Today in Philadelphia when Barack Obama gives a HUGE SPEECH on race and his controversial pastor, it will be a turning point. T
his is Barack Obama's moment. It will either be a moment that catapults him to the nomination or a moment that could end his campaign. This speech is that big. It is Obama's "Romney moment".
Just like Mitt Romney couldn't avoid the Mormon issue, Obama can't avoid the race issue. It's been percolating above and below the surface all throughout this campaign in different forms but the sermons by Jeremiah Wright made this speech a necessity.
Let me be clear. From the feedback I am getting through emails here at The Brody File, and from talking to DEMOCRATIC strategists (not Republican), I can tell you that this pastor controversy has the potential to wipe out Obama's campaign. Everything he has worked so hard for, all the speeches, all the masterful organizational campaign structure, all the passionate energy and inspiration he has brought to this campaign could all go up in smoke if he isn't able to control this controversy.
This isn't a passing Drudge headline. This is a whopper of a problem for him…and he and his campaign know it.
The problem for Obama is that while his speech will be on race relations, the real issue here for many people is his judgment. There are those that just can't get over the fact that he would associate and get close to a pastor like this who has made such divisive comments. People don't believe Obama when he plays "dumb" over the controversial role of his pastor. That strikes right at the authenticity issues and that has nothing to do with race.
Look, at his speech today, Michelle Obama will be there with him. She's flying in for this. That's a tell-tale sign that this speech today carries significant weight. The Brody File will be covering the speech and will have analysis after it wraps up.
Read below from The New York Times today:
Faced with what his advisers acknowledged was a major test to his candidacy, Senator Barack Obama sought on Monday to contain the damage from incendiary comments made by his pastor and prepared to address the issue of race more directly than at any other moment of his presidential campaign.
Though he has faced questions about controversial statements by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for more than a year, Mr. Obama is enduring intense new scrutiny now over Mr. Wright's characterizations of the United States as fundamentally racist and the government as corrupt and murderous.
Mr. Obama, in a speech Tuesday in Philadelphia, will repeat his earlier denunciations of the minister's words, aides said. But they said he would also use the opportunity to open a broader discussion of race, which his campaign has said throughout the contest that it wants to transcend. He will bluntly address racial divisions, one aide said, talking about the way they play out in church, in the campaign, and beyond.
Mr. Obama continued to write the speech on Monday evening, which he believes could be one of the most important of his presidential candidacy, aides said. His wife, Michelle, had not been scheduled to travel with him this week, but hastily made plans to be in Philadelphia.
Mr. Obama said Monday that in his speech, to be given at the National Constitution Center, he would "talk a little bit about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church community, for example, which I think views this very differently."
After removing Mr. Wright from a religious advisory committee on his campaign on Friday, Mr. Obama concluded over the weekend that he had not sufficiently explained his association with the pastor. He told several aides he was worried that if voters did not hear directly from him - in the setting of a major speech - doubts and questions about him might grow.
Some associates advised him against giving the speech, "Race is now."
The whole article is here.