Obama's speech was one of the historic moments of this campaign for the presidency.  If only he had given it before the South Carolina Primary it may well have propelled Obama to the nomination.  As it is it looks to be a speech given out of political calculation.  He gave this speech only when his poll numbers started to slip because of Reverend Wright.  Prior to that he thought 'plausible deniability' would work.  Before and during the South Carolina Primary Obama had no interest in giving a speech on race but actually fed the beast of racism.  We all remember how President Clinton's 'Fairytale Remark' was totally distorted by the Obama Campaign from a comment about Barrack's anti-war record to a comment about his run for the presidency.  Hillary's comment about Dr. Martin Luther King suffered the same fate.  

Obama has made the same mistake many other politicians make by setting themselves up on the pedestal of being different and somehow more trustworthy.  He has lost that high ground which is the basis of his campaign.  Americans, for all that they might be, despise people who try to fool them on that score.  The polls are reflecting those feelings as Obama's numbers continue to downtrend.  Obama couldn't afford to lose his credibility and win the nomination.  The Democratic Party now has a very big problem going into the Convention, Obama is the weaker candidate in the frontrunner position.  

Maybe it isn't fair to condemn Obama for Reverend Wright's statements but that is reality.  This is not a run for student council president but for the most powerful office in the world.  People make the decision to vote for a candidate on the trust they feel for that candidate.  Republicans won't waste any time pounding the Wright issue and it will be effective.  This along with the Florida and Michigan debacle in which Obama is on the side of not counting the votes makes for great political ads.  Timing is everything in politics and the timing of Oabama's brilliant speech on 'Race in America' may be a case of too little too late.  

Disclaimer: I don't support Clinton or Obama