What's Wright's political strategy here?!

Dan Gilgoff: "How many votes will [coverage of the Wright interview w/ Moyers] win Obama?"

Marc Ambinder: "The most damaging thing Rev. Jeremiah Wright has to say may well be that Obama 'says what he has to say as a politician.'"

Damaging to whom, Obama? Sorry, I'm not going to hold Wright to that particular standard right now. In his own defense (you'll recall that he's been under a bit of an attack), Wright pointed out that pastors and politicians say different things to different audiences, and this is why Obama had to distance himself from his pastor. A lot more gracious than Wright might have been. Also, of course, entirely true.

But no one's all that concerned with Wright's defense on the merits. It's an election year, and people only exist as characters in that particular narrative. As Terry Mattingly always reminds us, if you want the media to cover religion, look for where it influences politics.