Progress Illinois

While it had been rumored that Clinton supporters had been using Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeramiah Wright in their attempts to woo superdelegates, senior Clinton adviser Harold Ickes more or less confirmed it in an interview with TPM Media's Greg Sargent today. Ickes acknowledged that the Wright controversy is a common topic in the conversations between the Clinton camp and various superdelegates:

In a reference to Wright's controversial views, Ickes continued: "Nobody thinks that Barack Obama harbors those thoughts. But that's not the issue. The issue is what Republicans [will do with them]...I think they're going to give him a very tough time."

Asked whether he was specifically bringing up Wright to super-delegates, Ickes said: "I've said what I've said...I tell people that they need to look at what they think Republicans may use against him. Wright comes up in the conversations."

Classy stuff.

Also of note during the interview: Ickes made it clear that, despite Clinton's near constant emphasis on the need to make every vote count in the remaining primaries, the campaign plans to continue wooing superdelegates even if she ultimately ends up trailing Obama in the popular vote.