In the Godfather, Part III, Joey Zasa (not a pleasant person) tells Michael Corleone, “I have a stone in my shoe, Mr. Corleone.” The stone is Vincent Mancini, Michael Corleone’s nephew. We need not pursue this any further except to say that the stone in the shoe of Barack Obama (who by all reports is a pleasant person) is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor.

Wright exploded some political depth charges at the Obama campaign on Monday, April 28, at the National Press Club. Wright went so far as to say to his friendly audience that if Obama had not said what he said in his highly regarded Philadelphia speech on race in America on March 18, he would never get elected. As he tried to cut Wright loose this week in North Carolina, Obama said, that comment indicated, “…a show of disrespect to me and it is also, I think, an insult to what we’ve been trying to do in this campaign.”

What Obama has been trying to do lately is ditch Hillary Clinton, but, if the polls are any indication, she’s probably going to remain in this thing for the long haul, perhaps even up to the Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, the Wright stuff— his suggestion among other things that the U.S. government has been infecting American citizens with AIDS, his praise of Louis Farrakhan and other comments sure to endear him to undecided white Democratic voters—follows Obama everywhere he goes.

Pick up this morning’s Washington Post and you read columnist and Inside Washington panelist Charles Krauthammer’s view that Obama’s Philadelphia speech and his comments in North Carolina this week amount to “cheap rhetorical tricks.” Says Krauthammer, “This 20-year association with Wright calls into question everything about Obama.”

A New York Times story this week reveals that Obama tried to put Rev. Wright on ice last year, the night before the Illinois Senator announced his intention to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination. A Rolling Stone profile of Obama included a couple of juicy Wright quotes, so Obama kept his former pastor out of sight. Clearly, Wright’s long-festering resentment began to percolate then. In a man-on-the-street soundbite for ABC News this week Dick Wells, a Green Castle, Indiana florist said, “I think the only thing that I would ask him [Obama] is, ‘Why didn’t you make this move sooner?” Or as Dolly Parton would put it, “…you’re getting’ in too deep. The road of life is steep. And you’re known by the company you keep.”

Hillary Clinton? Remember her? She finally looks like she’s enjoying herself. She even went toe-to-toe with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly this week and walked away without a scratch:

O’Reilly: “…before Rev Wright derailed him, Barack Obama had some momentum because you are a more polarizing personality than he is. Do you agree with that?”

Clinton: “Well…”

O’Reilly: “Perceived as a nicer guy.”

Clinton: “Well, I’ve been around a long time. I bear a lot of the scars, ideological and political battles, I stand up for what I believe.”

For the record, in political opinion polls for the last several presidential election cycles, voters consistently give high marks to the politician who, “stands up for what [he or she] believes,” in just those words.

This week Sen. Clinton and Sen. John McCain expressed the belief that Americans are entitled to a break at the gasoline pump this summer, so they’re both proposing a gas tax holiday. It was McCain’s idea first, but as Obama said, “ I guess Sen. Clinton thought it was gonna poll well, so she said, ‘Me, too. I’ll do the same thing, so now it’s the McCain-Clinton proposal to suspend the gas tax.”

The Inside Washington Panel, including Charles Krauthammer, was unanimous on this, which is rare. Obama is right, they say. This is a world-class pander. Or, as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it, cutting the gas tax is the dumbest thing he’s heard of in a long time. So Obama takes a principled stand on giving the American driver a break this summer.

This calls to mind Walter Mondale at the 1984 Democratic Presidential Convention in San Francisco. Mondale also took a principled stand. “Let’s tell the truth. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, “ said Mondale. “ So will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.” Does America love a truthful politician? Reagan won 49 states.