How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jeremiah?

The simple answer is that you cannot. Barack Obama needs to concede that Reverend Jeremiah Wright will pop up every month or so between now and November 4, 2008. It won't be the Republicans bringing up Reverend Wright either. Reverend Wright will bring up the topic of "Reverend Wright" himself by giving high-profile speeches all across the nation at the most inopportune times for Mr. Obama. Mr. Obama will be forced to work around this unfortunate turn of events for his campaign.

Reverend Wright is analogous to a star athlete or star musician or star actor. Stars receive (and get used to) massive amounts of adulation from their fans. They are constantly reminded how wonderful they are. They rarely encounter people who tell them the word "no." (I imagine when George Lucas was making the first "Star Wars" prequel that everybody he was surrounded by, told him everyday how wonderful Jar Jar Binks was and how audiences around the world were going to love cute ol' Jar Jar.) Reverend Wright is the star of his church. He has achieved great success and visibility in his field of work. He is used to his world being ordered a certain way - with him on top. That world does not exist anymore for him anymore. Sports fans out there all know the stories of washed-up athletes who crack up because the expected adulation is not there anymore. That is Rev. Wright today.

Reverend Wright is playing the classic role of the veteran who doesn't like feeling upstaged by the young protege/upstart. We all know of Barack Obama as a polished and intellectually gifted speaker we see today on television, a man who knows he is good at what he does. But Reverend Wright met Mr. Obama twenty-something years ago when Mr. Obama was probably just as confused as most of us were when we were in our twenties. Reverend Wright might still equate Mr. Obama with the young man he met all those years ago. To see this young guy not give Reverend Wright the respect he thinks he deserves means the gloves are coming off. This is not about Reverend Wright trying to prevent Mr. Obama from becoming president. It is much more personal than that.

I think the "Reverend Wright situation" will continue to be a problem for Senator Obama even as John McCain smartly condemns "Reverend Wright ads." The Republicans won't have to raise a finger to raise Reverend Wright as an issue. They now know Reverend Wright will raise himself as an issue. Reverend Wright will pop up in the media from here on to November. And many people will think, "Sure, Obama says he disowns Reverend Wright. But he is only saying that because he is running for president. Before it was painful for Obama to be associated with Wright, he didn't denounce what Wright was saying." Obama's denouncement of Reverend Wright means less than people think.