When Obama — the avatar of a new generation of progressives — stepped away from Wright, he stepped away from 40 years of liberal self-laceration.

Joe Klein writes in TIME:

Twenty years ago, the response of too many Moyers-era liberals would have been to try to understand Wright's anger — he surely does have a historical beef — rather than condemn it as distorted and dangerous. It was this sort of thinking that helped make the Republicans the dominant party of the past 40 years. The left believed it was all right for people like Wright to condemn white America but it was "blaming the victim" to criticize the antisocial behavior — the crime and family disintegration — going on in the black community. When Obama — the avatar of a new generation of progressives — stepped away from Wright, he stepped away from 40 years of liberal self-laceration.

The success of Obama's candidacy sends the very opposite message [from Wright's message that white power is so overwhelming that it's almost impossible to succeed], which may be why Wright is so threatened by it. If Obama wins the presidency — if we can break past the barrier of race — there won't be much of a market for oppression-thumping orators like Jeremiah Wright.