Media figures claimed McCain would avoid issue of Obama's pastor -- but McCain campaign had already circulated op-ed

During the 2 p.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on March 14, McClatchy Newspapers chief Washington correspondent Steve Thomma discussed controversial comments made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Sen. Barack Obama's church, and asserted that Sen. John McCain's campaign is "not going to touch this," claiming: "Oh boy, certainly John McCain doesn't have to say a word. You know the old rule in politics, 'When your enemy is killing himself, don't get in the way.' And that's the case with the McCain campaign. They're not gonna touch this; they're not gonna go anywhere near it." But contrary to Thomma's remarks, McCain did "touch this." As ABCNews.com's The Note reported, the McCain campaign had already circulated to reporters a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Newsmax.com chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler wrote that "Obama's close association with Mr. Wright ... raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country," which "deserve a clearer answer than Mr. Obama has provided so far."

At 10:03 a.m. ET on March 14, the Politico's Jonathan Martin also reported that the McCain campaign "included an op-ed from the WSJ written by Ron Kessler about Obama's pastor today in its morning clips." Subsequently, McCain's campaign reportedly said it sent the op-ed "in error."

During an interview that morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe with host Joe Scarborough, McCain chief political adviser Charlie Black declined to comment on Wright's statements, saying that McCain has said that "these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them" and instead "should be held accountable for their public policy views." During the 9 a.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live, NBC News political director Chuck Todd echoed Black's assertion, stating: "I think the thing is, is in the long run, I mean, I saw that Charlie Black interview earlier with you guys on Morning Joe, where he made the point, 'You know what, at the end of the day, you almost can't hold the candidates responsible for some of the views of their supporters,' and in the long run, that's gonna be the case."

Atlantic blogger and associate editor Marc Ambinder also noted that the McCain campaign had circulated the op-ed, a move that was inconsistent with what Black had said on Morning Joe:

I've never gone ga-ga for guilt-by-association assassinations, but it seems to be that if one campaign is willing to make an issue out of one's associations, they should be open to questions about their own.

And, in truth, some associations are more meaningful than others. Barack Obama's close friendship with, his intellectual debt to, and the spiritual advice he's gotten from Rev. Jeremiah Wright almost pre-books that 60 Minutes interview you know he'll do in the fall explaining it.

But John McCain needs be careful.

As J-Mart notes this morning, McCain's campaign included Ron Kessler's WSJ op-ed in its clips, which implies that they believe reporters should make a note of it. But as his colleague B-Smith later noted, that conflicts with what McCain strategist Charlie Black (C-Black?) told Joe Scarborough on MSNBC this morning -- namely, that "I don't think Senator McCain wants to get in the middle of a discussion about Senator Obama's former pastor or his faith."

More, from Black:

"He believes that people who endorse you, people who befriend you are entitled to their own views, but you are not held personally accountable."

As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, the media routinely characterize McCain as a candidate who avoids negative campaigning, despite extensive evidence to the contrary.

From the 2 p.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on March 14:

MONICA NOVOTNY (anchor): Now, Jill, as we've said, this isn't the first that we're hearing of Reverend Wright. But in the wake of Samantha Power and Geraldine Ferraro and a lot of talk about, among other things, race in this race, does this story have legs right now?

JILL ZUCKMAN (Chicago Tribune reporter): Oh, sure it does, Monica. And in fact, the Obama campaign has known that this was an issue for a long, long time. On the night before Senator Obama was going to announce his presidential campaign in Springfield, Illinois, he had to call his pastor and say, "You know what, I don't want you to offer up a prayer at this, this whole ceremony. This wouldn't be a good idea."

I mean, it was a very hard thing for him to do. But they realized, I think at the last minute, that the pastor was so controversial, that people would just seize on that, and they're doing it anyway. I was just talking to a Republican strategist who said that they are going to -- if Obama is the Democratic nominee, they are gonna hammer him on everything his pastor has said in the general election.

NOVOTNY: And, Steve, that was going to be my next question for you. We haven't heard a reaction yet -- don't know if we will -- from the Clinton campaign to these comments, but will the Republicans going forward?

THOMMA: Oh boy, certainly John McCain doesn't have to say a word. You know the old rule in politics, "When your enemy is killing himself, don't get in the way." And that's the case with the McCain campaign. They're not gonna touch this; they're not gonna go anywhere near it. They're gonna count on the news media and other interest groups to bring it up. And it's got a viral quality on the Internet. The YouTubes of these sermons are gonna get around without any help from the Republican National Committee.

From the 9 a.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on March 14:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): Well, you could say McCain's at an advantage. The Dems seem to be doing his work for him. Given what we've seen today, there is an argument for that. Let's talk now to NBC News political director Chuck Todd for today's "First Read on Politics."

Chuck, good morning. I'm -- you know, today, the top talkers have been really surrounding this pastor for Barack Obama and comments that he made that seem very inflammatory. And yesterday it was Geraldine Ferraro and the issue of race. Is all this back and forth for the Dems gonna end up benefiting McCain in the long run?

TODD: And don't forget two weeks ago, it was some talk radio hosts --

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.

TODD: -- who was supporting John McCain. I mean, I think the thing is, is in the long run, I mean, I saw that Charlie Black interview earlier with you guys on Morning Joe, where he made the point, "You know what, at the end of the day, you almost can't hold the candidates responsible for some of the views of their supporters," and in the long run, that's gonna be the case.

The only trouble spot I think here for Obama on Reverend Wright -- I mean, I think in some ways this is getting overblown -- but the one trouble spot is gonna be, if he's the nominee, is with some Jewish voters. There has been some issues with some Jewish voters about Reverend Wright, about Louis Farrakhan, and some things like that.

And electorally, let's just look at the blunt electoral map, a loss of some Jewish voters from the Democratic column to the Republican column could make Florida out of reach. And that is the one place where I think Obama -- and every week, he has been trying to heal these wounds, make sure that Jewish voters -- he meets with them, he meets with a lot of Jewish leaders a lot to try to fix this, because he doesn't want this to become a problem in the general.

From the March 14 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: I want to show you a clip from Barack Obama's pastor; it's getting a lot of play right now. This has to do with September 11th and Barack Obama's spiritual adviser blaming September 11th on America. Take a look.

WRIGHT [video clip]: We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki. And we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards.

SCARBOROUGH: Is John McCain troubled by the fact that that man we just heard -- and my gosh, there's so many more sermons just like that, just as inflammatory -- but is John McCain concerned that that man is Barack Obama's, quote, "spiritual adviser"?

BLACK: You know, what Senator McCain has said repeatedly is that these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them. And fortunately, I heard your report earlier that Senator Obama has repudiated these very unusual views. But what John McCain believes is that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for their public policy views, the things we've described before, big government versus smaller government.

SCARBOROUGH: So this isn't an issue for John McCain?

BLACK: I don't think Senator McCain wants to get in the middle of a discussion about Senator Obama's former pastor or his faith. He believes that people who endorse you, people who befriend you are entitled to their own views, but you are not held personally accountable -- that when somebody endorses you or befriends you, they're embracing your views, the candidate's views, not the other way around.