The Rev. Jeremiah Wright couldn't have done more damage to Barack Obama's campaign if he had tried. And you have to wonder if that's just what one friend of Wright wanted. Shortly before he rose to deliver his rambling, angry, sarcastic remarks at the National Press Club Monday, Wright sat next to, and chatted with, Barbara Reynolds. A former editorial board member at USA Today, she runs something called Reynolds News Services and teaches ministry at the Howard University School of Divinity. (She is an ordained minister). It
also turns out that Reynolds - introduced Monday as a member of the
National Press Club "who organized" the event is an enthusiastic Hillary Clinton supporter. On a blog linked to her Web site www.reynoldsnews.com- Reynolds said in a February post: "My vote for Hillary in the Maryland primary was my way of saying thank you" to Clinton and her husband for the successes of Bill Clinton's presidency.
The same post criticized Obama's "Audacity of Hope" theme: "Hope by
definition is not based on facts," wrote Reynolds. It is an emotional
expectation. Things hoped for may or may not come. But help based on
experience trumps hope every time." In another blog entry,
Reynolds gives an ever-sharper critique of Obama: "It is a sad
testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray,
the senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright
is some retiring old uncle in the church basement."I don't
know if Reynolds' eagerness to help Wright stage a disastrous news
conference with the national media was a way of trying to help Clinton
- my queries to Reynolds by phone and e-mail weren't returned yesterday
- but it's safe to say she didn't see any conflict between promoting
Wright and supporting Clinton. SOURCE OF THIS STORY:DAILY NEWS