Q: What do you expect or what do you plan do about this right now to further distance yourself? Do you think you need to do that? What does that say about your judgment for superdelegates who are trying to decide which Democratic nominee is better? Your candidacy has been based on judgment. What does this say?
Obama: Well, look, as I said before, the person I saw yesterday was not the person that I had come to know over 20 years. I understand that I think he was pained and angered from what had happened previously during the first stage of this controversy. I think he felt vilified and attacked, and I understand that he wanted to defend himself. You know, I understand that -- you know, he's gone through difficult times of late -- and that he's leaving his ministry after many years. And so, you know, that may account for the change, but the insensitivity and the outrageousness of his statements and his performance in the question-and-answer period yesterday, I think, shocked me. It surprised me. As I said before, this is an individual who has built a very fine church and a church that is well respected throughout Chicago. During the course of me attending that church, I had not heard those kinds of statements being made or those kinds of views being promoted. And I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency. I was a member of the church. So, you know, I think what it says is that, you know, I have not, you know, I did not run through -- run my pastor through the paces or review every one of the sermons that he had made over the last 30 years, but I don't think that anybody could attribute those ideas to me.
Q: What affect do you think it's going to have on your campaign?
Obama: That's something that you guys will have to figure out. Obviously we've got elections in four or five days. So we'll find out, you know, what impact it has. Ultimately, I think that the American people know that we have to do better than we're doing right now. I think that they believe in the ideas of this campaign. I think they are convinced that special interests have dominated Washington too long. I think they are convinced that we've got to get beyond some of the same political games that we've been playing. I think they believe that we need to speak honestly and truthfully about how we're going to solve issues like energy or healthcare, and I believe that this campaign has inspired a lot of people. And that's part of what, you know, going back to what you asked, Mike, about why I feel so strongly about this today. You know, after seeing Reverend Wright's performance, I felt as if there was a complete disregard for what -- for what the American people are going through and the need for them to rally together to solve these problems. You know, now is the time for us not to get distracted. Now is the time for us to pull together, and that's what we've been doing in this campaign. And you know, there was a sense that that did not matter to Reverend Wright. What mattered was him commanding center stage.
Q: Did you have a conversation with Reverend Wright?
Obama: No.
Q: What's going to happen with the distraction?
Obama: I want to use this press conference to make people absolutely clear that obviously whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed, as a consequence of this. I don't think that he showed much concern for me. I don't -- more importantly -- I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do in this campaign and what we're trying to do for the American people and with the American people. And obviously, he's free to speak out on issues that are of concern to him and he can do it in any ways that he wants. But I feel very strongly that -- well, I want to make absolutely clear that I do not subscribe to the views that he expressed. I believe they are wrong. I think they are destructive. And to the extent that he continues to speak out, I do not expect those views to be attributed to me.
Q: I'm wondering, I don't know what -- I'm wondering -- [inaudible]
Obama: Well, the new pastor, the young pastor, Reverend Otis Moss, is a wonderful, young pastor. And as I said, I still very much value the Trinity community. This -- I'll be honest, this obviously has put strains on that relationship, not because of the members or because of Reverend Moss, but because this has become such a spectacle. And, you know, when I go to church, it's not for spectacle, it's to pray and to find -- to find a stronger sense of faith. It's not to posture politically. It's not to -- you know, it's not to hear things that violate my core beliefs. And so, you know, I certainly don't want to provide a distraction for those who are worshiping at Trinity. So as of this point, I'm a member of Trinity. I haven't had a discussion with Reverend Moss about it, so I can't tell you how he's reacting and how he's responding. OK? Kathy?