Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift: Don’t Judge Obama on Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Remarks

One of the criticisms of the media's coverage of Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy - both from his opponents on the right and on the left, has been that he's been given a free pass on a lot of issue.

The latest in particular had been the recently uncovered of Obama's former church minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who had made several incendiary remarks about race and the government.

Eleanor Clift, known for her defense of Bill and Hillary Clinton on the syndicated show, "The McLaughlin Group," came to the defense of Obama in a March 17 appearance at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

"I think that Barack Obama represents a post-racial candidacy," Clift said. "But not a lot Americans feel that. I think the sentiments expressed in that church are not all that unusual in this country and I think Barack Obama is asking us to judge him on how he's lived his life and what he believes."

Clift, also a Fox News contributor and a contributing editor for Newsweek, was promoting her book "Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics". Her book examined the Terry Schiavo affair and she compared it with her own personal tragedy of losing her husband, Tom Brazaitis, to cancer in 2005.

Obama addressed his former preacher's remarks in a speech on March 18.