Obama fails his own test.

Barack Obama and his campaign have worked tirelessly to make this election a referendum on personality, rather than on issues.

Not wanting the election to turn on whether or not Americans want the most liberal senator in the nation to lead their country, they have asked the nation to focus on his foresight and judgment.We are told that Obama should be elected President, despite a lack of experience or substantial accomplishment, because what really matters is judgment.

The all important factor is supposed to be his foresight in opposing the Iraq War when the rest of the world was convinced by multiple intelligence reports from multiple sources that Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat.

We should choose Obama, we are told, because he foresaw the downsides of the war.

Based on that premise and rationale, Obama should welcome any examination of his foresight and judgment and Americans would be right to use that judgment as the defining criteria for determining his suitability for the presidency.

Today, Obama sought to address two of his most serious blind spots in judgment – blind spots that have festered for more than 20 years in one case and nearly as long in the other.

The first is Jeremiah Wright, the Senator’s minister who has become an Internet star thanks to some videotapes of sermons filled with anti-American, paranoid, anti-Semitic, divisive rants. The second is Tony Rezko, the Chicago developer currently on trial for corruption.

Deciding what church to attend is a personal decision – no one forced Obama to pick this minister. It speaks volumes about his judgment that he not only picked this particular minister, but that he stuck with the choice for two decades.

Obama sought to distance himself from Wright, but in doing so, he raised more questions than he answered. Obama condemned Wright’s remarks, but his explanation of their relationship was weak and contradicts earlier accounts he has provided.

Obama wrote: “The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.”

What Obama is asking people to believe stretches credibility. When Obama returned to Christianity, he chose this minister and church. When Michelle and Barack Obama walked down the aisle to be married, they chose Wright to officiate. He baptized their children. He provided the Senator with the title of his book.

Are we really to believe that in 20 years of sermons, friendship and spiritual guidance, Obama never once heard anything that would even hint at the invective that Wright shows on the tapes?

But, his current explanation is inconsistent with past statements. Obama’s previous response to Wright was to compare his pastor to a slightly goofy “uncle” who says crazy things that make people cringe, but the rest of the family humors because he has some redeeming traits.

Now, Obama has categorically stated that never, in public or private, did he ever hear anything like the comments that are now being broadcast across the Internet.

Seriously now, folks, I’ve been known to snooze through more than one sermon, but Obama seems to be asking us to believe that for 20 years either Wright kept these bizarre opinions to himself when Obama was in church or Obama happened to be dozing during Wright’s most animated sermons.

Senator Obama wants us to believe that he successfully perceived problems in Iraq that the rest of the world failed to see. Yet, he never had any hint that his own pastor was a nut job?

At the same time Obama was releasing his response to the Wright controversy, he was giving separate interviews with the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times, seeking to answer remaining questions about his 17-year relationship with Rezko. Frankly, there was little revealed that was not either already known or could be easily inferred from the previous stories.

Once again, the issue remains judgment. Tony Rezko and Obama have a relationship that goes back to 1991. Rezko sought to hire Obama, but he declined, although Rezko hired Obama’s law firm to work on some of his development projects. When Obama launched his political career, Rezko was his first campaign contributor. Throughout the years, Rezko proved to be a lucrative supporter – by Obama’s own admission, the developer is responsible for raising as much as $250,000 for Obama’s first three political campaigns.

Obama called on a campaign contributor who was under federal investigation to help him buy his home, toured the property with the man, came to an agreement to buy adjoining property and then later, in a private deal, bought a piece of land from him. Obama calls it “boneheaded.” That’s a whopper of an understatement.

Obama has defined the terms under which he wants to be judged. Looking at those terms, it’s clear he comes up short.