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washingtonpost.com: Rought Sketch: For Obama, a Voice of Doom?

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think Wright accurately represents an older generation belief if any at all in the black community? Is what he says representative of how young black citizens feel?

Jack White: I think there are many people in the black community who agree with Wright. And others who don't agree with him who will rally to his defense out of a sense of racial solidarity. I'm not sure how this divides generationally, but I suspect this might be an issue on which the young and old agree.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell: There is a bit of a generational divide here.My father is certainly of a generation that never trusts that white voters will be reasonable and durable coalition partners. But had I lived through Jim Crow I might easily have felt the same way. It is easy to judge harshly those who survived so much.

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Washington, DC..: I listened to the NAACP speech, watched the Moyers interview, and listened to the transcript. I have new and great respect for Rev. Wright, and agreed with him on many points.

My questions: What portions of the press conference do you believe will be most repeated/maligned, and why?

And (I'm assuming this by the talk of ego and hubris) why don't you believe the attacks on Rev. Wright are the narrow form of a larger attack against black churches?

Jack White: Well, it will come down to soundbites again. Maybe the one in which he expounded on the idea that 9/11 was chickens coming home to roost. There were plenty.

I don't think that the criticism of Wright was an attack on all black churches because they are all different, don't subscribe to the same ideas, and don't deserve to be found guilty by association with Wright.

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Raleigh, N.C.: Why do you claim "while candidates with nearly lily-white electoral bases are allowed to avoid the question altogether" regarding race? Is Clinton's base 'lily-white'? I thought Hispanic voters were a very important part of her supporters. Also, former President Clinton was taken to task for mentioning that Jessie Jackson had won S.C. primary when he ran.

This is part of an unwinnable debate -- if Clinton gets the white votes in Pa., it is because of the Bradley effect, yet if Obama gets 90 percent plus of the African American vote that is viewed differently.

In view of the large gulf in how topics of race or around race are viewed, aren't Wright's placing Obama in a no-win scenario? If he does not throw Wright under the bus he loses moderate white votes, if he does he loses some percentage of black support?

Jack White: You have accurately described Obama's dilemma, which happens to be the same one any black candidate faces running in a mostly white political landscape. Obama's candidacy raises the question squarely: can a black win enough votes to get to the White House? The only way to know if for a black candidate like Obama to run.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think Obama will ignore this latest news from Rev. Wright? Or do you think he will address it? Has there been any reaction yet from Barack Obama?

Jack White: His campaign strategist, David Axelrod, tried to handle it prememptively by pointing out that Wright is a free agent over whom Obama has no control. But I think Obama is going to have to say something about this. Don't know if he has yet, or when he will.

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Boston, Mass.: But Rev. Wright is a smart man, he must know 'it would all come down to soundbytes again.' Why do you think he chose to pepper his speeches with as many soundbyte-ready comments as he did?

Jack White: Who knows why he is doing what he's doing? He's not exactly a shrinking violent, is he?

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Richmond, Va.: Istn't this really just a disagreement between the old guard (the Sharptons, Wrights and Jackson) vs. the new guard (Obama). The old guard was the fiery group who had their window on the world while Obama has a different one. Maybe the old guard doesn't want to get out of the limelight yet.

Jack White: I think there's something to this. Wright is now a lot more famous than he was a few weeks ago. And I do think that Jackson, Sharpton and the older generation of black leaders, many of them clergymen, worry about being pushed off stage by young upstarts, who occupy offices the older ones could never get, have realistic dreams of becoming president, and are seen as potential leaders of all the people, not just blacks.

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Ottawa, Canada: Is Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. running for president? No. So, what's the big deal? Ronald Reagan, when running for president, was supported by some controversial people. Reagan simply said, "He supports me. That doesn't mean I support him." Why doesn't Obama just say something like that?

Melissa Harris-Lacewell: I agree! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE , do not vote for Reverend Wright for the US Presidency!

Jack White: Well,I agree that Obama should have done a better job of separating himself. As for Reagan, well, let's just say I don't agree with your analysis. I think he sought the support of some awful pepole.