Black Leaders Question Clinton Remarks

[chance1]

i guess we shoulda figured this was gonna happen

Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" remark as part of his defense of Hillary/knock of Obama in NH - when they thought they were gonna get hammered in the primary - well, black leaders are putting it out there that perhaps this was racially motivated - veiled racism?

gimme a break

i kinda like obama - not ready to vote for him - but i get why people dig him - i dig him - he's electric

but he should tell these guys to shut the fuck up - and not play the race card when none exists - play it if it really happens - or don't - cuz i think part of his allure is the fact that he is not playing the woe is me thingy

ironic that bill was blowing off steam - expecting a hillary loss - perhaps it helped get her a win (i don't think so) but .........

shit like this makes real racism less real IMO



Black Leaders Question Clinton Remarks


By CARL HULSE and PATRICK HEALY,
The New York Times

Posted: 2008-01-12 18:41:38

Filed Under: Elections News
WASHINGTON (Jan. 12) - The Clinton campaign moved Friday to try to quell a potentially damaging reaction to recent comments by Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton that have drawn criticism from African-Americans just as the presidential primary campaign reached Southern states with significant numbers of black voters.

In a call on Friday to Al Sharpton’s nationally syndicated talk radio show, Mr. Clinton said that his "fairy tale" comment on Monday about Senator Barack Obama’s position on the Iraq war was being misconstrued, and that he was talking only about the war, not about Mr. Obama’s overarching message or his drive to be the first black president.



“There’s nothing fairy tale about his campaign,” Mr. Clinton said. “It’s real, strong, and he might win.”

Mr. Clinton’s fairy tale line and a comment by Mrs. Clinton that some interpreted as giving President Lyndon B. Johnson more credit than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for civil rights laws have disturbed African-Americans, who saw them as unfair and diminishing the role of civil rights activists. The frustration comes as a Jan. 26 Democratic primary looms in South Carolina, where up to half of the Democratic electorate could be black.

Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina and the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, said this week that he was disappointed in the comments, a worrisome matter for the Clintons since an endorsement of Mr. Obama by Mr. Clyburn could carry weight in the primary.

On Friday evening, Mr. Clyburn, who is traveling overseas, issued a statement saying he intended to remain neutral in the early race. Mr. Clyburn, who aides said spoke with Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama, said he wanted to make sure all candidates had an equal opportunity.

“I encourage the candidates to be sensitive about the words they use,” Mr. Clyburn said “This is an historic race for America to have such strong, diverse candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.”

Others continued to take issue with the remarks, including Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Democrat of Illinois and an Obama supporter.

“Following Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa and historic voter turnout in New Hampshire,” Mr. Jackson said in a statement, “the cynics unfortunately have stepped up their efforts to decry his uplifting message of hope and fundamental change.”

Trying to tamp down the criticism, the Clinton campaign urged prominent black supporters to speak out on their behalf and remind the public of their long record of working for minority rights and benefits.

“I know of no government leadership couple about who I could say more,” said Frederick C. James of Columbia, S.C., a retired bishop of the A.M.E. Church and a civil rights advocate who has worked with both Dr. King and the Clintons.

The negative reaction was unusual for the Clintons, who have been extremely popular with blacks. But Mr. Obama is becoming a rallying point for African-Americans as well, and some blacks worry there will be efforts to undercut him on racial grounds.

“Voters have to decide for themselves what they think of this,” said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declining to discuss the matter further.

Mr. Clinton, in his radio interview, disputed any notion that he had been impugning Mr. Obama personally.

He said he was addressing a specific issue that, he believed, had not been given sufficient scrutiny: Mr. Obama’s position on Iraq and a statement by Mr. Obama in 2004 that he could not say how he would have voted on the war had he been in the Senate, though he did not believe the case for war had been made.

Mr. Clinton said the 2004 view was at odds with Mr. Obama’s position that he, unlike Mrs. Clinton, has always been against the war. “I said that story is a fairy tale,” Mr. Clinton said. “Now that doesn’t have anything to do with my respect for him as a person or his campaign. I have gone out of my way not to express any personal disrespect for him and his campaign.”

Mr. Obama’s campaign said Mr. Clinton was engaging in revisionist history about his record on the war.

Donna Brazile, a leading Democrat and African-American who had criticized Mr. Clinton, on Friday appeared willing to accept his explanation. “Bill Clinton is a soldier in the fields for people of color,” Ms. Brazile said on CNN. “At this point, we are willing to let this lie.”


