Appearing on Hannity and Colmes Thursday night, George Will declared that “I think the Reverend Wright dislikes Barack Obama.” Here’s the transcript of that exchange:

HANNITY: And we continue now with the author of “One Man’s America,” George Will. All right. So let me ask you about the radical long-term associations that Barack Obama has had. We have the conviction of Tony Rezko. We got Reverend Wright. We got Father Pfleger. We got Bill Ayers.

Are you surprised as I am? You know here are the most radical members in society, long-term relationships that it hasn’t had a greater impact if the polls for Barack Obama?

WILL: It’s not done having its impact for two reasons. I do not believe that the Reverend Wright has gone to earth and is going to be hibernation until the middle of November.

I think the Reverend Wright dislikes Barack Obama. I can only interpret his performance at the National Press Club as a deliberate and successful attempt to injure Barack Obama., perhaps as retribution for Obama asking him to stay off the podium when Obama announced his candidacy.

It’s been obvious since Wright’s National Press Club appearance that there was some serious friction between Wright and Obama. That bad blood won’t go away anytime soon, either. I suspect that Wright will go make fundraising appearance, most likely for the NAACP.

Wright’s been Sen. Obama’s personal albatross since the tapes hit the mainstream. Wright will continue being Sen. Obama’s personal albatross right through Election Day.

I hope conservatives think of this exchange anytime they get upset with Sen. McCain:

HANNITY: What do you make of the fact that a lot of conservatives are not happy with the choice of Senator McCain for president? I’m a big fan of yours. I’m a big fan of Thomas Sowell, the last two lines of his column today said “Senator McCain has been criticized in this column many, many times. But when all said and done, he has not spent decades aiding and abetting people who hate America.

On the contrary, he’s paid a huge price for resisting our enemies even when, they held him prisoner and tortured him. And the choice between him and Barack is a no-brainer.”

Do you think the McCain people are just counting on the fact that he’s not Barack Obama?

WILL: Well, I think there are a lot of people out there who are McCain supporters in the way that I am. I am a supporter of McCain’s mother, who gave us the excellent advice that, in the end, we should hold our nose and vote for her son.

His record is mixed. Everyone’s record is mixed. But on spending he is sound. I happen to think he’s right on immigration but it will set me at odds with some conservatives. I’m strenuous opponent of his McCain-Feingold law. Indeed I believe I hold the Olympic indoor and outdoor records for most columns written critical of John McCain.

But, in the end, a sufficient consideration is this, Sean. On inauguration day 2009, the oldest justice on the Supreme Court, also the most liberal, John Paul Stevens, will be 88 years old. Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be 76. She’s probably the second most liberal.

Any president who serves two full terms will replace through rolling attrition about half the federal judiciary. So it matters tremendously who is the president.

When the Reagan Revolution began, one thing that conservatives were thirsting for was a sane judiciary. We’ve added some questionable justices since that time but we’re on the verge of changing that for a generation. I admit that it’ll be difficult to get strict constructionist justices through the next congress. If we get an Obama administration, though, he’ll replace Stevens and Ginsberg with younger versions of Stevens and Ginsberg, all but guaranteeing a 5-4 split on the court for a generation.

Later, Hannity asks Will what he thinks of Hillary as Obama’s running mate. Here’s Will’s answer:

WILL: It would be a ghastly choice. Leave aside the fact that Barack Obama right now is the beneficiary of an enormous wave of gratitude from the millions of Americans who thank him for closing the Clinton parenthesis in the history of the American presidency.

Beyond that, Sean, when a voter looks at the perspective vice president, the voter says what if the president dies? When a president look at her, a presidential nominee looks at a potential running mate, he says what if I live?

What if Barack Obama would have her down the hall nursing her grievances and her presidential aspirations which are, I believe, undimmed, he would have her energetic and interestingly…

POWERS: Right.

WILL: … temperamental president in the wings also with all of his interesting business associates. What does she bring to him? She brings him New York. If he can’t carry New York without her he’s going to lose anyway.

But people say he will bring the women who were attached to her. Once the women who are her sort of women understand that John McCain is, A, pro life and, B, going to appoint Supreme Court justices, they’ll fall into line soon enough.

I agree with Will that pro choice women likley will fall into line behind Obama. Those aren’t the Hillary supporters that I think will abandon Sen. Obama. I think it’s much more likely that blue collar workers and Catholics will abandon him. If Obama doesn’t do well with Catholics, it’ll sting him badly in Ohio and hurt him enormously in Pennsylvania. If Obama can’t flip Ohio and hold Pennsylvania, we’ll have a McCain administration. It’s that simple.

Technorati Tags: George Will, Hillary, Obama, Jeremiah Wright, John McCain, John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, SCOTUS, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog