Does Obama's pastor matter?

Barack Obama damaged his

What happened

Barack Obama has distanced himself from views his former pastor and “spiritual mentor,” the retired Rev. Jeremiah Wright, expressed from the pulpit of his Chicago church. Critics have distributed video clips of Wright saying, for example, that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks meant “America’s chickens were coming home to roost.” Wright’s former congregation at Trinity United Church of Christ defended him this week, saying that the world was only seeing a “tiny piece” of a caring pastor sometimes overcome by righteous rage about racism and injustice. (The Washington Post, free registration)

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