The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Democrat Barack Obama was to address inflammatory language by his flamboyant former pastor on Tuesday as he bids to lance a controversy dogging his White House campaign. The uproar around Chicago preacher Jeremiah Wright, who officiated at Obama's wedding and baptized his two daughters, has threatened to undermine the candidate's promise of racial healing. A day after fighting running battles with his rival Hillary Clinton over the Iraq war, Obama was to address supporters in Pennsylvania on the theme of "race, politics, and unifying our country." The speech in Philadelphia came as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination faced a new hurdle after the Florida party, whose January primary was annulled over a scheduling row, said it would not hold a revote.