"Michelle Obama: Let's move past Wright, get back to issues" (with video)

CNN with video:

BOONVILLE, Indiana (CNN) -- Michelle Obama said Wednesday that her husband's move to distance himself from his controversial former minister has been "painful," but that she's pleased with the way he's handled the situation.

"I was proud of the statement he made yesterday," she said in an interview with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. "It was a tough thing for him to do -- it's a painful situation to be in."

On Tuesday, Obama said he was "outraged" by comments the Rev. Jeremiah Wright made to the National Press Club in Washington on Monday. The candidate said he was "saddened by the spectacle" of what Wright said.

He said Wright, who officiated his wedding and baptized his children, seemed "not the person I met 20 years ago."

Earlier this year, fiery snippets from some of Wright's sermons began circulating on the Internet. They included statements in which he seemed to say that the United States had brought the September 11, 2001, attacks upon itself and that Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton has an advantage over Obama because she is white.

During several appearances this week, Wright seemed to suggest the U.S. government might be responsible for the spread of AIDS and said Obama had only distanced himself from the minister for political reasons.

That wasn't the speech of a political opportunist," Michelle Obama said of her husband's widely praised speech on race relations, made when Wright's controversial sermons first came to light. "Barack has been trying to bridge gaps all his life."

She said it's time for the campaign to move forward from the controversy and return the focus to issues like the economy and health care.

"With all due respect, we're moving forward," she said. "Barack was so clear, and he's been so open about this issue, and he speaks for me as well."

Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, leads Clinton in overall votes, number of states won, pledged delegates and fundraising with only nine primary contests remaining. But the Wright controversy, combined with recent Clinton victories in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, has threatened to stall his momentum going into the Democratic convention in Denver.

The interviewer later prefaced a question by saying she wanted to "turn the page" from the Wright controversy.

"No, you don't," Mrs. Obama replied.

In his race relations speech, Barack Obama said he rejected Wright's comments but could no more reject the man himself than he could the entire black community.

But on Tuesday, he said he found Wright's recent comments "appalling," saying the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, had "shown little regard for me" and seemed more concerned with "taking center stage."

"It is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country," he said.

Michelle Obama said she hopes that message gets through to the public and the media -- which has spent weeks keeping the controversy front-and-center in advance of upcoming primaries in North Carolina and Indiana.

"We're going to do our best to move forward," she said. "Barack and I and our campaign, we're going to, with everything in our power -- if allowed to by the press -- move forward."

The candidate's wife also said she believes Obama will eventually win the nomination.

"There's still an energy and a passion among his supporters," she said. "And people are coming on board every single day. So, yes, absolutely he can win. And, yes, absolutely I think he's the person that needs to lead this country."
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And, she said, the current controversies could lead to a much better place.

"Because it's through this limited struggle that we're facing ... if out of that comes something grander and we get in a place where we're a more unified nation, where people aren't focused on the small stuff, and we're looking at big picture -- brave, courageous approaches to our problems," she said. "And people, you know, are ready to roll up their sleeves and engage again."

Howie P.S.: Caroline Kennedy joined Michelle Obama for the television interview.
Barack Obama

"Michelle Obama Stumps in Philadelphia Suburbs"

The Caucus, NY Times political blog:

ARDMORE, Pa. — The Obama campaign made another foray into Pennsylvania today, sending Michelle Obama to the upscale Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia. Her husband, Senator Barack Obama, is expected to do well with the area’s affluent, well-educated voters, many of whom view the war in Iraq as the most important issue.

Her visit follows one by Mr. Obama to Bucks County on Tuesday and comes as Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign is suggesting that Mr. Obama has ceded the state, where Mrs. Clinton leads in the polls.

Mrs. Obama visited a day-care center here and read Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat” to some children. She then sat for a half-hour discussion with five women — in front of about 50 people, most of them women, and a phalanx of cameras _ and talked about the pressures of trying to balance work and family life. She is a hospital administrator and aside from having a husband who is running for president, they have two daughters.

Mrs. Obama described herself as a “110-percenter,” which is how much she said she gives of herself to both her family and her job, which means she always feels “like I’m failing.” She said that she grew up thinking she could “have it all,” but “I’m coming to be convinced that it’s not attainable, at least not now, at least not at 110 percent.”

Asked what her husband says when they discuss these issues, Mrs. Obama said he wanted to build a new majority in Congress because without it, no Democratic plan for health care or anything else could pass.

“His ability to win in all kinds of states is something we haven’t seen in a while,” she added, noting that he was attracting both independents and moderate Republicans, of whom there are many in this area. “Welcome, welcome,” she said to those voters. She said her husband’s candidacy was “the first time in a while that people have felt energized, and that energy isn’t just fluff.”

She also touched on his desire to end the war in Iraq, but in a nod to Mrs. Clinton, who has also vowed to end it, she said, “There are many candidates who understand we need to bring this war to a close.”

Asked what it’s like when your husband comes home and says he’s running for president, Mrs. Obama, who was initially skeptical of the whole idea, said: “The first reaction is ‘You’re kidding.’ Then you keep saying that for a while and hope that he goes away.” Everyone laughed.

But she said he would be a good president because he wants to “heal” the country. She described him as someone who had the gift of connecting with people and is, at heart, a “policy wonk.”

“He reads everything, is a strong manager, will bring in the best and the brightest and doesn’t have his ego in play, and what I said when I said yes is, this would be the man I would want to be leading us _ if I weren’t married to him,” she said, again to laughter. “The problem is that he is my husband.” But, she said, “you have to give it a shot because this could be the guy who could help move us in a different direction.”

Her visit helped change the mind of at least one of her listeners. Michelle Daniszewski, 35, a teacher who lives in Drexel Hill and has two young girls, said she came to the event undecided. In fact, she came just to listen but ended up being asked by the campaign to be one of the women to sit and talk with Mrs. Obama.

“It’s nice to see another working mom who’s dealing with all these issues,” she said. And of Mr. Obama she said, “He really is fresh blood.”

Mrs. Obama was also scheduled to round out her visit to the suburbs with rallies at Abington High School and Villanova University.

Barack Obama

"Obama for President Rally at UCLA " (video)

BarackObamadotcom, video (13:44):

Oprah, Caroline Kennedy, Michelle Obama, Maria Shriver at UCLA Rally. Full rally video (75:25) here.

Howie P.S.: Once again, Michelle rocked my world.Barack Obama