Copyright © 2007 The New York Times Company





http://news.aol.com/elections/story...s/20080112113409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

 

[iman]

It's all about South Carolina where half the Democratic voters are African American. Professor Dyson, an Obama supporter, tried to make a case that Clinton beat the polls in NH because white voters said they were voting for Obama and then voted for a white person. Jesse Jr tried to make a case that Clinton was faking her tears and now a remark with no connection to race is being twisted into a racial remark. The Obama campaign would like their candidate to go into SC looking like a racial martyr. Is every criticism of Obama now a racial remark?

I guess we all knew the racial card would be played, but it is unfortunate that Obama supporters are the ones playing it.

 

[iman]

I can't blame African Americans for wanting to vote for an African American President, particularly a candidate of the quality of Barack Obama. The problem is that if Obama goes into a General Election unquestioned, unvetted and largely unknown, African Americans could be dealt a severe blow if a Republican is elected.

The Clintons have a long history with African Americans and yet it is still difficult for them to raise questions about Obama if his supporters are going to claim racism every time. In the end, the strategy of playing the race card could alienate white voters and discredit the Obama claim of uniting the country. Both sides need to ignore race in this election.

 

[Homoerectus]

Andrew Young has questioned if Obama is black-enough. He then defended that remark by saying Bill Clinton has "bedded more black women" than Obama. He also called Bill Clinton the "first black president". Since when has being promiscuous been a prerequisite for being African-American? Isn't that a racist stereotype? Is the Hillary camp trying to get her elected by associating her with Bill and his African American following? It sure seems the Clintons are playing the race card against Obama.

Another thing: Hillary's tears in New Hampshire and her news interview tonight. She asked why it was OK for men to cry but not her? What other presidential candidate has "cried" without being rebuffed by the voters? The only candidate I can remember crying was Muskie and he lost because the voters thought he wasn't "man-enough". President Bush may have cried but it was after election and at places like Ground Zero in NYC. I think that was an appropriate response. I believe Hillary took a premeditated and calculated risk in crying to bring in the feminist vote. It worked.

 

[Kurn]

It's terrible how the mysogyny and gynophobia just oozes from the African-American leadership. I was expecting better from them.

I guess we might just have another pagan republican as President if the Dem's can't grow up like I've been saying the Repub's need to.

Obama isn't a woman. I want a woman president.

 

[NickCole]

This is originating from Barak Obama himself.

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has prepared a detailed memo listing various instances in which it perceived Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to have deliberately played the race card in the Democratic primary.

The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post and has been made public elsewhere, is believed to have been given to an activist and contains mostly excerpts from different media reports. It lists the contact info and name of Obama's South Carolina press secretary, Amaya Smith, and is broken down into five incidents in which either Clinton, her husband Bill, or campaign surrogates made comments that could be interpreted as racially insensitive.

The document provides an indication that, in private, the Obama campaign is seeking to capitalize on the view - and push the narrative - that the Clintons are using race-related issues for political leverage. In public, the Obama campaign has denied that they are trying to propagate such a perception, noting that the document never was sent to the press.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/12/obama-camps-memo-on-clin_n_81205.html

Objectively, it makes no sense at all that the Clintons, with their many years of deep African-American support, would want to bring race into a campaign where their primary challenger is an African-American.

Obama's use of race here is divisive and destructive. Also he's doing it in a sneaky and deceptive way. Is this the new tone he wants to bring to Washington, is this how he unifies Americans?

 

[chance1]

This is originating from Barak Obama himself.





Objectively, it makes no sense at all that the Clintons, with their many years of deep African-American support, would want to bring race into a campaign where their primary challenger is an African-American.

Obama's use of race here is divisive and destructive. Also he's doing it in a sneaky and deceptive way. Is this the new tone he wants to bring to Washington, is this how he unifies Americans?

well

honestly i think the clintons - and i do mean the clintons - not hillary solo

would do just about anything to get hillary elected as president of the united states - anything - bill was not sheepish while he was pres in dealing with his real and perceived enemies

so i will judge each instance on its merits and make my decision

i don't think the "fairy tale" thing applies - not for a second - and to take that and turn it into racial divisiveness IMO is horrible and incorrect

but this holier than thou "we'd never do that" doesn't reflect the history of the clintons in the political world

i would say that the clintons better be damn careful on this - cuz if liberals perceive that her campaign is suggesting that obama's race is an issue .............. well it would be pretty damaging

i have not seen evidence that they have

but u know how campaign staffs can be

just as the "hillary is a victim" thingy perhaps was not ok'd by hillary .................

as for obama being sneaky and divisive ........... to quote nick .......... perhaps he (obama) learned much from the previous dem president ..............

