These questions were asked by Dan Savage on the streets of Los Angeles. This isn't a scientific study to say the least. It is however interesting to see what people think:

a) What is your party affiliation?
b) If you supported Sen. Clinton and she lost the nomination would you support Sen. Obama?
c) If you supported Sen. Obama and he lost the nomination would you support Sen. Clinton?
d) If you supported either candidate and they lost the nomination to their Democratic opponent would you support Sen. McCain?

A view of Rev. Wright from his professor

Through the decades, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. has called me teacher, reminding me of the years when he earned a master's degree in theology and ministry at the University of Chicago — and friend. My wife and I and our guests have worshiped at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where he recently completed a 36-year ministry.

Images of Wright's strident sermons, and his anger at the treatment of black people in the United States, appear constantly on the Internet and cable television, part of the latest controversy in our political-campaign season. His critics call Wright anti-American. Critics of his critics charge that the clips we hear and see have been taken out of context. But it is not the context of particular sermons that the public needs, as that of Trinity church, and, above all, its pastor.

In the early 1960s, at a time when many young people were being radicalized by the Vietnam War, Wright left college and volunteered to join the United States Marine Corps. After three years as a marine, he chose to serve three more as a naval medical technician, during which time he received several White House commendations. He came to Chicago to study not long after Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder in 1968, the U.S. bombing campaign in Cambodia in 1969, and the shooting of students at Kent State University in 1970.

I couldn't explain this any better then he did.

The recent uproar about Barack Obama's pastor has pushed a very explosive issue into the presidential campaignThe issue of our country's history with regard to race is one that Senator Obama literally embodies in his physical being as well as various political stances he has taken. I'm responding to the attacks that he has endured because of the statements made by his pastor RevJeremiah WrightObama has pointed out the failures our nation has made in trying to live up to the words in the Constitution of the United States which state that "all men are created equal." Undoubtedly, black Americans have had the worst time of any ethnic group in trying to benefit from that concept ... Read the rest at HuffingtonPost.com

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I am always careful about the motives of the individuals who conduct surveys or focus groups.

Is this a problem or an opportunity?

Commissioned by Ancestry.com and conducted by zOmnibus Survey, the survey does make some positive statements. For one, the survey reports that 83 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are interested in learning their family history. Following closely are the 35- to 54-year-olds at 77 percent and Americans aged 55+ at 73 percent.

It strikes me that there are millions of Americans who have at least a casual interest in their family trees but have no idea how to get started. I am particularly impressed that younger Americans reportedly are more likely to be interested in their ancestry than are senior citizens. That is the reverse of what I would have expected.