Voters don’t often bring up Jeremiah Wright at Barack Obama’s events, but today one did. “I was sick to death of the sound bites of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “ a woman commented at a town hall meeting in Winston-Salem, NC. In response, Obama would only say on the matter, “I’m going to be having a big press conference afterwards to talk about this so I don’t want to distract from this issue.”

True to his word, following the event, Obama took the podium in front of members of the press corps. “I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap between different kinds of people. That’s in my DNA, trying to promote mutual understanding to insist that we all share common hopes and common dreams as Americans and as human beings. That’s who I am. That’s what I believe. That’s what this campaign has been about,” he began. “I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday,” he said of his former pastor’s engagement at the National Press Club Monday.

Following the Press Club event yesterday, Obama held a hastily arranged media avail in front of his waiting plane on a North Carolina tarmac, where he reiterated his previous opposition to his former pastor’s statements. But that was before he read the transcript or watched Wright’s defiant performance.

Today, for nearly 30 minutes, the candidate addressed the deeply personal matter that has become a very public issue in this race, using his strongest language yet and made it clear that his 20-year relationship with the man he once likened to a “crazy uncle” was no longer going to be part of the family. Today, for the first time, he admitted, “There’s been great damage. It may have been unintentional on his part, but you know I do not see that relationship being the same after this.”

While Obama has previously defended Wright for the snippets of audio that were looped on television as painting a “caricature” of the pastor, today Obama did not excuse him. “Yesterday I think he caricatured himself, and that was as I said, that made me angry but also made me sad,” he said. “There wasn’t anything constructive out of yesterday. All it was was a bunch of rants that that aren’t grounded in truth.”

Wright’s appearance at the Press Club seems to be the last straw for Obama. “I’ve known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church. They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs and if Rev Wright thinks that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well and based on his remarks yesterday, well I may not know him as well as I thought either,” he said.

When asked if he would continue to be a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama acknowledged his relationship with his church had been strained as a result of the spectacle that’s been a result of Wright’s comments. “When I go 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 hear things that violate my core beliefs and so you know and I certain don’t want to provide a distraction to those who are worshipping at Trinity. As of this point I’m a member. I haven’t had a discussion with Reverend [Otis] Moss (the current minister) about it so I can’t tell you how he’s reacting and how he’s responding.”

Watch Obama’s opening remarks at his Winston-Salem press avail here:

Republican National Committee Spokesman Danny Diaz releases the following statement regarding the latest state GOP ad to invoke Jeremiah Wright.

“Voters in the 1st District of Mississippi will make a determination on the ad,” Diaz said, referring to the latest attack ad by Republican Greg Davis against Democratic opponent Travis Childers in a Mississippi Congressional runoff.

Sen. McCain said earlier today that he is tired of playing “referee” in all of these state GOP ad disputes. Last week, the RNC and McCain were very aggressive in condemning a North Carolina GOP ad using Wright, but this week they are leaving it to the voters. This should appease some voices on the right…

Miami, FL — Sen. McCain said Monday that he refuses to play “referee” as state and local Republicans continue to use the Jeremiah Wright issue in their races across the country.

“I am not going to be a referee. I have made my position very clear on this issue. And that I do not believe that Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extremist statements or views,” McCain said a media availability after a health care round table. “I’ll make my position very clear and then I’ll run my campaign on health care challenges, on all of the great challenges we face, including the economic difficulties we are facing today, the challenges of a recession and providing available and affordable health care to all Americans.”

The latest controversy comes out of a local Mississippi congressional runoff race, where Republican Greg Davis is hitting his Democratic opponent Travis Childers with a new ad invoking Wright. (video above)

“When Obama’s pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing,” the ad blares. “He took Obama’s endorsement over our conservative values. Conservatives just can’t trust Travis Childers.”

The newest ad comes less than a week after the North Carolina Republican Party announced that it intends to release a spot using controversial Wright statements in order to attack Democratic candidates in the state. McCain repeatedly repudiated the ad last week, but the state party still intends to air the ad this week.

While McCain again quoted Obama’s comments yesterday, in which the Illinois Democrat essentially gave opponents a green light to use Wright matter by declaring it a “legitimate political issue,” McCain said Monday that he will leave the controversy to “a dialogue between Senator Obama and the American people.”

“I am of the belief that Senator Obama does not reflect the extremist statements that Reverend Wright has given…but I also understand why millions of Americans may, as Senator Obama said yesterday, view this as a political issue,” McCain said.

UPDATE–Sen. Hillary Clinton says McCain should be doing more…..

GRAHAM, NC — Hillary Clinton says John McCain’s letter to North Carolina Republicans asking them to pull an ad featuring controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright didn’t go far enough to get the ads off the airwaves.

In the Tar Heel state, the GOP is attacking Lt Gov Beverly Eaves Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore for endorsing Barack Obama — using a long segment of one of the more inflammatory speeches by Obama’s former reverend to paint the two local Democrats with the same anti-American brush. And in Mississippi, a congressional candidate has a similar ad attacking his Democratic opponent using Wright and Obama.

