The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back in the news, on the road, and the Obama campaign didn’t even see him coming.

Wright, the longtime pastor of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, is on tour this week and taking his message to Detroit’s NAACP members, journalists at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and to millions of PBS television viewers.

"I served six years in the military," Wright said in downtown D.C. "Does that make me patriotic? How many years did (Vice President Dick) Cheney serve?"

Wright has been Obama's pastor for more than 20 years; he introduced Obama to Christianity, officiated at his wedding and baptized his daughters. Obama has disagreed with Wright on occasion, but video clips of some of Wright’s most controversial remarks have widely been circulated on television and the Internet.

Some Democrats see Wright as a polarizing figure who emerged again in the national news at a time when Obama needs tremendous support from blue-collar workers and suburban white voters. Wright’s media tour comes one week before two critical primaries in
Indiana and North Carolina on May 6 that could decide the Democratic nomination.

Aides to Obama say they were blind sided: they were not told in advance of Wright’s media tour and Wright refused any offers of public relations assistance by the campaign.

"He does not speak for me," Obama said while campaigning in North Carolina. "He does not speak for the campaign."

Republicans are already lining up to trash Wright – and Obama by association. In North Carolina, the GOP is poised to air a TV ad attacking Obama and Wright as "too extreme for North Carolina."

For many whites, Wright is seen as an enigma – a shouting, cursing minister who is unpatriotic and embraces Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan. And Wright’s ties with Obama has some white voters questioning Obama’s fitness to serve as the nation’s chief executive.

Wright said he hopes the controversy swirling around him will serve as a catalyst for an honest dialogue about race in America -- but at what cost to Obama?

Privately, some Democrats who are supporting Obama say they hope Wright wraps up his tour quickly and fades away – at least out of camera range. They see Wright as an ongoing distraction to Obama’s attempt to court blue-collar workers and promote his message of unity. And some question if Wright is aware that his presence on the national stage could be detrimental to Obama’s campaign in the long term and they ask: "Why now?"

"I think it's pretty clear that Reverend Wright is not out there with the intent of helping Senator Obama," David Axelrod, Obama’s senior political adviser told reporters. "He's out there with his own program."

In the meantime, as the Wright controversy continues, Americans are paying close attention: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now leads Republican Sen. John McCain by 9 points in a head-to-head presidential contest, which validates Clinton’s contention that she is more electable than Obama.

For now, regardless of how many speeches and TV appearances Wright gives, America is not preparing for a dialogue on race any time soon. But for many African Americans, Wright serves as a voice for those who have been discriminated against, those who have felt the sting of racism, and those who are still oppressed. Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago has a long history of feeding the hungry and helping senior citizens and disenfranchised residents in need.

And while Wright moves ahead with his questionably timed media tour, many white voters in Indiana and North Carolina will forever associate him with a 30-second video clip of his fire-and-brimstone, profanity-laced tirade from his Chicago pulpit on one particular Sunday, during one particular sermon.

And then they will vote.