In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, it’s been looking as if Philadelphia’s LGBT community would be pretty much thrilled with either candidate currently barnstorming Pennsylvania. Then Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal unleashed a bombshell this morning: a glaring blank spot on the front of this week’s edition, meant as a huge rebuke to Barack Obama for refusing the paper’s recent interview request — and for refusing to speak with any members of the local gay press nationwide for more than four years.

Daily Examiner caught up with Segal this morning in between calls from other reporters, all wanting to talk about how a little weekly in Philly has viscerally demonstrated a potential major weakness in Obama’s campaign: If he loses the gay vote, he could lose the nomination. An impassioned — and maybe more than a little hurt — Segal talked a blue streak about Obama’s seeming rejection until he ditched us for another news outlet. — Jenna Bergen

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Annette John-Hall’s column in the Inquirer this morning on the political uproar set in motion by the release of snippets of sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright offers a picture of the man and his message that’s quite different from what’s been reported. Informed by her own faith and bolstered by listening to complete recordings of the sermons, the piece is both a heartfelt plea for understanding and a sharp rebuke to those who would judge by sound bites. John-Hall discussed the column this afternoon with Philadelphia magazine intern Luke Sirinides.

DAILY EXAMINER: I know many readers have seen or read transcripts of the clips, but can you offer specific examples of how things Rev. Wright has said have been distorted, or which clips were especially egregious?

ANNETTE JOHN-HALL: Like Jesse Jackson said, “text without context is pretext.” That is to say, any words taken out of context can be interpreted any way. And with this endless spool of sound bytes, I can easily see why Wright is being called unpatriotic. I’m thinking of the “chickens coming home to roost” comment, and “God damn America.” The truth is, a lot of African-Americans feel that way. And that’s not to excuse it, but the sentiment goes back to even the civil rights movement when Nina Simone wrote a song called “Mississippi God Damn” in reaction to the injustices going on at that time. And Wright was just riffing off that theme. But if you are an African-American who grew up in the era of Jim Crow and experienced discrimination, you would have some justification — or at least explanation — for feeling some of the things Wright verbalized.

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Just as soon as you thought the latest Barack Obama controversy would die down a little bit, some enterprising young fellow with the ability to type decided it was worthy of its own Cafe Press gear. (You know: T-shirts, panties, coffee mugs, etc.)

Clearly, the only truly effective way to protest the re-racialization of American politics is the purchase of this “Typical White Person” tote bag. Its roomy interior can fit six months’ worth of irony.

Typical White Person [Cafe Press]

My grandmother’s a “typical white person” [The Mighty Dan Gross]

The Mighty Dan Gross accidentally kicked over the Barack Obama apple cart yesterday when he publicized a throw-away comment in which the Illinois senator recklessly, if not purposely, insinuated that his white grandmother, long fearful of encountering black men on the street, was a “typical white person.”

The online political world buzzed, the news tickers chugged, and then Obama sat down on Larry King Live last night and had to expand on and defensively explain his comments to the pointy-shouldered talk show host in the best way possible:

[W]hat I meant really was that some of the fears of street crime and some of the stereotypes that go along with that, you know, were responses that I think many people feel. She’s not extraordinary in that regard. She’s somebody who I love as much as anybody. I mean, she has literally helped to raise me.
 
But those are fears that are embedded in our culture and embedded in our society. And, you know, even within our own families, even within a family like mine that is diverse, you know, there are those gaps in understanding or the stereotypes that are fed by the news media and fed by what we see around us and, you know, in our popular culture.

Yeah, you know?

Obama’s poorly chosen words, the bigger picture [The Swamp]

Angelo Cataldi and his 610 morning team one-upped Booker’s Hillary Clinton get by scoring a call-in interview with Barack Obama this morning.

Although Cataldi didn’t ask him anything incendiary or challenging — “So, why should we elect you president?” “How are you handling the stress of campaigning?” — it was interesting to see just how Obama-centric WIP is. At the end of the interview, Cataldi gushed, “You have a lot of fans here, and if we can do anything to help, you let us know.” Obama thanked him but really gave no indication whatsoever that he had any idea whom he was talking to, addressing Cataldi as “sir” the whole time and kind of going through the motions of a radio interview as he’s probably done 4,000 times in the past 10 months.

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Hillary Clinton’s thundering clomps through the Keystone State grow stronger, as does her e-mail-borne passive-aggressive hostility toward Barack Obama. “The Clinton Campaign” clogged inboxes across the state this morning with a message (at an impressive 1,352 words, no less) tearing apart Obama’s foreign policy record from Bosnia to Northern Ireland. Also, she gave it the ol’ 3 a.m. try once again:

After last week’s defeats, the Obama campaign faced a choice: try to convince voters that Senator Obama is ready to take the 3am phone call in a positive way or try to tear down Senator Clinton’s accomplishments.

If that doesn’t work, there’s always the old standby: William Jefferson, who’ll once again be glad-handsy-ing in Philadelphia tomorrow night. This event ain’t for the poor people, though:

Please join

Please make checks payable to
“Hillary Clinton for President”

Meanwhile, Obama’s traipsing around Bucks County with Giant-hater Rep. Patrick Murphy, trying to woo pee-wee hockey mommies with his Hawafricasian charm.

Hillary Clinton for President [Hillary Clinton.com]
Obama brings campaign to Bucks [Philly Burbs]