WAS REV. WRIGHT PRESS CONF A CLINTON CONSPIRACY?: Questions raised after organizer is exposed as a Hillary supporter.

By Errol Louis

A hot topic among Barack Obama supporters on the Internet and black radio is the political affiliation of the woman who organized Monday's National Press Club event featuring Rev. Jeremiah Wright.


Whether or not one believes Rev. Wright's statements about AIDS possibly being government-created to kill minorities, or that America's actions around the world led directly to the 9/11 attacks, there's no doubt that the comments did more damage than good to Obama's campaign.


Turns out Rev. Wright's appearance was organized by Barbara Reynolds, a former editorial board member at USA Today and staunch supporter of Obama's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.


"I don't know if Reynolds' eagerness to help Wright stage a disastrous news conference with the national media was a way of trying to help Clinton, but it's safe to say she didn't see any conflict between promoting Wright and supporting Clinton," wrote columnist Errol Louis of the New York Daily News.

On a blog linked to her Web site - www.reynoldsnews.com - Reynolds said in a February post: "My vote for Hillary in the Maryland primary was my way of saying thank you" to Clinton and her husband for the successes of Bill Clinton's presidency.

The same post criticized Obama's "Audacity of Hope" theme: "Hope by definition is not based on facts," wrote Reynolds. "It is an emotional expectation. Things hoped for may or may not come. But help based on experience trumps hope every time."

Reynolds, an ordained minister who teaches ministry at the Howard University School of Divinity, said in another blog entry: "It is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray, the senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement."