Lewis praises Obama speech, denounces pastors comment

WASHINGTON (AP) – Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta said there’s no room in American society for inflammatory rhetoric like that of Barack Obama’s former pastor and that he hopes Obama’s handling of the matter this week will prompt a more honest national dialogue on race.
In an interview, the veteran civil rights leader called Obama’s speech in Philadelphia Tuesday “extraordinary.”
“He was so open, so candid in talking about his own life, his own family and the role that race has played,” Lewis said, comparing it with speeches by presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, when Lewis was leading student protests against segregation.
“It did remind me of another time, another period,” he said.
Lewis said he understands the roots of the anger displayed in sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, formerly of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
“From the days of slavery, the black minister has been one who is about stirring up things … there was a great deal of anger and bitterness,” he said.
But, he added, “I would never say anything like that.”
“I don’t think there’s any room for that type of rhetoric in our society,” he said. “I think we have to recognize the differences we have and the progress we’ve made. We have problems, but we’ve solved many of those problems. We’ve made a lot of progress. That cannot be denied.”
Lewis also said he hopes Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will join forces to form what he says would be an unstoppable “dream ticket” in the presidential race.
“I don’t see it as a real possibility, but I think it would be a great ticket,” said Lewis, who last month dropped his support for Clinton’s presidential bid in favor of Obama.
Either way, he said, he thinks Obama can still win the nomination despite the controversy.
Lewis’ Georgia colleague, Republican Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah, agreed that Obama’s speech was strong. But Kingston questioned whether it was enough to explain to voters why Obama “sat in those pews for 20 years.”
“I think it’s a little questionable for (Obama) to try to distance himself from a preacher that up until this came out publicly he has embraced,” Kingston said. “It would be fine if Obama wasn’t trying to reach out and bridge the races, but his affiliation with Rev. Wright is very inconsistent with what he’s been saying, and it’s disturbing.”