GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) ‘ Hillary Rodham Clinton says she would have parted company with a minister who talked about America the way Barack Obama’s pastor has. Clinton’s comments marked a clear shift in her handling of the Obama church controversy, which she had generally avoided until now. Some Democrats see Obama’s refusal to dissociate himself from the Chicago church and its recently retired minister, Jeremiah Wright, as his stickiest campaign challenge so far. “I think that given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor,” Clinton said at a news conference after being asked if Obama should have left the church. Over the years, Wright has preached fiery sermons to his predominantly black congregation in which he shouted “God damn America” for its treatment of minorities. He has said the U.S. government invented AIDS to destroy “people of color.” He also suggested that U.S. policies in the Middle East and elsewhere were partly responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Videos of the remarks have circulated widely on the Internet and news programs. While politically controversial, Wright is renowned for leading the church’s long fight against poverty, homelessness, AIDS and racial oppression. He attended a White House prayer breakfast in September 1998 and shook hands with President Clinton. The Obama campaign has provided reporters a copy of a photo of the former president and Wright from that meeting.
