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Can Obama close the door on Wright?

  • Story Highlights
  • Unclear what effect Rev. Jeremiah Wright will have on Obama's campaign
  • Obama must move on heading into Indiana and North Carolina, analysts say
  • Obama on Tuesday expressed outrage with his ex-pastor's remarks
  • Wright on Monday had contentious question-and-answer session
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(CNN) -- With less than a week until the next Democratic contests, Sen. Barack Obama is trying to shake off any political damage brought on by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Obama made clear his disgust with Wright's remarks made Monday at the National Press Club, saying he was "outraged" and "saddened by the spectacle."

What's unclear is its effect on voters.

The first test will be Tuesday, when North Carolina and Indiana hold their contests. Recent polls show Obama with a comfortable lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and a tight race in Indiana.

The days leading up to those contests could indicate whether the issue will subside or whether Obama has alienated part of his base by separating himself from Wright, analysts say.

"Obama had to do it and had to do it politically. It should satisfy Obama's supporters," said Mary Frances Berry, a former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. "We will just have to wait to see if it satisfies people who are not his supporters." Video Watch how the Wright controversy could affect Obama »

Wright has been a respected church leader for decades. The retired pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ was named one of the country's top black preachers by Ebony magazine in 1993. He's also played a role in some of the most important events in Obama's life, performing his marriage and baptizing both of his children.

Michelle Obama on AC 360°
Michelle Obama speaks out about the Wright controversy to CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Tonight, 10 ET

When some of Wright's outspoken sermons became an issue in the campaign, Obama denounced the remarks but said he could not repudiate the man himself.

But Obama's words Tuesday were not as forgiving.

Some analysts see Obama's separation from Wright as a political necessity for his White House hopes.

But the Rev. Al Sharpton says Obama's denouncement doesn't come without a risk of alienating supporters.

"Here's someone that's risking knowing that many in his base support group would question him. He doesn't know what the backlash will be. He doesn't know what his former pastor is going to say," Sharpton said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Obama said Tuesday that he was outraged by Wright's remarks that seemed to suggest the U.S. government might be responsible for the spread of AIDS among African-Americans and his equation of U.S. wartime efforts with terrorism. Video Watch what experts say about Obama's response »

CNN's Candy Crowley, who was in the front row while Obama was talking, said he exuded sadness. But when the topic turned to Wright's suggestion that Obama denounced him for political reasons, Obama was "seething," Crowley said.

"There was definitely a Barack Obama I had not seen in this news conference," she said.

Obama suggested Tuesday that his relationship with Wright was changed forever.

"There's been great damage," he said. "It may have been unintentional on his part, but I do not see that relationship being the same after this."

Perhaps onlookers were surprised by Obama's harsh words, but Wright predicted such an outcome in an interview in The New York Times more than a year ago.

"If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," he said in April 2007. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said, 'Yeah, that might have to happen.' "

Obama must now move on, said David Gergen, a former presidential adviser and CNN contributor. "There ought to be a group of his supporters, many of whom are black, who ought to be prepared now to speak out.

"If Jeremiah Wright returns fire, they ought to be the ones who come out and handle that, put him in his place, say how destructive this is and how contradictory it is," Gergen said.

But Berry said "the last thing Obama needs" is black preachers attacking Wright, "because there will be another sizable group of black preachers who will get up and defend Rev. Wright."

"And then you'll have it still be all about race. And it will be about race, race, race endlessly. And what Obama wants to do is get beyond the discussion of race," she said.

Ed Rollins, a veteran Republican strategist, said that if the election ends up being about race, Obama cannot win.

"He's got to get back on his message and convince white voters, in addition to African-American voters, that he represents them all and represents their values," he said.

But getting back to the issues could prove difficult if Wright chooses to make a public response.

Obama said Wright's "performance" showed "a complete disregard for what the American people are going through." Video Watch Obama describe Wright's comments »

"Now is the time for us to not to get distracted. Now is the time for us to pull tighter, and that's what we've been doing in this campaign, and you know, there was a sense that that did not matter to Rev. Wright. What mattered was him commanding center stage," Obama said.

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As he tries to reclaim his campaign, Obama said time will tell how the Wright fallout will play out on the trail.

"Obviously, we've got elections in four or five days. So we'll find out, you know, what impact it has," Obama said. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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