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Bill Clinton Says He's Ready to Campaign for Obama

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July 17, 2008 4:08 PM

ABC News' Kate McCarthy and Nitya Venkataraman Report: Former President Bill Clinton says he's ready to hit the campaign trail for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama "whenever he asks".

"I just told him that whenever he wanted to do it, I was ready," Clinton told a room full of reporters, following a news conference at his foundation's Manhattan headquarters about new agreements that will lower the price of malaria medication.  "It's basically on their timetable. He's got a lot of things to do between now and the convention of which this is simply one. So, I'll do whatever I'm asked to do, whenever I can do it."

And speaking of the Democratic convention in Denver, Clinton says he's given "no thought" to whether or not he'd like to headline as one of the speakers.  The relationship between the Obama campaign and the presidential campaign of the former president's wife New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has only recently begun to heal itself following a hotly-contested battle for the Democratic nomination that ended on June 7 when Sen. Clinton conceded the nomination to Obama.

Clinton also said he hasn't spoken to Rev. Jesse Jackson since his "hot mic" incident but expressed sympathy for an off-air moment caught on tape and commended Jackson for his quick apology.

"If all of us lived on live mics then 100 percent of us in this room would be embarrassed from time to time.  He's a good man and he did what he could to make it right," Clinton said, adding "I think Senator Obama accepted his apology.  I think it's over."

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July 17, 2008 in Bush, George W., Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (116)

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Come on with it Big Billy. MCCain can use the extra votes. Don't forget Hillary wants another shot at the Whitehouse. It is in the best interest of HRC that OBama looses in 08 so she can run in 2012. Big Billy can certainly help HRC right now. Come on out Big Billy. Help Obama lose the election!! Brilliant Clinton plan. Destroy from within... :)

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:00:35 PM

catleya:

Hillary started it. She was the one who made that dumb comment that LBJ was more influential than MLK in bringing about civil rights reform.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:03:05 PM

Only three and a half more months of this, and we can get on with the Socialization of America.

Long live the USSA!

(If I were not an atheist, I'd thank God I'm 70 years old!)

Posted by: Rhys | Jul 17, 2008 5:07:43 PM

FullDisclosure - Hillary was right. Without LBJ in MLKs corner nothing would have been accomplished. He pushed the agenda and made things happen creating those laws. Sure MLK played a huge part. But without LBJ it would not have happened.

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:08:21 PM

Bill should campaign more for Hillary and get her on the floor at the convention. There's nothing wrong in losing, they should risk it, even when it's a sure thing. With 18 million voters she has the right to run, Ted Kennedy went to the convention with more than 750 delegates short. For democracy, for the Dems - RUN!

Obama win or lose, I don't care. 352 superdelegates and Al Gore are wrong.

Posted by: Sylvia Johnsen | Jul 17, 2008 5:12:53 PM

Regardless of what Hillary meant her comments were taken as an insult to MLK by many black leaders. SC Congressman Clyburn was the first to speak out and he was a fervent Hillary supprter at that time.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:12:57 PM

catleya:

Senator Obama never called Bubba a racist. It was clear, however, that Bubba DID try to minimize Senator Obama's candidacy by painting him as just another "black candidate" like Jesse Jackson so many years ago. Hopefully, it is clear to everyone, except maybe the few remaining "Hillary Inevitability" wingnuts, that Senator Obama is much more than that.

Let's remember, too, that Hillary's poor campaign management was what really cost her the election. Bill's campaigning as her husband, with all his defensiveness and attack dog mentality (which he unfortunately didn't display when he was fooling round with Monica), didn' help of course.

Y'all can blame Senator Obama for Hillary's defeat all you want, but she has only herself (and Mark Penn) to blame.

Obama 2008 -- Yes, WE CAN!!!

Posted by: jackt51 | Jul 17, 2008 5:14:19 PM

Jessie Jackson is an example of dem'ss putting Barack up on the cross. But is he going to make his way off of it again? Barack can be mocked, the comedy site 23/6 does it consistently and well. Check it out, in the cartoon "A detailed analysis of Obama'ss failures in Cartoon Form" - http://www.236.com/blog/w/lee_camp/a_detailed_analysis_of_obamas_2_7767.php

Posted by: Morgan Walker | Jul 17, 2008 5:18:41 PM

I have a feeling that the Liberal DNC is going to learn a valuable lesson in November. Don't mess with Moderate Democrats. We want our Party back. MCCAIN 08.

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:23:24 PM

Full- you need to study your history on who did what on the white side of the civil rights movement. LBJ was against a ton of pressure to do nothing. Yet he pressed on. MLK did his part and so did LBJ. He deserves credit whether you think so or not.

