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Revisionism In Record Time

April 22, 2008 12:25 PM

It's pretty straightforward.

On WHYY radio, former President Bill Clinton was asked about a Philadelphia official who took offense at his comparing Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, to Rev. Jesse Jackson, thinking it an attempt to marginalize Obama as "the black candidate."

Clinton was asked: "Do you think that was a mistake, and would you do that again?"

"No," he responded. "I think that they played the race card on me. And we now know, from memos from the campaign and everything, that they planned to do it along."

Today in Pittsburgh, Clinton was asked what he meant by saying the Obama campaign was playing the race card on him.

“When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?” Clinton asked, per ABC News' Sarah Amos.

“On WHYY radio yesterday," he was told by an NBC/National Journal reporter.

“No, no, no," Clinton said. "That’s not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I’m not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day.”

Huh?

That's exactly what he said.

"I said what I said," Clinton said. "You can go back and look at the interview and if you will be real honest you will also report what the question was and what the answer was.  But I'm not helping you."

- jpt

April 22, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (51)

User Comments

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For Belle Star :

my husband is an officer in the U.S. Army who has served in Iraq. He is an educated, patriotic individual who serves his country because he loves the idea of "public service".
These serviceman are out there to keep uneducated people like you save. Hopefully they do reintroduce the draft and you will have to feel the pain and sacrifice that our soldiers and their families go through.

This country is not smart enough to vote for a good person, so you will go down with your flagpin put on ! And FOX News will report about it !

Shame on people like you ! You should be banned from voting at all !!

Posted by: sabine | Apr 25, 2008 4:50:40 PM

Obama's campaign did play the race card. I wish Bill would stop with the off the cuff remarks already though.

The race card is branding your opponents as racist despite their records...and eventually to attempt to convince the voter that if you don't vote Obama you are somehow racist.

It was a preliminary strategy that worked like a charm. They overplayed it by throwing Gerry Ferraro under the bus...and the attempt to make the Wright controversy about "race" was brilliant...but it's not really credible is it? That's about judgement!

Posted by: Jackie | Apr 23, 2008 2:10:17 AM

at 8:45 p.m. Hillary declared winner - less than 1 % of vote in.

Such a big state! She did it!!!!!!!

Go Hillary!!!!

Posted by: s. valenti | Apr 22, 2008 8:46:38 PM

When you have lied to so many people for so long about so many things, it all blurs together. The ex-president thinks he can say and do anything and get away with it, because people will be too stupid or intimidated to call him on it. I guess when you get caught lying under oath in federal court, have to pay nearly a million dollars to a woman who says you harassed her, pardon people who are paying your wife's brother, lose Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House for a decade, and still almost half of Democrats would like to have you back in the White House, it breeds a sense of entitlement, ego, and immortality.

Posted by: TKD | Apr 22, 2008 3:54:22 PM

Bill was right the Obama team is playing the Race card straight forward.

But Bill is a Lib like Obama so he only knows how to lie!!

Come on How do you know a Lib Politician is lying?

Ans: He/She is moving their lips!!


HAHA

Posted by: spock | Apr 22, 2008 3:31:31 PM

Hey! According to AFP and Reuters, today Obama's back to slamming Jimmy Carter for meeting with Hamas (which has endorsed Obama). YESTERDAY, Obama was off slamming Carter -- and just wanting to eat his waffles -- after slamming him on the weekend.

Posted by: Belle Starr | Apr 22, 2008 3:28:41 PM

Neil.. Hillary doesn't need to damage OBAMA. He is damaged good on arrival. His close associates, his opinion of people not like him and the fact that he says he is a foreign policy expert by living in Indonesia as child, visiting Pakistan on vacation and referrence to his Kenyan father when he never lived in Kenya himself..the Selma and the airlifting deals all combine to make someone cut his own nose to spite his face. It has nothing to do with Hillary. Winning Republican states and caucuses does not make him formidable. The Dems will reward the Reps with another 4 years. Then everyone will be paying attention to what Hillary had been saying all along.

Posted by: mark | Apr 22, 2008 3:25:16 PM

"Check the skeletons in your own closets ..."

The longer the primaries go on, the likelier it is that Obama's manufactured persona is going to fall apart in time to disabuse the Democratic "leadership" of the advisability of forcing the nomination of a "black" John Kerry.

