In an apparent attempt to raise questions about Barack Obama's electability, a senior Hillary Clinton adviser has been talking with uncommitted superdelegates about the controversy surrounding his long-time pastor, according to a new report.

The Web site Talking Points Memo published an article Tuesday in which Clinton adviser Harold Ickes confirmed he is discussing Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. as part of his campaign to win over superdelegates. In an interview with the Web site, Ickes did not fault Obama for his affiliation with Wright, but suggested the controversy would provide damaging fodder for Republicans in a general election.

"Superdelegates have to take into account the strengths and weakness of both candidates and decide who would make the strongest candidate against what will undoubtedly be ferocious Republican attacks," Ickes told the Web site in what  appears to be the first such admission from the Clinton campaign that they are discussing Wright with superdelegates.

"I've had superdelegates tell me that the Wright issue is a real issue for them," Ickes said.

Asked if he was bringing up Wright to superdelegates, 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."

The Clinton campaign initially stayed quiet when the controversy surrounding Wright first broke last month. The former pastor at Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ came under intense scrutiny for sermons in which he blamed the U.S. government for the spread of HIV and repeatedly said "God damn America."

Clinton later broke her silence, saying last week that Wright would not have been her pastor.

"Nobody thinks that Barack Obama harbors those thoughts. But that's not the issue," Ickes said in the interview with Talking Points Memo. "The issue is what Republicans [will do with them] ... I think they're going to give him a very tough time."

Click here to read the article on Wright in Talking Points Memo.