This afternoon Obama responded to the Rev. Wright interview from yesterday, changing his reaction to the controversial speech of his minister. When Obama first responded to Wright’s rantings, he claimed he had never heard them preached before, but could not disown him, comparing Wright to a family member. Now Obama is claiming that perhaps he didn’t know the Rev. Wright as much as he thought he did over the last 20 years. To quote Obama directly:

“I’ve known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church.

They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought either.”

After knowing someone for 20 years we are expected to believe Obama didn’t know Wright as well as he thought. But Obama expects us to know him in how much time? Could it be that we do not know him as well as we think we do? Obama claims that Wright’s comments contradict everything that he is about. Where was Obama’s disdain for Wright’s comments when we first heard them or when they were first uttered by Wright?

Denouncing Wright’s comments is the proper action to take. So why did it take Obama 6 weeks to change his reaction to Wright? What does this say about Obama’s character? There is a lot of speculation floating around but it seems clear to me that Obama was forced to denounce Wright today because of the media pressure and the effect it is having on his election campaign.