Political Punch

Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

« Previous | Main | Next »

Regrets, Bill Has a Few (Not Really)

April 11, 2008 1:16 PM

Does former President Bill Clinton regret his error-strewn defense of his wife's Bosnia sniper-fire story? Does he regret mis-informing voters in Boonville and Jasper, Indiana?

"I regret that people like you care more about that when whether she served the troops," he told reporters today in Terra Haute, per ABC News' Sarah Amos.

The former president said that he wouldn't be attempting any long to defend his wife on her story.

"Hillary called me and said, 'Look, I misstated it, you said I misstated it, but you don't know any – you gotta let me handle this because you don't remember it either,'" he said. "So I'm gonna let her handle this."

"I think the fact that Hillary made a factual error in her account and acknowledged it shouldn't obscure the fact that she did go into an area not free of danger and was there advocating for the troops," he said. "Always has, and she got a record that is unequal in doing that. I think that's the important thing."

- jpt

April 11, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (86)

User Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Hillary now needs to muzzle Bill because he is spouting lies like her.
And her campaign is coming undone (Bill's library funded by Saudis, Mark Penn making deals with Columbia etc). She shouldn't talk about anyone else being an elitist. She is full of it when she claims to understand the working poor. And McCain? The guy will deplete our troops and our money. He has as much of a clue of how to repair our economy as a doberman has in climbing a tree.
Barack has a brilliant mind (studied constitutional law at Harvard) and a big heart (instead of making big $$ with his lucrative law degree he worked for the poor in Chicago). He has vision for this country to bring her back to her feet in international standing. His plans for the mortgage crisis and for healthcare are much more realistic than HC's in terms of being able to pass congress.
Do the only sane thing, folks.
Vote Obama in 2008.

Posted by: Catherine S | Apr 12, 2008 5:28:00 PM

Democrats United wrote "Illegals that are here, he wants to give driver's licenses to and paths to citizenship (though they go to the back of the line) They will be given work permits (so corporations can't take advantage of cheap labor). Illegals that have commited crimes will be immediately deported.

Did I get them all?"

Illegals that have commited crimes will be deported huh? I guess they all better start packing then. You might want to check Webster's dictionary on the meaning of illegal because I don't think it means what you think it does.

Posted by: Doug | Apr 12, 2008 10:31:38 AM

Democrats are reduced to a choice between a compulsive liar and a member of a racist cult. It's almost enough to persuade me to vote for McCain.

Posted by: Ken Hahn | Apr 12, 2008 3:47:34 AM

Bill and Hillary (with a big heapin' handful of help from BO) are driving you Dems into the political desert for the next forty years.

How can you ever thank them?

Posted by: Denny, Alaska | Apr 12, 2008 2:02:12 AM

A Gene Pitney imitator sings Hillary's new campaign song:

Oh, I was only
Twenty-Four Hours In Tuzla
Only one day pinned down under fire
The jet exploded in flame
But danger's my middle name
I'm glad I came

(Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Mark Steyn)

Posted by: Chad Gore | Apr 11, 2008 10:04:44 PM

This is beautiful. You guys are tearing each other apart. To help keep this going as long as possible, I'll be pulling the lever for Hillary next week on the early balloting in North Carolina. As a Democrat. Then I'll switch right back to Republican. Just want to do my small part to help you people implode. Operation Chaos continues...

Posted by: lutonmoore | Apr 11, 2008 9:56:24 PM

What is Obama's position on anything?He is an empty suit and empty head.

Posted by: Dragon | Apr 11, 2008 9:04:15 PM

Actually, she insulted the troops who worked quite hard to ensure no one was going to have a snowballs chance of taking a shot at her.

Shocker, huh?

Posted by: Greyhawk | Apr 11, 2008 9:03:54 PM

regrets ??i guess not . thats the trouble with the Elites, rules and honesty do not apply to them.

Posted by: Lauren | Apr 11, 2008 5:32:29 PM

I remember the day this story broke. We were coming off about a week of non-stop Rev. Wright videos. Morning Joe asked Pat Buchanan if this was a minor blip or if it would become a big deal. Buchanan chuckled and said, "No. It's just a fish story (exaggerating the size of the fish)."

I remembered thinking I doubted it, as the media was sure to grasp at anything that would divert the public's interest from Wright. In particular, this saved them from having to delve deeper into Obama's church and explore the implications of a President who has been fed Black Liberation Theology for 20 years.

Posted by: HoosierSue | Apr 11, 2008 5:24:26 PM

Democrats United,

A lot of people believe Obama's plans are just copy from their origins....

His Senator vote records are not impressive as well...

So by what has Obama done to earn the title of president of US...

