Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem March 27, 2008
The videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons and Barack Obama's subsequent speech on race and politics have attracted more public attention than any events thus far in the 2008 presidential campaign. A majority of the public (51%) said they heard "a lot" about the videos, and an even larger percentage (54%) said they heard a lot about Obama's speech, according to the weekly News Interest Index.
Most voters aware of the sermons say they were personally offended by Wright's comments, and a sizable minority (35%) says that their opinion of Obama has grown less favorable because of Wright's statements.
However, the Wright controversy does not appear to have undermined support for Obama's candidacy. The latest nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 19-22 among 1,503 adults, finds that Obama maintains a 49%-to-39% advantage over Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, which is virtually unchanged from than the 49%-to-40% lead he held among Democrats in late February. Obama and Clinton continue to enjoy slight advantages over John McCain in general election matchups among all registered voters.
The new polling suggests that the Wright affair has not hurt Obama's standing, in part because his response to the controversy has been viewed positively by voters who favor him over Clinton. Obama's handling of the Wright controversy also won a favorable response from a substantial proportion of Clinton supporters and even from a third of Republican voters.
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<http://pewresearch.org/pubs/777/obama-wright-news-interest>
Obama Speech on Race Arguably Biggest Event of Campaign March 27, 2008
Barack Obama's March 18th speech on race and politics is arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far. Fully 85% of Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama's speech, and most (54%) say they heard a lot about it.
Not surprisingly, Barack Obama has been far and away the most visible of the presidential candidates over the past week - 70% say they have heard more about him in the news than the other candidates, compared with 15% who cite Hillary Clinton and just 3% who say they have heard the most about John McCain. As recently as three weeks ago, Obama and Clinton were equally visible in the news.
Roughly half of Americans (49%) saw videos of Reverend Wright's sermons, and roughly the same number (51%) watched Barack Obama's speech about race and politics last week. Television was the predominant source for video of these news items, however the internet also played a role.
One-in-ten Americans say they saw Obama's speech online (7% on the internet only, 3% both on TV and the internet). About the same number (12%) report having seen Wright's sermons online.
The impact of these events on Obama's overall image appears to be mixed. Three-in-ten Americans (30%) say their opinion of Obama has grown less favorable in recent days, but another 22% say their opinion of him has grown more favorable.