McCain wrote to the North Carolina party urging them to remove the ad from the air, but the party refused.

Senator Clinton told reporters today that McCain needs to go further. “I believe that if Senator McCain were serious, he would do more than send a letter,” she said. “He is the putative nominee. I think he could very clearly tell the North Carolina party, tell the Mississippi party that he would not tolearte these kinds of advertisements, and I’m waiting to see whether he does that.”

Miami, FL — Sen. John McCain continues to ride a very thin line on the Jeremiah Wright controversy, reiterating today that while he will not make an issue of Barack Obama’s pastor, he will not be surprised if others do.

“I believe that Senator Obama does not share those views. But Senator Obama himself says it’s a legitimate political issue so I would imagine that many other people would share that view and it will be in the arena,” McCain said during a Miami-area media availability, alluding to comments Obama made during his Fox News Sunday interview today. The Illinois Democrat told FNS that “the fact that he is my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue.”

McCain seized on those comments during his response today to questions about the North Carolina Republican Party’s decision to air an attack ad using controversial Wright sermons despite his opposition. McCain said he still disagrees with the ad but he does not believe the state party should face any repercussions, he no longer wishes “to be the referee” in the dispute and is ready to “move on to the major challenges of this country.”

The Wright-related remarks also came during an availability in which McCain lit up Obama as “totally insensitive” to poor people because of his gas tax holiday opposition, “out of touch” on the economy, as well as having “very little, if any, experience or knowledge” about the security concerns of Israel and the situation in the Middle East.

During his first response, McCain got in a three-for; hitting Obama on his infamous “bitter” remarks, pointing out offensive Wright comments and sending the message that his Democratic rival opened the door a bit on Wright.

“I’ve stated my position very clearly that I don’t like the ad. I was interested that this morning Senator Obama said it was a legitimate political issue. If he believes that, then it will probably be a political issue. I saw yesterday some additional comments that have been revealed by Pastor Wright, one of them comparing the United States Marine Corps with Roman Legionnaires who were responsible for the death of our Savior, I mean being involved in that. It’s beyond belief. And then of course saying that Al Qaeda and the American flag were the same flags. So I can understand, I can understand why people are upset about this. I can understand why Americans, when viewing these kinds of comments, are angry and upset. Just like they view Senator Obama’s statements about why people turn to their faith and their values. He believes that it’s out of economic concerns. We all know it’s out of a fundamental belief, a fundamental faith in this country and its values and its principles. Again, Senator Obama, out of touch. I can’t control, and will not in future, control. I will voice my opinion. And I will continue to say that I think that ad should not be run. But I won’t continue to try to be the referee here.”

For it’s part, the Obama campaign immediately launched into McCain for the comments accusing the Republican of breaking his word on promises to run a respectful campaign.

“By sinking to a level that he specifically said he’d avoid, John McCain has broken his word to the American people and rendered hollow his promise of a respectful campaign,” said Obama campaign Spokesman Hari Sevugan. “With each passing day, John McCain acts more and more like someone who’s spent twenty-six years learning the divisive, distracting tactics of Washington. That’s not the change that the American people are looking for.”

While he danced around on the Wright issue, McCain had no qualms Sunday about attacking Obama on national security and the economy. Some of his greatest hits:

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New Orleans, LA — Sen. McCain repeated his demand that the North Carolina Republican party pull a TV ad using statements from Barack Obama’s controversial pastor, calling Thursday for all GOPers in the state to echo his call and repudiate their own leadership.

“I cannot in my role dictate to the North Carolina Republican Party what their message is but I can condemn it,” McCain said during a media availability following his tour of the Lower Ninth Ward. “I can appeal to the overwhelming majority of Republicans in North Carolina who also repudiate that kind of activity and I am calling on them to repudiate the people the small handful of people that have refused to understand that we are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and that party–that Republican Party–there is no room for this kind of activity.”

The ad, which declares that Obama is “just too extreme for North Carolina,” was launched by the party on Wednesday.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is calling on McCain to exercise “real leadership” in getting the ad pulled.

“This is a test of leadership for John McCain,” Dean said Thursday. “If he can’t pick up the phone and make members of his own party stop airing a television ad he claims to oppose, how can he lead our country through an economic crisis or the war in Iraq? After shifting his positions on gun control, immigration and tax cuts throughout this campaign, McCain should not equivocate on this issue. Making a show of releasing your emails to the press is not leadership. If he is serious, he will get this ad pulled.”

Asked if he would limit the state party’s role at the GOP convention this summer if it continues running the spot, McCain was reluctant to “start making threats.”

“Lets see if they respond not only to what I have to say and virtually the entire leadership of the entire Republican Party but also lets see what average hardworking dedicated Republicans in the state of North Carolina are able to achieve too because I know they agree with me,” McCain said.

Inez, KY — In what is becoming almost weekly protocol, Sen. McCain condemned officials his own party for going over the line in attacking Barack Obama.

