With Friends Like These ...

... who needs Republicans?

It seems like Obama just can't catch a break lately. First Hillary Clinton continues to show her ability to come back and stay in the picture for longer than Obama wants her to. Now it turns out that Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the exact same ability.

After dropping out of sight (and hopefully mind) the Rev. Wright popped back into the spotlight. And it turns out, he's not helping. Rather than lay low and say something like, "You know, I get worked up sometimes and say things that I don't really mean about damning America and all," he came out defending his comments.

Now, obviously, he probably agrees with what he said. That's why he said it. But to come back and rub people's noses in it after the storm had (largely) passed seems like a move not designed to help out the Obama campaign.

Christopher Beam on Slate argues that Wright's return may turn out to be a good thing. I'm not so convinced. His opinions are so far beyond what we would consider the mainstream of America that a continued tie between him and Obama in the public mind won't help the campaign at all. The best bet was to hope that this all faded from memory well before November. But if Wright keeps coming back, then Hillary Clinton may be the least of Obama's worries.