The NYT Declares Wright Crisis Over - Sort Of

From Mr. Obama’s lickspittle minions at the New York Times:

In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARJORIE CONNELLY

May 5, 2008

WASHINGTON — A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made the suspension of the gas tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days…

The poll, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday in which he renounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for making incendiary comments, found that most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate.

But nearly half of the voters surveyed, and a substantial part of the Democrats, said Mr. Obama had acted mainly because he thought it would help him politically, rather than because he had serious disagreements with his former pastor. The broader effect of the controversy on Mr. Obama’s candidacy among Democratic primary voters was less clear in the poll, but enough of them expressed qualms about Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright to suggest it could sway a relatively small but potentially important group of voters in the remaining primaries.

The relatively small number of Democrats surveyed limits the conclusions that can be drawn about the poll’s findings regarding sentiment in the party. Moreover, as a national poll, it does not necessarily reflect the thoughts of voters in Indiana and North Carolina.

Questions involving racially charged episodes have historically proved difficult to poll, particularly when it comes to asking white voters about black candidates…

The survey offered evidence of the extent to which the Wright episode had captured the public’s attention. And it turned up signs that Mr. Obama might be moving beyond the issue: 60 percent of voters said they approved of the way he had handled the issue, and a majority said the news media had spent too much time covering the story.

“Reverend Wright is not Barack Obama,” said Heather Fortner, 56, of Florida, who said she voted for Mrs. Clinton in that state’s disputed primary. “Everybody knows a lot of a people and everyone can take advice from a lot of people.”

“It’s just wrong what we’ve been doing to Mr. Obama over this,” she said.

Still, the poll raised some flags of concern for him, particularly should he win his party’s nomination…

On the gasoline tax, the survey underlined the risk Mrs. Clinton is taking in embracing a position that most Americans — including a majority of her own supporters — appear to view as political pandering. More than 60 percent of voters in the poll said that Mrs. Clinton said what people wanted to hear, rather than what she believed. Forty-three percent said that about Mr. Obama, and 41 percent about Mr. McCain.

Sixty percent of Democratic primary voters who support Mrs. Clinton favored the temporary elimination of the gasoline tax, and an equal percentage of Mr. Obama’s supporters called the proposal a bad idea. But majorities of both candidates’ supporters called the proposal a political tactic.

“Clinton is supporting the lifting of the gas tax because right now she needs more votes,” said Greg Mitchell, 38, of Blanchard, Okla. “But that’s really only one of the few things I disagree with her on. I voted for her.”

Glad to see that’s settled. — Or is it?

[I]t could sway a relatively small but potentially important group of voters in the remaining primaries…

This is what the New York Times calls “surrounding a story.” (It’s also known as covering all your bases.)

Mr. Obama might be moving beyond the issue: 60 percent of voters said they approved of the way he had handled the issue, and a majority said the news media had spent too much time covering the story…

Isn’t that funny? That’s just what the mavens at the New York Times have said all along.

But, gosh, cutting taxes — any taxes, at any time — that is just reprehensible “pandering.” And there is no ambiguity about that.

What would we ever do without the New York Times?

WWOD? (What would Obama do?)