 

[kaleman77]

The Clinton surrogates are really nasty toward Obama in European press interviews..."imaginary HIP black friend"..why go on? In America they use carefully coded racists words like Spade. "The First Black Prez"..that slogan insulted many thinking blacks. The Clinton's are angry..ya ain't seen nuthin' yet!

 

[naked gent]

Does anyone here seriously believe that Clinton supporter Andrew Cuomo's use of the words "shuck and jive" are not an attempt to interject race into this contest?

I agree with chance, the Clinton's will do anything to win.

 

[Agoateeguy]

the Clinton's have to. it's the name of the game. the media have not been kind to them.

with Diebold owned by the Republicans what choice do they have!

 

[iman]

The remark that "the Clintons will do anything to win the campaign" suggests that the Clintons have crossed some line and that Obama has some limit on what he and his campaign will do. I don't see any evidence that either of those propositions are true.

The Clintons are accomplished politicians who, if they wished, could raise the question of race very effectively if they wanted to. The Clinton's benign and innocent remarks that are being twisted and taken out of context are hardly an effective way to raise race questions.

On the other hand, the Obama campaign is straining credulity to attribute racial motives to the "fairy tale" quote from Bill Clinton and the MLK remark by Mrs Clinton. It was the Obama campaign that attributed the NH results to hidden racism and the Obama campaign that put out the memo that Huffington quotes, that has interjected race into the campaign.

It is not in the interest of the Clintons to interject race into the campaign on the eve of the SC primary where half the Dem voters are African American. It is in the interest of the Obama campaign to pretend that they are the victims of racism before the SC primary.

So, you tell me, which campaign is willing to "do anything" to win? What happened to "bringing us all together"? What happened to "hope"?

 

[chance1]

The remark that "the Clintons will do anything to win the campaign" suggests that the Clintons have crossed some line and that Obama has some limit on what he and his campaign will do. I don't see any evidence that either of those propositions are true.

The Clintons are accomplished politicians who, if they wished, could raise the question of race very effectively if they wanted to. The Clinton's benign and innocent remarks that are being twisted and taken out of context are hardly an effective way to raise race questions.

On the other hand, the Obama campaign is straining credulity to attribute racial motives to the "fairy tale" quote from Bill Clinton and the MLK remark by Mrs Clinton. It was the Obama campaign that attributed the NH results to hidden racism and the Obama campaign that put out the memo that Huffington quotes, that has interjected race into the campaign.

It is not in the interest of the Clintons to interject race into the campaign on the eve of the SC primary where half the Dem voters are African American. It is in the interest of the Obama campaign to pretend that they are the victims of racism before the SC primary.

So, you tell me, which campaign is willing to "do anything" to win? What happened to "bringing us all together"? What happened to "hope"?

its kind of understood in politics or as herm edwards used to say as head coach of the the ny jets "u play to win the game"

it's easy to think that the ends does justify the means - and the clintons certainly want the presidency (again) and believe she is best suited to run the country (might have said "they") - so if they can prevent obama from winning the nomination .......... they will use any means - illegal? nah - i would think not - up to that point? yeah - i believe that - the stakes r high - could not be higher - this is not for the faint of heart

using surrogates to do ur dirty work is a longstanding tradition - and ur hands r "clean"

personally i think raising the question of race (u say as accomplished politicians who could raise it effectively - which i totally don't get) - IS A VERY BAD MOVE THAT COULD/WOULD BACKFIRE

and i don't think they need to play that card to win

as for "fairy tale" - no racism to me - NONE

and when i read the name jesse jackson jr. - all i could think of was - DISHONEST FAMILY - WHO HAVE PLAYED THE RACE CARD INDISCRIMINATELY IN THE PAST - AND THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

Obama needs to back off this shit - cuz he will look lame - and lose white voters - if he gets whiny and racial - UNLESS HE HAS PROOF

sorry for the ramble

go Giants