Obama's ties to Farrakhan

To me it's all in how the politician reacts. Denouncing someone is about as tough as you get in political speak. It's a complete rejection of the person in question. If anything Hillary had it backwards. Rejecting someones endorsement is less an affront to them that outright denouncing them.

So in the end I don't care about the association, I care about the reaction to the association. A politician isn't going to get up on stage and scream "**** him" at the top of his lungs but "I denounce him" is pretty much the political equivalent of doing just that.