'I don't think she's hoping for some tragic catastrophic event to intervene'

bigtree

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sat May-24-08 08:34 AM
Original message

'I don't think she's hoping for some tragic catastrophic event to intervene'

Edited on Sat May-24-08 08:59 AM by bigtree

"I don't think she's hoping for some tragic catastrophic event to intervene," Obama senior strategist David Axelrod told MSNBC's "Hardball"

{snip}

The way it played out, Clinton pushed back strongly when the Argus Leader editorial board asked about reports that her campaign was pushing for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to take Clinton as his running mate, or that she was making plans to drop out of the race.

Flatly untrue, she said.

"Neither of us has the number of delegates needed to be the nominee, and every time they declare it doesn't make it so. Neither of us do," Clinton said, according to a transcript assembled by the ABC News political unit's Talal Alkhatib. "And I've never seen anything like this. I have, perhaps, a long enough memory that many people who finished a rather distant second behind nominees go all the way to the convention. I remember very well 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, where some who had contested in the primaries, you know, were determined to carry their case to the convention . . .

She said, "People have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa. ... I find it curious because it is unprecedented in history. I don't understand it. And between my opponent and his camp and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this. And, you know, historically that makes no sense. So I find it a bit of a mystery."

"You don't buy the 'party unity' argument?" she was asked.

"I don't," Clinton said. "And again, I've been around long enough. You know, my husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary sometime in the middle of June. Right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just-- I don't understand it. And you know, there's lots of speculation about why it is, but uh..."

She was asked: "What's your speculation?"

"You know, I don't know," she said. "I find it curious, and I don't want to attribute motives or strategies to people that I don't really know. But it is-- It's a historical curiosity to me."

The Argus Leader editorial board issued a statement saying, "The context of the question and answer with Sen. Clinton was whether her continued candidacy jeopardized party unity this close to the Democratic convention. Her reference to Mr. Kennedy's assassination appeared to focus on the timeline of his primary candidacy and not the assassination itself."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/05/clintons-contex.html

RFK Jr. Says No One Should Be Offended

This evening Robert Kennedy Jr., who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., cautioned folks not to be offended at Clinton's mention of his father's assassination when discussing why she was staying in the race and how there was precedent for the primaries lasting until June.

In a statement, Kennedy Jr. said: �It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.�

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/05/rfk-jr-says-no.html