Obama Damaged by Rev. Wright

Mon, May 5, 2008 at 9:55:34 am PDT

The unanswered questions about Barack Obama’s 20-year friendship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright have seriously damaged Obama’s poll numbers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama’s standing has been significantly damaged by the controversy over his former pastor, according to USA Today/Gallup poll published on Monday.

The poll showed Hillary Clinton leading Obama 51 percent to 44 percent nationally among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters, in contrast to a CBS News/New York Times survey released on Sunday that had Obama leading Clinton by 12 points.