Posted by: Belle Starr | Apr 22, 2008 3:20:34 PM

mark:

I'm not running for anything. YOU check the facts below.

Posted by: rhbate | Apr 22, 2008 3:19:40 PM

The real question is, why does Obama keep having to pay the price for the nonsense of reporters who manufacture these controversies?

Posted by: Jeff | Apr 22, 2008 2:50:03 PM

I just read the memo Bill referred to last night and also listened to the entire interview. Putting the two together, it is clear Bill is right. Only subjective and fanatic BO supporters and their media cohorts will see this differently.

Posted by: mark | Apr 22, 2008 2:27:10 PM

I am totally confused about this race card business. In the media, I read about quotes and actions from members of both Clinton and Obama camps and to me they are benign. Then, the opposing side and journalists starts jumping all over it, saying the race card had been played. Man, I don't see it. I don't think there was anything wrong with B. Clinton's original comment in SC. I didn't see it as a slight toward Obama at all, and I am an Obama supporter. I even thought it was said in a complimentary light. The only time this whole campaign that I thought I saw a glimmer of the race card was by my own candidate: When Obama was talking in SF (I could care less about the "bitter" part), he in the small PA towns, people were even more skeptical hearing campaign promises coming from "a tall lanky BLACK man named Barak Obama". But this went unnoticed by the media and the Clinton campaign. So, the only time I thought one of the candidates brought race into issue, it turns out I was wrong. I guess I just don't have a clue. Maybe someday someone will explain it all to me. Until then...

Posted by: Juraco | Apr 22, 2008 2:23:21 PM

Does anyone have the feeling Hillary is already campaigning for 2012?

She now knows she doesn't have a real shot this year, but if she damages Obama enough, McCain will become president. She would run again in 2012 and have a great shot at winning the nomination since Obama couldn't do it in '08 and McCain will be a weak from dealing with our present economic malaise, not to mention his age.

Posted by: Neil | Apr 22, 2008 2:21:46 PM

These guys are exhausted and running on nothing now but partisan adrenalin. It's a little hard to discern whether the man is prevaricating (again) or just confused. But given the necesary partisanship or combative nature of the campaign, it's not going to be last time. Everybody's exhausted. Imagine what it's like to be them.

Posted by: Gaias Child | Apr 22, 2008 2:08:50 PM

God Love President Clinton. I love the way he uses denial and confusion to spin out of a contreversy. His wife lacks that sort of charm.

Posted by: I voted for Bill Twice | Apr 22, 2008 1:59:21 PM

I don't get you people that say Bill Clinton just forgot. It was only yesterday. And for him to jump all over the reporter that asked the question??
It won't make any difference to the PA primary today, but it WILL for the next primaries and to the super delegates.
Is he intentionally trying to sabotage Hillary's campaign or has he just lost it?

Posted by: FSI | Apr 22, 2008 1:57:59 PM

"We have a strong two party system in America, in case you haven't notice."

We have a corrupt corporate imitation of a two-party system, in which most people who DO register to vote have no connection with a "party" at all. Thanks to the Bush administration's "Help America Vote Act" (for which the Democrats rolled over), the lowly voters no longer have most of their polling places, paper ballots, or any insurance of ballot integrity.

The BEST indication that the "two-party system" is the OPPOSITE of "strong" might be the bogus "debate" structure, managed by the corporate media, in which the party "leadership" has been complicit.

Posted by: Belle Starr | Apr 22, 2008 1:57:02 PM

Well now, just WHO WOULD be in charge if Hillary gets the nomination or God forbig the Presidency?

PA voters, I don't think we have ever been told by Bill just what the meaning of IS is...

One thing we do know it is never the truth.

Posted by: Caught Again Bill | Apr 22, 2008 1:55:08 PM

If By any chance the dems are able to steal the nomination away from Obama Nader would do well to place Cynthia McKinney as his green card nominee. There goes the black vote for the dems... for a long time and deservedly so.

Posted by: tj | Apr 22, 2008 1:40:49 PM

If By any chance the dems are able to steal the nomination away from Obama Nader would do well to place Cynthia McKinney as his green card nominee. There goes the black vote for the dems... for a long time and deservedly so.

Posted by: tj | Apr 22, 2008 1:40:49 PM

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