Apr. 28, Feature - Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the former Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago has made a very public appearance at a two day conference in Washington DC. At the National Press Club, with 30 television cameras and twice as many reporters, Reverend Wright spoke to a welcoming audience of mostly African American church leaders from around the country.

But because of his close association to Barack Obama, being his pastor, his officiant at his wedding and baptizer of his children, Reverend Wright seems unable to escape the spotlight. Election Unspun's Leigh Ann Caldwell was at the presentation and files this report.

Reverend Wright addressed the political firestorm in response to questions about his patriotism, his fiery sermons, his support to Israel.

"I feel that those citizens that say that have never heard my sermons, nor do they know me."

"They are unfair accusations, taken from sound bites, and that which is looped over and over again, on certain channels. I served 6 years in the military, does that make me Patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?"

"As I've said, this is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright, it has nothing to do with Senator Obama, it is an attack on the black church, launched by people who no nothing about the African American religious tradition."

"The Roman oppression is the period in which Jesus is born, and comparing Imperialism that was going on in Luke. Imperialism that was going on when Cesar Augustus sent out a decree that the whole world should be taxed. They were in charge of the world, sounds like some another governments I know.. We have troops stationed all over the world, just like Rome had troops stationed all over the world, because we run the world. That notion of Imperialism is not the message of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace, or God who loves the world.

"And I said to Barack Obama, last year, if you get elected, November the 5th I'm coming after you. Because you'll be representing a government whose policies grind under people."

He, jokingly, offered his name for Vice President.

Wright did not apologize for his sermons, instead he said the media has distorted them into sound bites like this.

"...America's chickens, are coming home, to roost. "

Wright challenged people to listen to his whole sermon. We can't play the entire thing here, but here's some more of it.

"Because the stuff we have done overseas, is now brought right back into our own front yard. America's chickens, are coming home, to roost."

"Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred, terrorism begets terrorism. A white Ambassador said that, y'all, not a black militant. Not a Reverend who preaches about racism. An Ambassador whose eyes are wide open, and who's trying to get us to wake up, and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised."

The Ambassador said the people that we have wounded, don't have the military capabilities that we have, but they do have individuals who are willing to die to take thousands with them, and we need to come to grips with that."

Candidate Barack Obama has not commented on his speech, Republican John McCain says he knows Obama does not agree with some of the sermons and says he would not be a member of the church. And although John McCain has said he doesn't want Reverend Wright to become a campaign issues, the Republican party has decided to anyway.

The North Carolina Republican party is using Reverend Wright an ad in the race for Governor.

The Charlotte Observer reports that two stations won't run the ad, but the GOP is moving forward with it anyway.

The Mississippi GOP is using Wright in a political ad as well.

Meanwhile, Reverend Wright focused much of speech in Washington on the lifting of the veil of the Black religious experience.

If a larger discussion on religion does occur, it's likely that Reverend Wright will continue to be a political explosive in 2008.

For Election Unspun, I'm Leigh Ann Caldwell.

You've been listening to Election Unspun, I'm Karen Miller.