"The media has once again turned its spotlight on to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the good pastor seems to be enjoying it immensely. Some commentators, following the lead of the Obama camp, have concluded that because Wright's actions are so obviously a threat to Obama's public image they make plain what Obama has been saying all along: he and Wright are not on the same page, not political allies, and therefore it is wrong to hold Obama responsible for, or link him in any way to, the words of his former pastor. While this is not a bad strategy, I think it ignores a much deeper problem, a problem that Obama himself will never be able to discuss because of his desire to take issues of race out of the campaign. The problem is this: Barack Obama is being judged guilty until proven innocent on issue after issue. This judgment is being made above all by the press, but the actions of the press both mirror and catalyze the judgments of voters."
/snip/
"Are you a patriot?
Are you a black nationalist?
Do you collude with corrupt political operatives?
Do you support the agenda of the Weather Underground?
Are you really a radical Muslim in Christian garb?
Does Jeremiah Wright reveal your true inner voice?
All of these issues speak to the content of Obama's inner thoughts, and no words or deeds from Obama can successfully demonstrate that some pernicious truth about him does not exist, waiting only to be revealed should he become President. Doubt is then the allowed to creep into the analysis of Obama and his intentions. But doubt on these matters is just another way of allowing our basic evaluation of blacks in the United States -- guilty until proven innocent -- to find a more acceptable public expression."
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/guilty-until-proven-innocent.php