In a poll conducted before Barack Obama’s speech today in Philadelphia about race, most voters who were aware of the stories about the controversial rhetoric of Obama’s ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright said Wright’s statements did not alter their views of Obama. The poll by CBS News said sixty-five percent said it made no difference and 30 percent said the story made them look less favorably on Obama. Fifty eight percent of voters said they had heard a lot or “some” about the story. Broken out by party affiliation, Democrats said by a 76 percent to 15 percent margin that the story made no difference to them, Independents held that same view by a 61 percent to 36 percent margin, and Republicans more narrowly agreed, 53 percent to 47 percent. The survey was conducted March 16-17.