown that, “In 2008, the majority community knows very little about the black community.”

Cleaver said he had advised Clinton on how to deal with the Rev. Wright issue well before Wright’s latest round of appearances. He said he told her, “The least said, the better. There is no benefit in any comment.”

And Cleaver said he disagrees with Wright’s idea that the criticism of him is an “attack on the black church.” But he does believe that at least one critic of Wright on cable talk shows has used Wright’s remarks to launch an overbroad attack on black churches in general.

“Some people have used this to launch an attack on the black church, and that’s fueled the support behind Rev. Wright,” he said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he doesn’t think Obama’s handling of the issue will hurt him in the black community because African-Americans are still extremely proud of him.

“The African-Americans I talk to say two great men have been put in an unfortunate situation,” Cummings, a supporter of Obama, said. “They still see Obama as a great man.”

Wright’s surging visibility also raises questions for other members of Congress who have associated with him in the past.

On Feb. 14, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) inserted remarks into The Congressional Record praising Wright on the occasion of his retirement as pastor of Trinity Church. At the time, Wright had been a one-day story for a few news outlets. His Sept. 11 comments had yet to spark national consternation.

“I am proud to recognize the life achievements of Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.,” Rush’s text read. “I want to encourage Dr. Wright to continue to be ‘Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian.’ ”

A Rush spokeswoman said Wednesday that Rush, who is recuperating from surgery in Chicago, stands by his remarks.

And Cummings once cited Wright on the floor as one of his “mentors.” While speaking on the House floor on AIDS in 2000, Cummings said, “One of my mentors, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago, has stated many times, ‘In my time and in my space, I will make a difference with God’s grace.’ ”

Cummings, however, said he’s never met Wright. He uses the term “mentor” to refer to people, usually preachers, whose quotes he writes down and then repeats, always careful to give credit.

“It means they speak to my spirit,” Cummings said. “At last count, I had 157 ‘mentors.’ ”