The campaign and talk radio are now boiling with the controversy over Barack Obama’s pastor. Here’s our linkfest taking you Around The Sphere. NOTE: Links and quotes do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of TMV or its co-writers.

Barack Obama’s Controversial Pastor Has Quit The Obama Campaign but now that Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. is out, some wonder if Obama’s lack of an utter repudiation is the “death blow” to his Presidential hopes. See Talking Points Memo. Steve Sailer asks:

So, Obama, who wrote pp. 274-295 about Wright in his 1995 autobiography, had no idea that Wright was an anti-American leftwing crank until early 2007?

Conservative bloggers are covering this more extensively — and angrily. One of the more step-back analyses comes from Powerline:

If it were true that Obama never knew that Wright was making highly objectionable comments until the start of the presidential campaign, and if Obama denounced the comments at that time, then I think he would have a good defense, i.e., he belonged to the church for years without knowing Wright’s anti-American, anti-white, and generally crazy views, and by the time he learned about them Wright was on the way out, so it made little sense to quit the church – denouncing the statements was enough.

Note, however, that Obama doesn’t say he didn’t know Wright was making highly objectionable comments, only that he never personally heard “the statements. . .that are the cause of this controversy.” It’s plausible that Obama might not have heard (or gotten wind of) the several sermons that have been the focus of this controversy. It’s less plausible that, over a 20-year period, Obama was oblivious to the strong anti-white, anti-American views of Wright.

A fatal blow to Obama or not? All I know is that conservative talk radio made Wright audio clips, angry callers, long monologues the motif of the day. Clearly, the GOP will use clips of this in their ads if Obama gets the nomination. But he still will have to have more debates with Hillary Clinton so there’s still time for him to compensate. He just better be ready to duck when the Republican kitchen sink, and bathtub, and shower are thrown at him in November.

Who Else Has Been Preached To By Wright? Oprah Winfrey, as Ed Morrissey notes. He adds this:

Given the intense media interest in Mormon underwear and LDS doctrine in the fall of 2007, one might expect a little more scrutiny of the much more political and racially-charged message coming from the pulpit of the Trinity United Church. It looks like that may have already begun, and the reputations of both Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey rest on how quickly and adeptly they can distance themselves from the debacle.

And — no matter how you analyze it — a “debacle” it is. Except for the campaign ad producers who will get to make commercials using the footage (for big bucks).

So Just HOW Bad Is It For Obama? Dick Polman, one of the best political columnists (and who has a must-read blog) has a post that should be read in full. Here’s just one small part of it:

If Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, his longtime church pastor is going to be a big political headache.

Most voters won’t hold Obama responsible for the Rev. Jerimiah Wright’s most provocative pulpit pronunciamentos. Most voters won’t automatically assume that Obama shares the views expressed at the Trinity United Church of Christ. But for those voters who are prone to believe that Obama is insufficiently American, or a Muslim foreign agent who is bent of destroying America from within, certain Wright rhetorical tidbits will fit the profile just fine.

It may not be the fulfillment of the Clinton campaign’s reported dream — that he is unelectable — yet. But the fact he didn’t do a total, absolute repudiation in a way that lays it to rest means the issue will be there to surface again.

But This Is In The Eye Of The Beholder, notably the Glittering Eye which points out that Obama may indeed have felt there was real value in belonging to that church. Read it in full but here’s a small excerpt from one of TMV’s favorite blogs:

Here is the mission statement of the Trinity United Church of Christ. It’s pretty obviously Afro-centric and equally obviously unites a social agenda with its religious values, distilling its mission into ten principles: adoration, salvation, reconciliation, commitment to Africa, Biblical education. cultural education, historical education of African people in diaspora, liberation, restoration, and economic parity. Basically, it appears to be an Afro-centric version of the liberation theology that had its heyday in Latin American in the 1970’s (and is still highly influential there today), Whether this itself counts as looney depends, I suppose, on where you stand.

….I won’t try to psychoanalyze Sen. Obama as some have done. But I don’t think it’s going too far to suggest that the sense of community, support, and identity that Sen. Obama has found at Trinity outweighs the offensiveness of some of the things that Rev. Wright has to say. Although it doesn’t tell you much about what he believes it does expose Barack Obama’s hierarchy of values. Make of that what you will.

And If You Want To Know Why It Should Matter, check out Right Thinking From The Left Coast (a great conservative blog that deserves a lot more readership) which notes:

One of the sacrifices of the office is that you have to distance yourself from people that you may like personally but whose views are out of the mainstream. The American people have a right to know that the man in control of our nukes is not under the influence of whack-jobs. If you don’t like playing the game that way, don’t run.

Now, let’s see if McCain distances himself from John Hagee. Or Pat Robertson.

Are Primaries Predictive Of Election Results? Brenden Nyhan looks at the issue.

In The Clinton-Obama Campaign Battle Oxblog’s Taylor Owen outlines the case that its a battle between math and hope. One quote:

In the end, I am not sure if it will ever come down to solely who is better positioned against McCain. If Obama is ahead in delegates, popular vote, and states won going into the convention, then it is hard to see Hillary to becoming the nominee. If they split any of these, or, I suppose, if Hillary has some real momentum coming out of the final few states, then the super delegates will decide based on the McCain factor. This, despite Clinton’s experience messaging, I think actually favors Obama. He polls better against McCain, puts more swing states into play, and Hillary is far more vulnerable on her Iraq vote than she implies.

Whose Coattails Will Be Better For Democrats? Barack Obama’s or Hillary Clinton’s? Kevin Drum looks at the issue (with quote from Steve Benen) here.

Meet The “Clinton Bloggers” — the bloggers who support or are sympathetic to Hillary Clinton. Tom Watson takes some guesses and gives you this comprehensive list (I’m on the list but I really take each issue and news story separately and can change my support of a candidate due to an issue or due to negative campaigning.)

Speaking Of Lists the inimitable Jon Swift details more supporters Barack Obama needs to denounce and reject.

See ya around…Around The Sphere!