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Clinton's comments yesterday to reporters marked a clear shift in her handling of the Obama church controversy, which she had generally avoided until now. Some Democrats see Obama's refusal to dissociate himself from the Chicago church and its recently retired minister, Jeremiah Wright, as his stickiest campaign challenge so far.
"I think that given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor," Clinton said at a news conference in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, after being asked if Obama should have left the church. She declined to say what Obama should have done, or whether the subject is now a legitimate topic for her appeals to Democratic superdelegates, the party leaders who will decide whether she or Obama will be the presidential nominee.
Over the years, Wright has preached fiery sermons to his predominantly black congregation in which he shouted "God damn America" for its treatment of minorities. He has said the US government invented AIDS to destroy "people of colour." He also suggested that US policies in the Middle East and elsewhere were partly responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Videos of the remarks have circulated widely on the Internet and news programmes.
In a highly publicized speech last week, Obama sharply condemned Wright's remarks and the preacher's refusal to acknowledge progress in race relations. But the Illinois senator refused to repudiate his longtime spiritual mentor, saying he could no more disown Wright than he could disown his white grandmother.
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