Morning Buzz
Morning folks..
One week until the voters of North Carolina and Indiana vote...AND what a win in Pennsylvania and a few days of your former pastor spouting his rhetoric will do to an election. The latest CNN polls show Hillary Clinton has closed an 11 pt gap...she NOW only trails Obama nationally by 4 points. AND in the latest Presidential poll match ups - Clinton beats John McCain by 9 pts, while Obama and McCain are in a dead heat...PLUS Hillary Clinton is expected to receive the endorsement of Gov. Mike Easley –the Governor of North Carolina, a state that Obama is expected to win handsomely....THIS is sooo NOT over folks...Candy Crowley is in North Carolina today and will have all the latest for us tonight...
BUT here are a few political headlines to get your morning started:
LA Times: Wright's Re-Emergence Does Obama No Favors...At a moment when Barack Obama is struggling to win over white voters worried about the economy, a series of public appearances by his former pastor is threatening to revive a tempest over race, patriotism and religion that the Democratic presidential front-runner hoped he had quashed.
WSJ: Clinton Could Ease Racial Tensions...Maybe it's time for another speech on race relations in America - this time by Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Indianapolis Star: Female Factor: White Women Could Be Swing Vote May 6...If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wins Indiana's May 6 Democratic primary, the votes of white women may be a huge reason why.
NY Times: Political Theories Abound in North Carolina, but Don’t Ask John Edwards for His...What will the Edwardses do? As the Democratic presidential candidates and their surrogates traipse through North Carolina in the final days before the state’s primary, some people here are wondering, why so quiet in Chapel Hill?
On the Reverend Wright front? We will continue tonight looking at the issues surrounding the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's latest speeches...Soledad O'Brien tells us about how blacks and whites learn. A Harvard professor, Roland Fryer did a study on 10,000 9 month old babies-turns out HE SAW NO innate differences between black and white kids. BUT by age 3 differences began to appear...His message? Infants, whether black or white, are clearly not innately different..The takeaway is ALL kids learn differently, and may NOT be RACE BASED....
Anderson will anchor from New Orleans today...SO Randi Kaye looks at what Louisiana giveth… Louisiana now taketh away! As many as 5000 homeowners in and around New Orleans could be billed for overpayment mistakes made by the state contractor doling out cash for the Road Home Program. It was designed to help residents rebuild, but now the contractor has realized it overpaid homeowners by as much as 175 million dollars and it wants residents to pay up! Some residents could be asked to fork over $150,000. Does the contractor, ICF International, have the legal right to ask for money back? Apparently the federal government and the state says it does. But how will homeowners, most of whom have spent above and beyond their state grant money, come up with the cash? Correspondent Randi Kaye is KEEPING THEM HONEST, and holding ICF accountable for its mistakes.
AND Sean Callebs tells us the story of Patrick Kennedy - On March 2, 1998 an 8-year-old girl was raped in a Harvey, LA, a New Orleans suburb. Patrick Kennedy, her step father was the rapist. A family abuse specialist testified it was the worst sexual attack he’d ever seen. On August 14, 2003 a Jefferson Parish jury found Kennedy guilty, in spite of no physical or DNA evidence linking him to the crime. He was sentenced to the DEATH PENALTY, the first time in decades a person was sentenced to death for a rape. Two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case. He is awaiting their decision....
We will also bring you the latest on the THREE tornadoes that caused massive damage in Virginia and injured more than 200 people on Monday....
That is ALL for now....
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could some one please let me know where senator clinton goes to church and who is her family pastor , and have you not interview them about this the media is unfair i hope black america under stand what you are doing who ever in charge slavery is over
I think the timming of Mr. Wright speaches couldn't be better. We are barely talking about senator Clinton and are all focused on pastor Jermiah Wright who has given senator Obama everything he needs to distance himself from him. No one will hold it against Barack Obama now and his loyalty won't be questionned.
Death penalty for rape? I sure hope that the Supreme Court brings some sanity to such idiotic decrease from lower courts. It's 2008 and they want to kill a black man for rape? Come on, this reminds me of "To Kill A Mockingbird".
I for one am sick and tired of all of the hooplah regarding this election, who cares about what a preacher or pastor will preach! They have been preaching for years,hate-disgust-etc, against the gays, minorities and have gotten away with it. Lets stick to the facts, what about our economy, what about people not being able to afford gas or put food on the table, what is this platform all about,,,I am also sick of the media covering such foolishness and choose not to watch this gargage. I have to dig long and hard to find some real news,,,where this country is at and where it is going. People have a right to their opinion,,,,but stick to the points and stop wasting peoples time.