Posted by: True Truth | Apr 11, 2008 5:16:02 PM

Surelock Homes

I respectfully disagree with you. Both Obama and Hillary have clear concise and detailed plans for America's future. Plans that I agree with. This is a choice between caramel and fudge for me.

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 4:44:07 PM

Democrats United

The democrats have a choice to make. An empty suit or a bag of hot air.

Think hard.

Posted by: Surelock Homes | Apr 11, 2008 4:35:19 PM

ASTON ----------------------------------- If you guys want to write Hillary in, its your choice. I'm sorry to say it will be in vein because it will insure a McCain win in which case most democratic principles you are voting for will be flushed down the toilet. If you like, I can explain why.

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 4:33:10 PM

To True Truth ------------------------ Head over to gallup.com and rasmussen.com. They update their site daily with new information. The polls show Obama with a better advantage against McCain than with Hillary. Also, most other polls (with the exception of a few) reflect this, though those polls have been showing McCain ahead of both candidates.

The contest should continue if both conadidates could make a pledge to stop attacking one another and make every effort to keep the dems united througout this process. Notice how Hillary stayed silent on rev. Wright because she though it was going to do him in. When he deflected the issue and made a serious bounce back in the polls, her and her surrogates started to try to keep it an issue. That is divisiveness and its hurting them both. They are pressuring Hillary to drop out because she IS CLEARLY BEHIND in Most States won, most popular votes won, and most delegates won.

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 4:30:31 PM

True Truth----------------------- I agree with you almost 100%. When I said 95% alike, I meant alike on the issues. I, too, regret that this race has become about race and gender. The MSM made gender an issue with Hillary's tears in New Hampshire. They made race an issue with Hillary and Bill's comments. They forced the race issue with the Rev. Wright situation. So, I agree. This contest should never have come to that, but it did, and now both candidates are barely surviving. I hope the MSM has made tons of money off of this coverage because they have made an issue out of everything. This campaign should not be about Gender vs. Race. That is sickening, IMHO and the mediashould be ashamed, but they are not because they are too busy counting the millions they have made off of their coverage.

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 4:12:58 PM


HILLARY SUPPORTERS

The deck has been stacked. Your party has been taken over by nitwits. Your candidate will loose.

Time to prepare a write-in campaign so that you can express your opinion in a meaningful way. It's that or fall to the level of supporting Obama or making a choice between McCain and Nader.

Which will it be ???

Posted by: Aston | Apr 11, 2008 4:04:29 PM

Democrats United,

Why Hillary should step down now? A lot of people believe Obama has no chance to win G.E and only Hillary is Dems' hope...

Current poll shows Obama has no advantage in G.E. against McCain so how DNC can convince Dems that Obama is their best shot..

Posted by: True Truth | Apr 11, 2008 4:03:32 PM

To Just Curious----------------- Obama's policy on HealthCare is to create a Universal healtcare system whereas anyone who wants healthcare would be covered. If you can't afford it, you will be given a government subsidy based on your income, and you will be able to afford it. Coverage for Children will BE MANDATORY (i.e. It will be mandatory for parents to insure their children) Coverage for adults will be optional, though adults 25 and under can be carried under their parent's plan. On immigration, he wants to create ways to speed up the endless red tape for the citizenship process. Illegals that are here, he wants to give driver's licenses to and paths to citizenship (though they go to the back of the line) They will be given work permits (so corporations can't take advantage of cheap labor). Illegals that have commited crimes will be immediately deported.

Did I get them all?

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 4:03:23 PM

Enlightened ----------------------------- You were right to question your voting habits. I was raised to vote democratic all the time. But, I got smart in 2004 and did some serious research between republicans and democrats. I find myself agreeing with some republican principles. But, seeing to it how much of a stronghold the ultra right wing conseravtives have on the GOP, I will never vote for them. When I go to the booth and vote for a democrat, I know exactly what principles I am voting for.

Also, remember that the DNC did not elect Obama with its rules. These rules have been the same for decades. Hillary is making a big deal about them because she is losing. DO the rules need changing? Of course. Some of them are dated. But you don't change rules in the middle of the game. These objections should have been brought about early on.

As for the party elders, they are simply playing by the wisdom that has been true for decades. A divided party does not win general elections. The sooner the primaries are over, the better. People just don't get that because very few people have paid attention to them in the past. And now, the polls are reflecting that. Consider that now, McCain is ahead or neck and neck with both democratic contenders when 2 months ago, they both had a clear advantage over him. This struggle is dividing the party. That is why the elders are wanting this contest to be over NOW. They do not want to lose in November. This is why they are asking the loser so far (That's Hillary in this case) to step down, so no further damage is done.

Posted by: Democrats United | Apr 11, 2008 3:55:29 PM

Post a comment





 

POLITICAL VIDEOS