Summary: Guest-hosting The Radio Factor, Tony Snow falsely claimed that "since he's been in the United States Senate, [Sen. Barack Obama] has voted present more often than any other member of the Senate." Snow also asserted that Obama "has described Jeremiah Wright as one of his key political advisers, and he said that he didn't make any key political decision without consulting him." In fact, Obama has stated that Wright "has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor."
Guest-hosting the March 28 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, former White House press secretary Tony Snow distorted Sen. Barack Obama's voting record, falsely claiming that "since [Obama has] been in the United States Senate, he has voted present more often than any other member of the Senate." According to The Washington Post congressional vote database, Obama has never voted present during his time in the U.S. Senate, unlike other senators. Snow also claimed that Obama "has described" Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, who recently retired as pastor at Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, "as one of his key political advisers, and he said that he didn't make any key political decision without consulting him"; in fact, Obama has specifically stated that Wright "has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor."
A January 21, 2007, Chicago Tribune profile of Wright reported that Obama "does check with his pastor before making any bold political moves" -- not that Obama "said that he didn't make any key political decision without consulting" Wright -- and that "Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated." The Tribune added:
"What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice," Obama said. "He's much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I'm not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that's involved in national politics."
From the March 28 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
SNOW: Louie in Worcester, Mass. Louie, thanks for joining us. Welcome.
CALLER: Hello?
SNOW: Hey, Louie.
CALLER: Hi, I'm walking down the street, so just forgive me for a minute. What I wanted to discuss -- stepped in on real quick is this whole Jeremiah Wright thing. What people don't really understand is, I mean, myself, I'm a Christian. When I got baptized, before I could get baptized, I actually had to agree with my pastor on pretty much everything that he was saying. I had to agree with him theologically and in every other way. So, for Barack to stand up there and say that no, he doesn't agree, that he'd never heard these things, is a lie, a straight-out lie. He had to hear it -- hold on, I got an ambulance.
SNOW: OK, well, I'll tell you what, Louie. We'll cut back the sound here for a minute. I'll respond to that, and then after all the colorful sounds go away, we'll get you back on the line. I don't know if you know, but Barack Obama appearing -- was this on The View? I don't know if it was on The View. It was one of his appearances this week where he said that if Jeremiah Wright had stayed pastor of his church, he, Barack Obama, would have left.
Now, that's just a lie. That's just pure baloney. Barack Obama's been listening to this stuff for 20 years, and he never once raised a peep, but it gives you an indication of the way he handles stuff, which is if somebody becomes inconvenient, he throws them under the bus. But he never steps up and accepts personal responsibility for a position he's taken, or he never gets up and does the tough thing. It's like Bill Clinton. He never gets up and says, "Jeremiah Wright, I don't care if you're popular in the black community, if you're running a mega-church in Chicago, I just think it's time for you to stop this divisive rhetoric." He doesn't do it.
Now, he wanted Trent Lott to step away from the Senate when Trent Lott said something nice, although kind of inept, but said something nice about Strom Thurmond. He was one of the first to call for a number of people who have misspoken, for them to be sanctioned, and yet, when Jeremiah Wright says, "God damn the United States" and portrays white people as a bunch of KKK members, forget about it. He doesn't -- he didn't leave the church when it was putting terrorist literature -- terrorist literature, I'm not making this up -- terrorist literature in the Sunday bulletin for the people coming in.
Instead, what he's doing is just pretending that he wasn't there. Barack Obama, who, as a state senator in Illinois, in order to avoid casting tough or politically damaging votes, would always vote present. And since he's been in the United States Senate, he has voted present more often than any other member of the Senate. If this guy's so courageous, why won't he take a stand on the obvious stuff?
Louie, you there? Is it quieter? Can you hear me now?
CALLER: Yeah, I'm actually inside my insurance company right now, so I can hear you now.
SNOW: OK, good. Continue your point, my friend.
CALLER: No, just what I was saying is, I mean, he had to agree. I mean, there was no way he could actually get baptized if he didn't agree. There's also no way he would be able to get married there if he didn't agree.
SNOW: Well, you know, I'm not sure all churches work that way. I mean, when I was baptized, I didn't have to sort of take a plea that I would agree with the pastor on everything. On the other hand, you don't even have to go that far. He has described Jeremiah Wright as one of his key political advisers, and he said that he didn't make any key political decision without consulting him.
—S.S.M.
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