A make-or-break moment for Obama

This kind of thing cannot go on, which is why Obama and his brain trust wisely decided that he would have to give a speech to put the entire thing into a new and wider context.

In Philadelphia, at the National Constitution Center, he will allude to the nation’s constitutional history, and to the progress we have made in race relations and civil rights.

He will describe Wright’s preaching as a way station to a more colorblind America, a way station that he, Obama, is seeking to leave as he reaches for higher ground for all America.

But Obama can’t — and should not — try to deny that the church and the Rev. Wright are the essence of who he is. Obama has said as much, in memorable prose, in his two books. And there is no need to jettison him entirely.

In a way, Obama not only has all of America in him, as he said the other day, he has lived all over our racial history in his one life — from an African (not African American) father, to a run for the presidency with the most superb of (formerly all-white) institutional credentials.

He can say: I am growing as I live, and so are we as a country. Wright helped me find my identity and soul as a man, and that is a process that any American can identify with in his or her own way.

Obama can turn the moment into a triumph — if he tells the story with pride and candor.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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