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The Chicago Tribune website is reporting that Obama spokesperson Ben LaBolt confirmed that Obama is in essence resigning from the church after the latest controversy surrounding a video of Rev. Michael Pfleger mocking Hillary Clinton while he was speaking at Trinity United. The spokesman said that Obama has not attended the church since the Wright controversy erupted in mid-March.

Pfleger spoke recently at what is now Obama’s former church and said, "I really don't believe it was a put-on. I always thought she felt 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife. I'm white. And this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate,'" he said. "And then out of nowhere came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama.' And she said, 'Oh damn, where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show.'"

I believe that there is a great deal of validity in what Pfleger said as far as Clinton’s attitude of entitlement towards the nomination. The way her campaign was run early on, with her playing the role of the de facto incumbent and about talking what she will do after she wins the nomination was meant to send the impression of inevitability, but it struck many as arrogant.

The problem is with Pfleger’s last statement. He interjected race into the discussion, and after the Wright fiasco Obama has been trying to avoid the kind of stereotyping that would label him as a radical black candidate.

Obama can’t afford another church based scandal, so resigning from the church was a necessity. In fact, he probably should have left the church after the Rev. Wright story broke. Obama doesn’t need the anchor of race based comments from the pulpit following him into the fall campaign.

You can read the Chicago Tribune story here

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