Good morning Anderson,
I love the Morning Buzz. It is for early birds of which you seem to be one. I think much clearer in the morning.
I have difficulty dealing with the manner in which people think that The Truth is subjective. Often when listening to contributors and pundits, I wonder why it is so difficult for the actual facts to be clear to them. I am not being judgemental – just wondering whether I can be wrong so often.
Barack and Michelle Obama attended Rev. Wright's church for 20 years. He even said the reverend was his mentor and mentioned him fondly on many occasions. It is now crystal clear what the reverend's message is and when Barack Obama decided to run for president why would the reverend not believe that Barack Obama's message would not be what the church espoused? When Barack Obama found himself in political hot water because not everyone agreed with the message of the church, it would have been much more honest for him to stand by the values he by association with the church stood for. But apparently it was not politically acceptable to people who mostly deny facts. So like a "typical" politician (Barack Obama's favourite word),he attempted to distance himself from the church's values. There was and is automatic backlash. Reverend Wright is merely showing that he can stand his ground, regardless of whether Barack Obama can or not.
Rev. Wright's views and that of his church are radical and though many of his views are quite factual, the manner in which he is trying to attempt reconciliation will never work.
Reconciliation can only work when one race does not try to make scapegoats of the other thereby creating guilt for the supposed scapegoats. In South Africa, a country which Rev. Wright feels totally free to use as an example in his rant and which he has no right to do, the only way this was solved was with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was not a self righteous forum with the dominant attendance of one race only. It was attended by all races with grievances and hashed out. There were tears and anger, there was admission and denial of gross unfairness. And there were responsibilities taken. In the end it was as over as it could be for that moment and growth began. Hatred began subsiding and hope began growing.
I do not believe that Barack Obama is capable yet of generating such hope to ALL the people of America. Maybe he will be and maybe he won't in the future. If he gets elected president, this weakness will become clear. He is easily swayed and not wise at all. A president should be mature and wise.
Cassandra Bruyns,
Oakville, Ont.
Anderson, you are right on with Mr. Wright. He is using Obama to get free publicity for his upcoming book being released late this year as he announced at the NAACP dinner.
He is also angry at Obama for denouncing his words. He is trying to teach Obama a lesson. Wright's fans will also denounce Obama .
What is so sad about this is the division between races has now become more pronounced. Obama is not uniting America - he is dividing America !!
He should bow out now before HE causes a big RIOT at the convention.
Glad to see you all back in NOLA. Maybe you can update us on the levees. I hear that they are shoddily put together and they are being investigated for that! Plus I hear that they are giving tourists tours of all of the devastation there...the city that is. Instead of trying to rebuild and take care of the homeless problem, which is getting WAY worse, they are making mega bucks off of others misfortune and doing nothing to curb the problems. What is up with that!?
Obama has only himself to blame. He should have waited for his turn to run for office. His attempt at stealing Hillary's thunder it seems will not succeed. As a junior senator barely starting his term with very little accomplishment, he decided he wants more. Dropping the ball on his chance to shine on the Afghanistan committee was a huge mistake. His blind ambition and his obsession to become president took over.
If I want a rock star,charisma and charm- I would vote Obama but - if I want a strong leader as president of this great country Hillary Clinton has my vote !
I just have one question to ask the Hillary supporters, she has been caught in two big lies with no defense but "oh well" and a silly smile, but that seems to be okay with a lot of Americans. Lies seem to roll out of her mouth with ease. If she will lie now she will have no problem telling us lies if she becomes president. I just hope the Super Delegates have more since than the general public. It’s obviously true that "the masses are asses." We can kiss life in American good-bye because White America would rather see the country go to hell before supporting a black man who is willing to save this country. Hillary or McCain will not gain respect from foreign diplomats who hold the key to America’s future.
Hey Anderson"
It's very sad that you people (media) are following Rev Wright around like he is running for President. All you are doing is making this man filthy rich, by not covering issues concerning the America people how can the media not look bias?
You have failed to mention anything about Rev Wright ties to the Clinton's adminstration, and you people in the meida wonder why blacks feel their are two American's.
Poor Obama actually thought the white media would be fair to him""
what a joke.
Gregory Maye
But be honest....none of you in the media want this to be over right?
Keep on spinning folks....and thanks for returning the democratic campaign to business as usual. Its really too bad.
Good Morning Anderson & Erica & all. Sounds like this evening's program will be very interesting. The devastation in Va. looks horrible. It's amazing no one was killed! And I would definitely agree that all children learn at a different pace! I have taught pre-school up to, & including, high school & there are so many things that can happen to a child to affect their learning! Should be interesting this evening. Can't wait!
