Jackson cites affirmative action - and Obama

The Rev. Jesse Jackson gave a noontime sermon at Friendship Baptist Church of Jesus Christ in Denver, mixing spiritual, social justice and political imagery that had the congregation cheering him on. Tom McGhee's report is here, including Jackson's contention that Barack Obama's presidential run is "the last lap of a 54-year marathon. It took all those battles to make this day possible."

At a press conference, Jackson addressed - among other topics - the status of affirmative action, which is the subject of repeal movements in Colorado and elsewhere. And he cited Barack and Michelle Obama in his answer. Watch the video below:

"What gender- and race-based preferences have done, they have made it more equal from the inequality of gender- and race-based denial. Those who are now doing well represent the proof of the value of the program. They don’t prove the need to end it. They prove if a Barack and Michelle can get scholarships and go to Princeton and Columbia; they can get Pell Grants and go to Harvard; they can lead the country. That’s what that proves. And so, these programs are always needs-based.”