The other day bill tried to use cheap reverse psychology in an attempt to race bait:
April 22, 2008 7:58 AM
In his inimitable fashion, former President Bill Clinton told Philadelphia's WHYY radio that his South Carolina-primary comparison of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, to Rev. Jesse Jackson is an example of HIS being the victim of ugly racial politics.
Listen to the interview
HERE.
“I think that they played the race card on me," Clinton said. "We now know, from memos from the campaign that they planned to do it along."
It's unclear what "memos" he was referring to.
linkWhen Bill got caught trying to use the Hillary campaign's old spin, he tried to to lie his way out of it:
By Greg Sargent - April 22, 2008, 1:00PM
Bill Clinton, in a
new interview, appears to deny that he said yesterday that the Obama camp was playing the race card on him:
NBC/NJ: "Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?"
CLINTON: "When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?"
NBC/NJ: "On WHYY radio yesterday"
CLINTON: "No, no, no. 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."
Yesterday, Bill
said: "I think that they played the race card on me. We now know, from memos from the campaign that they planned to do it (all) along."
The Clinton campaign confirms that Bill was refering to
this memo written by an Obama campaign aide, which sought to highlight a pattern of race-based politicking on the part of the Clintons. It was never clear who the intended recipient of it was. And it's true that
Obama himself said during a debate that he regretted the memo.
But while the memo appeared to encourage people to see a Clinton camp pattern of race-based politics, it didn't reveal any plan to play the race card against him all along, as Bill said.
Separately, Ben Smith offers this
poignant observation on Bill's latest: "It is a reminder of what an utterly different era it was in which he was the reigning political master."
Poor Bill.
Like I said, it's not the first time Hillary camp has cited the "race memo" as evidence of Obama's race baiting.
Look at
the dates in the memo:
Earliest date: DRUG USE (ABC News, 12/12/07)
(Here is a
link)
Latest date: SHUCK AND JIVE (Newsday, 1/11/08)
That memo was obviously written after Jan. 11,
days after Hillary's MLK comment and a full month after the drug use comment by the Clinton campaign.
Asked for evidence of the Obama campaign's role in fomenting the controversy, a Clinton aide cited a staff memo, leaked to political blogs, that compiled quotes by Clinton and her allies that seemed racially insensitive.
linkSo after injecting racially charged comments into the debate and accusing Obamas's campaign of race baiting, Hillary's campaign's proof is a memo written after all her campaign's deliberate race baiting, which has continued:
Drug dealer, fairy tale, imaginary hip black friend, gang bang, cult, shuck-and-jive, Hispanics don't vote for black people, Obama is Somalian, Obama meets with former terrorists, all from
Hillary's campaign and surrogates.
The thing about making the claim, again, is that they've already issued some weak apologies (excuses) for race baiting. Hillary at an event hosted by Tavis Smiley:
February 23, 2008, 7:53 pm
By Julie Bosman
NEW ORLEANS – Appearing before a predominantly black audience here Saturday afternoon, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended her husband’s legacy on race relations and offered an apology of sorts for comments he made in South Carolina several weeks ago that many people viewed as racially insensitive.
In a question-and-answer session after her speech at the State of the Black Union event, Mrs. Clinton was asked by Tavis Smiley, the host of the event, how she felt about “what some termed racial comments” by Mr. Clinton.
“I think there are enough of you here today who know him personally and know his heart,” she said, then stopped for a long pause. “If anyone was offended about anything that was said, whether it was meant or not, whether it was misinterpreted or not, then obviously I regret that.”
<...>
Mrs. Clinton’s brief appearance in New Orleans was not a traditional campaign stop, considering that Louisiana has already held its contest – on Feb. 9 – and voted decisively for Mr. Obama, who won by 22 points.
According to a campaign spokesman, Mrs. Clinton had agreed to attend the event after bumping into Mr. Smiley several weeks ago in Los Angeles.
moreBill at black churches:
February 2, 2008
Former President Bill Clinton will visit black churches in LA this Sunday.
(CNN) – In the run-up to Super Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton is planning a tour of African-American churches this Sunday in Los Angeles. A prominent elected official who will be joining him has described it as Clinton’s 'mea culpa tour' to the black community.
The former President set off a firestorm of criticism for comments he made during the South Carolina primary, comments which were widely interpreted as racially insensitive. He’s adamantly denied he was playing racial politics. Exit polls show President Clinton’s seemingly aggressive campaigning may have contributed to the stunning defeat his wife Hillary Clinton suffered in the primary there.
According to CNN exit polling, a majority of South Carolina voters said Bill Clinton’s campaigning was important to their vote — 48 percent of them cast ballots for Barack Obama, while 37percent went for Sen. Clinton. And CNN has reported some of the former President’s controversial remarks on the trail may have contributed to Senator Ted Kennedy’s decision to endorse Sen. Obama.
The President’s tour of African-American churches comes as the Clinton campaign fights to win a coveted prize on Super Tuesday – delegate-rich California – where African Americans make up 7 percent of Democratic primary voters.
moreBill and Hillary's new attempts at race baiting is not sitting well with Rep.
James Clyburn.
Plenty of African-American officials, including Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC, the House Majority Whip, assuredly disagree with Clinton's interpretation of that controversy. Clyburn told me a few weeks ago that African-Americans, especially those from the South, "know the code words when we hear them."
linkWhile Hillary's camp is using the memo, again, to claim race baiting, Hillary is questioning Obama's
patriotism and implying that he has
ties to terrorists.
Appears the memo needs to be updated.
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