Obama's Pastor Snub: Sign of a Bigger Problem?

"Obama slights his own pastor, another error in wooing blacks" (Chicago Sun Times)

Mary Mitchell writes:

"Obama took some bad advice from campaign staff who underestimated the impact such a slight could have on a candidate who has to woo the black vote. Now, the shuttered prayer has come back to haunt him.

Although sources close to the campaign assured me that the relationship between Obama and Wright is "closer than ever," in an interview with the Times, Wright "expressed disappointment but no surprise" that Obama "might try to play down their connections."

And Mitchell brings up an issue Barack Oblogga touched on last month -

"...this entire incident provides some insight into a missing ingredient in Obama's campaign stew.

"First of all, I don't know who you would call in Barack Obama's campaign," Conrad Worrill told me.

Worrill is the national chairman of the National Black United Front, and a longtime grass-roots political organizer across the country. If he doesn't know who to call, that's a problem.

"It is clear that black people want to support his candidacy," Worrill said. "What is missing is an African-American at a high level to assist in structuring black participation in his campaign in black communities across the country."

Obama's campaign claims this is not a matter of "neglect," but that Obama's had a slow start in putting together his staff. Two weeks ago, he brought Ertharin Cousin on board as a senior adviser for African-American and women's outreach."

Playing Nice in Selma...But Still Need Buffers

From the NYT
"The visit to Selma, a historically rich, economically struggling city, became a proxy battle for black support between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, whose candidacy represents a threat to Mrs. Clinton’s traditional base. That competitive dynamic intensified on Sunday with the debut of Mr. Clinton on the campaign trail, six weeks into his wife’s bid, and among a bloc of voters who are at once devoted to the former president and torn between his wife and Mr. Obama.It was the first side-by-side appearance of Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the political theater of the two campaigns overlapped repeatedly, but with a polite tone that contrasted with their political skirmishing of recent weeks."

Obama Best at Juggling Duties

...which include running for president (o.k., o.k. exploring a run for president) and keeping his day job.
According to the Associated Press (via the San Ho Mercury News) Barack Obama has not missed a single vote in the Senate this year. On the other hand -

"Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have missed two votes each. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., has missed nine votes, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has skipped six."

And the dubious award for most votes missed? (drumroll please...)
Kansas Senator Sam Browback, who has -

"missed more than half the votes taken in the Senate last month as he ramped up his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Brownback skipped 20 of the 39 roll call votes in January, or 51 percent, according to Senate voting records. That's a higher absence rate than any other member of the Senate except Democrat Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage he suffered before the new session of Congress began."