Anderson,
I am excited about the full coverage you provided to Rev. Wright. I think he made his point, as did CNN. I feel Rev. Wright has set us back decades,when it comes to bringing together the "black" and "white" America. It saddens me.
I have a six year old who wants to know why his class mates think he is "white" and they are "black"...he wants to know what happened to "god made us all the same?" I wonder that myself, it makes me sick to see this presidential race turn into a "race" race.....
United we stand...divided we fall.....
A comment on Rev. Wright:
He lives off controversy, startling half-truths and inuendo. He is profoundly narcissistic. His desire to be in the limelight is to the detriment of Senator Obama. I find him to be incredibly patronizing and arrogant. He promotes a philosophy of victimization, rather than true empowerment. He needs to stand down.
It's absolutely ridiculous that Wright is being criticized for things that have been a key part of the black church since it's inception. We can go on and on as people criticizing his sprited delivery, but everything that he said was true. We as Americans, no matter what color we are have to face there are many different experiences that comprise our experiences. The media is making a fiasco of this situation but it's simple; expand your horizons, read, fact find, talk to people outside of your comfort zone and don't rely on one source of information. Know for yourself no matter what color you are.
Why we are not ready for a Black President...The fear in the black community is that when the time came for a legitimate black candidate to have an opportunity to gain the vote to win the election. The traditional white Americans would fight tooth and nail to prevent it.. Everyday your station promotes and finances these concepts and devisive attempts to remind us that racism is still alive and prevelent in America. Mayby that's why America cannot apoligize for the atrocity and the many lives that it has devistated.
Rev. Right is radical, but he was radical when President Clinton was in office and Senator Obama is not the only one who has history with him. How is it that CNN, MSBN and Fox has conviently forgotton to connect the Clintons.
Jeremiah Wright is trying to push his agenda through, who cares if the media attacks Barack Obama through what he's trying to do. To him it won't be the first time. Outside the republicans having negative ads and talk radio saying negative things tying Jeremiah Wright's views with Mr. Obama as if they were in being in accordance with each other, and Mrs. Clinton, of all people has the nerve to say the republicans shouldn't politicize (as if she is innocent in all of this) how can anyone win if so many forces are against you. My bible tells me if God be for you then who could be against you. Barack Obama is a good man and a good candidate despite what someone else has said or done. It seems to me America is ready to write him off for other's bad behaviors and not his own. He's new on the scene and you're going to have a lot of people taking shots at him for whatever reasons. If you're going to accuse him of something let it be his own blunders, not someone else's. If his only blunder is bad company then that's not a good enough reason to not elect him because he will make a good president, nevertheless Jeremiah Wright was right about one thing, God is not mocked not even by his (MR. WRIGHT'S) words. Sounds like a cancer that keeps coming out of remission, some people you wish you never knew.
What continues to be ignored in this back-and-forth is the fact that what JWright views through his perceptual screen, one born in a Jim Crow era, is quite different from that of a Barak Obama, born in a later generation. To assume that Obama's views and judgements would match those of wright is an absurd assumption.
Barak had his trials - father abandonment, for instance, but even his experiences of racial slighting would have been nothing compared to those of Wright.
e.g: The incident when Wright a Marine medic, was treating LBJ, coming into the president's hospital room was acosted and arm twisted by Secret Service men until he was rescued by his white assistant.
Thus, Wright is locked in to this bitterness, understandably so. Obama, in a somewhat more benign era, using his acknowledged intelligence, has been able to transcend the bitterness and model a "more excellent way."
The tragedy of all this is that the forces of the old politics now seem in control, because of the residual racism in all of us white folks who can't get over the notion that "they all look alike." Thus we look for any pretense we can find to reject this God-given leader.
The best way to deal with the excesses of Rev. Wright is to elect Barak Obama, Wright's polar opposite. The former pastor now seems either intent on destroying Obama, or else who doesn't care who he destoys in the process of building himself up. Stick with Obama. He offers hope.
I'M HOPING THE VOTERS IN NORTH CAROLINA AND INDIANA
WILL REALIZE THAT OBAMA CANNOT WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN THE REMAINING PRIMARIES. EVEN IF ALL THE BLACKS IN THE REMAINING STATES VOTE FOR OBAMA, THE OBAMA-LABELED "BITTER" SMALL TOWN FOLKS,, WHITE MEN, WOMEN AND THE SENIORS STILL HAVE THE MAJORITY TO DEFEAT OBAMA AND MAYBE SLIENCE HIS PASTOR MENTOR WIRGHT. I JUST CANNOT BEAR PASTOR WRIGHT'S DEMEANING OUR COUNTRY REPEATEDLY.