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:27:42 PM

rogersm234:

Are you saying you are not one of Rush's soldiers in "Operation Chaos"? You sure sound like one.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:27:50 PM

MLK did his part and so did LBJ. He deserves credit whether you think so or not. Posted by: McDaddy
=======

LBJ deserves "some" credit but his efforts did not compare to work and sacrifices MLK did. It was a dumb comment and she should not have said it.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:30:46 PM

rogersm234: If you consider that a compliment then you are certainly not a "true Blue Democrat".

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:35:29 PM

I suspect any decent Democrat would have done what LBJ did -- JFK, Carter, Bill Clinton -- would have all done the same. But were there others like MLK at his level who could have accomplished what he did? I think the answer is no. MLK was unique. Without him I suspect civils rights reform would not have happened at that time and would have been set back years if not decades.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:40:15 PM

chris: Obama did not make any negative comments about Hillary on this matter. In fact he backed her and Bill up saying they, of course, were not racists. You need to get your facts straight before you post.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:43:27 PM

i think I am seeing a trend starting to happen. The Reagan Democrats are coming out in force against Obama. Bad news for the Liberals. the Silent Majority will speak in November. MCCAIN 08

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:45:17 PM

I am not attacking LBJ but just pointing out how many took Hillary's comment as being disrepectful to MLK by equating their efforts. I am done with this argument. Ciao.

Posted by: FullDisclosure | Jul 17, 2008 5:48:22 PM

Good Job Chris.

Posted by: McDaddy | Jul 17, 2008 5:56:32 PM

Bill: Please stay clean and do not get your hands dirty with this mess.

BHO (Bone Headed Obama) is a WIMP, chameleon, hypocrite and WOLF in Sheeps’ skin. Here are some of BHO's (Bone Headed Obama) lies, misjudgments, boneheaded decisions and contradictions.
• BHO has AUDACITY TO HOPE that Americans will not look at the character of the person to be president and he will be able to mislead them with his smoke and mirror tactics and speeches.
• He claims to have good JUDGEMENT, but contradicts himself by keeping relationships with anti-Americans, terror-mongers and racists for 20+ years
• BHO claims to be the MESSIAH of HOPE, but says ‘people cling to religion and cling to guns’ out of frustration. Is BHO equating Americans to ‘terrorists’ where the terrorists usually claim that they ‘cling’ to religion and guns out of frustration and economic woos?
• BHO claims to be a UNITER, but always tried to divide America on RACE and ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES
• BHO was not mad about Wright's anti-American, racist rants until a few days back. But what made him mad is that his lack of credibility was exposed by Mr. Wright when he said "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls,"
• BHO Says he is PRO-LIFE, but also said that he would not PUNISH his daughters with babies.
• BHO talk about leveling fields as a non-politician. BHO entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it. BHO back stabbed his friend and mentor Alice Palmer by nullifying Palmer’s nominating petitions, forcing her to withdraw.
• He is TOUGH enough to throw his grand mother under the bus, but he neither has GUTS to repudiate his anti-American, racist pastor nor has GUTS to vote NO to stop Adult Porn Shops from opening up next to our children’s schools.
• BHO wants us to BELIEVES in CHANGE, but the kind of CHANGE he is really talking about is to go down to his knees to negotiate unconditionally to Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Hamas and other terrorist groups.
• BHO claims to be ‘TRUE’, but he is full of lies like He never opposed hand guns, He never heard Mr. Wright making the incendiary quotes, He never said – he will not wear flag lapel pin, He is against NAFTA but had his adviser meet privately with the Canadian government to assure them he didn't really mean what he said about NAFTA and the list goes on and on
• BHO took 20 years to finally accept that his pastor is an anti-American. BHO is an opportunistic liar.
• BHO Claims to be a PATRIOT, but refuses to wear flag lapel pin and his wife Michelle says: For the first time in her adult life she is proud of this country and America is a mean country
• BHO claims to be the better Commander-in-Chief, but how can he get that position if he can not even obtain the Top Security Clearance?
• BHO says WORDs MATTER, but is always short of words and steals them from others and constantly demands the people whom he insults to give him the benefit of the doubt for his misspeaks.
• He says he is Washington Outsider, but admitted in the debate that his campaign played negative tactics against Clinton in PA. BHO has more Washington Insiders endorsing him thus OWEs to them something that will MAKE HIM BIGGEST WASHINGTON INSIDER.

Posted by: CJ | Jul 17, 2008 6:04:29 PM

The Clinton's should stay as far away from his as possible. Let him go down in flames on his own. You know they will get blamed if he loses.

Posted by: J | Jul 17, 2008 6:11:31 PM

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