Candidates losing focus

After returning Tuesday from a vacation in the Caribbean, Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign team picked right back up where they left off, knee deep in the muddy waters of his former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s previous statements.

The issue returned to the spotlight when Sen. Hillary Clinton responded to a reporter’s question about what she would have done if she were a member of Wright’s church.

In an article from CNNPolitics’ Web site, members of Obama’s camp are accusing Clinton of trying to “distract attention.”

The article said Clinton said, “I think given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor.”

After avoiding the controversy when it first surfaced, Obama’s camp now believes Clinton’s remarks were part of a “distraction technique” used to take away attention from the story she made up about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. Bill Burton, Obama’s campaign press secretary gave his take.

“The truth is Barack Obama has already spoken out against his pastor’s offensive comments and addressed the issue of race in America with a deeply personal and uncommonly honest speech,” Burton said.

The focus of the presidential race should be on solving the country’s dilemmas, not about childish games to tear each candidate down.

Candidates need to get refocused on what’s important – running our country and running it well.

Dexter Johnson for the Editorial Board.