David Axelrod thinks so. Joel Pollack of Big Government caught Axelrod during a speech in California saying that Wright’s problem was that there was ““ninety seconds of vitriol plucked from thirty years of sermons by some enterprising opposition researcher.”
The claim that Wright’s sermons were selectively edited by Obama’s political opponents contradicts what is known about Wright’s preaching and the radical, racialist creed of the Trinity United Church of Christ, to which Obama belonged for two decades and to which he contributed a large amount of money.
Axelrod’s claim is also contradicted by Obama himself, who has cited Wright’s enthusiasm for radical politics as the main reason he was attracted to the church.
Axelrod brought up the Wright controversy during a lecture recounting his role as the “architect” of Obama’s rise from the Illinois state senate to the presidency. Axelrod praised Obama’s infamous “race speech,” contrasting his media skills to those of GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
The lecture was part of the Distinguished Speaker Series of Southern California, and was delivered before a largely friendly audience.
Recording was not permitted in the Fred Kavli Theater, but Axelrod’s remarks on Wright are an exact quote, written down and tweeted immediately upon delivery. Axelrod’s tone was somewhat bitter, a brief flash of passion in an otherwise relaxed presentation.
It seems odd that an issue the Obama campaign had successfully buried would be resurrected by a supposed political genius. But Axelrod has absolutely nothing to worry about. Jeremiah Wright is a non-person in the eyes of the press. He simply doesn’t exist. So what interest would the press have in looking into the defense of someone who is invisible by a top Obama campaign official?
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