U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has done a brilliant job addressing the highly sensitive issue of race relations, but he probably failed to change many minds about the controversial comments of his longtime pastor, local political activists said Wednesday.

Obama, D-Ill., this week explained the different ways whites and blacks view the world in an insightful speech that few politicians are able or willing to make, they said.

But, those who were offended by the pastor's comments critical of the United States are unlikely to be moved, they said.

"His foes will always find fault," Democratic activist Ken Cabral of Norton said. "They will continue to use this against him."

Ellen Parker of Attleboro, a member of the Democratic State Committee and a Hillary Clinton supporter, said people are still going to question why Obama stayed in a church where the pastor was preaching such divisive things. She said Internet video of the preacher will be shown over and over again to remind voters of his views.

The pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made comments blaming the United States for the attack on Sept. 11, criticizing America for dropping atomic bombs on Japan during World War II and saying Clinton can never know what it is like to be a black man.

In his speech, Obama rejected Wright's most controversial statements, but also asked that blacks and whites try to understand the perspective of the other.

He said blacks view events from the legacy of slavery and discrimination while whites struggling to get by can feel resentful of affirmative action.

Although some observers said Obama's speech Tuesday would not change the political situation, the style and substance of the address were widely praised.

"Barack's speech today was as honest, candid, and compelling a statement about healing racial divisions as I've ever heard," U.S. Sen. John Kerry said in a statement to The Sun Chronicle.

"He challenged white and black America to confront our twisted history and move forward together. He made it very clear that while we must all denounce racist and inflammatory statements no matter where they come from or whom they offend, we must also move forward as a united people to achieve health care for all, and put our economy back on track."

Cabral said Obama did an outstanding job trying to explain to white Americans what it is like to be black.

"White folks have no idea what the black experience is like," he said.

"Race is something that needs to be talked about," Joseph Kaplan of Mansfield said. "I think he expressed some heartfelt sentiments." Kaplan, a Clinton supporter, said he would have liked the speech better if Obama more strongly renounced Wright's comments.

Obama said he was unaware until recently of the most divisive of Wright's comments, but also praised him as someone as a man of God and compared Wright to a member of the family.

Parker also said Obama did not go far enough to distance himself from Wright and explain why he remained a member of Wright's church.

"Your family is your family, but you can pick and choose your church," she said.

Cabral, on the other hand, said he admired Obama for "not throwing the pastor under the bus, like most politicians do."

Paul Grady, chairman of the Attleboro Democratic City Committee, said he believes the Wright controversy will hurt Obama because the Illinois senator is still relatively unknown to the public.

He said he wishes a candidate's private life could remain private.

While Democrats were weighing how much the issue will hurt Obama in the Democratic primaries, Republicans were staying well clear of the controversy.

Spokesmen for Republican candidate John McCain, the National Republican Committee, the Massachusetts Republican Party, the Republican State Committee and other groups all declined to comment.