This time the North Carolina Republican party has launched a new TV spot tying local Democrats who support Obama to incendiary remarks made by the Democrat’s longtime preacher, Jeremiah Wright. (below)

The ad declares that Obama is “just too extreme for North Carolina,” noting that local officials should “know better” than to support the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

McCain repeatedly called on the state party to pull the ad Wednesday, vowing again to run a “respectful campaign.”

“We called and asked them not to run that message. It’s not the message of the Republican Party. It’s not the message of my campaign. I’ve pledged to conduct a respectful campaign,” McCain said during a press conference Wednesday. “I can’t dictate to them but I want to be the candidate of everybody. I want to be the candidate of Republicans and Democrats and Independents and people across the political spectrum and I think that by traveling America and listening and learning as well as portraying my vision for the future, I’m going to attract a large number of independents and democrats into our cause because right now the cause is America and right now the cause is that Americans want us to work together to solve these enormous challenges that we face today.”

Then, alongside Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan–who was traveling with the presumptive GOP nominee to his own hometown of Inez–McCain told reporters that local and state GOP officials sometimes lose sight of the ultimate party goals.

“I think sometimes we neglect a fundamental reason why we have political parties–that is to elect our candidates to office,” McCain said aboard his bus. “What I hope is that they would listen to my views that it’s not representative of the Republican Party and what we are trying to be. We are trying to be a party that respects everyone and to show disrespect for any candidate or anyone…is certainly not the party of Abraham Lincoln.”

Informed that the state party is planning to keep the ad on the air, McCain lamented, “unfortunately all I can do is, in as visible way as possible, is disassociate myself from that kind of campaigning.”

The AZ Senator added today that he believes “it is clear” that Obama does not share the world view of Rev. Wright and stated his intention to run an issue-centric campaign.

It’s an issue that won’t go away. On a day when Clinton supporter and former White House Counsel Lanny Davis questioned Obama’s judgment in choosing Wright as his pastor and urged him to give even more details on his relationship with the controversial pastor in the Wall Street Journal, the Illinois Senator was confronted with the issue at a town hall in Levittown, PA — where he was asked about an award given by a magazine run by Wright’s daughters to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

“How can praise for any anti-Semitic demagogue be considered a minor difference between you and the reverend?” asked a woman in the audience.

Defending the legitimacy of the question as the crowd grew agitated, Obama replied “It wasn’t a minor difference, it was a major difference.”

“I’ve been very clear about saying that was wrong. And nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti-Semitism than I have,” he said. “I didn’t just start doing it lately, which is part of the reason why I have such strong support in the Jewish community in Chicago.”

Citing his desire to unite communities that have been discriminated against, Obama said, “part of my job then as president is to get everybody to recognize that we’ve got a stake in each other, and we’ve got to get past these divisions. And that’s what I’m trying to do in my campaign and hopefully as president as well.”

Denver, CO — John McCain commented–ever so briefly–on the Jeremiah Wright/Barack Obama controversy at a Thursday media availability.

Asked whether a candidate should be held accountable for the views of his pastor, McCain would say only that “knowing Senator Obama..he does not share the extreme views..that I saw on television.”

McCain was on a week-long trip abroad while the Wright debate was broiling and had yet to comment on the issue since returning to the states. While some Republican officials have expressed privately that Obama’s association with the controversial pastor could pay some political dividends in the fall, McCain campaign officials say they intend to keep the upcoming general election debate centered around policy rather than personal issues.

Two polls out this week by Pew and the Wall Street Journal both show that the Wright controversy has done little damage to Obama’s support.

Hillary Clinton says she’s listening to the will of the people who want her to stay in this race despite a shaky path to the nomination — and is willing to take her fight for delegates all the way to the Democratic National Convention.

In an exclusive interview with Fox SuperAnchor Greta Van Susteren, Senator Clinton argued that the race is far from finished. “People don’t want this to be over,” she said. “That is what people are telling me.”

“Nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over,” she said. “What I’ve seen in my last 14 months on the campaign trail is that every time people count me out — you know, pundits say it’s over, it should be over — the voters bring me back… because they believe that I will actually get up every day in that White House and work my heart out for all of our people.”

Those pundits who argue that the Democratic race is all but done cite Obama’s leads in overall delegates, pledged delegates, and the popular vote - with precious few opportunities for Clinton to make up ground now that Michigan and Florida are unlikely to hold revotes. Hillary blamed her rival Barack Obama for disenfranchising voters in those two states, who went for her in primaries that have since been discounted.

“The Democratic National Committee and I and my campaign, said to the leadership of Michigan, we’re willing to have a revote. I don’t know how that would have turned out,” she said. “Senator Obama said no. He basically turned his back. Here’s somebody who runs a campaign about empowerment, and all of that. Well, hello, what about giving the people of Michigan a chance to have their voices and votes heard?”

Asked about her options for getting those votes counted, the New York Senator raised the specter of a convention battle — a scenario few Democrats can be excited about. “You can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Lets have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election? I don’t think that will happen. I think they will be seated. So that’s where we’re headed if we don’t get this worked out.”

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