Tim Russert, has been tough, sometimes brutal on ‘08 presidential candidates and Senator Hillary Clinton’s appearance on Meet The Press this morning was no exception. Russert began the interview with a story from a South Carolina newspaper dealing with race, and quoted black politicians and pundits who criticized her and Bill Clinton over what they perceived to be racial overtones toward Barack Obama.
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Forced to go on the defensive, Clinton was defiant, accusing Russert of not giving full quotes, and condemned the media for taking things she and her husband have said out of context. Given the framing of the questions, Hillary was cornered into clarifying her previous statements about Martin Luther King Jr. and defend her record on civil rights. Clinton held her own and was given ample time to defend herself and draw comparisons between her campaign and Barack Obama’s, but this probably wasn’t the way she wanted to start this interview.
John Amato: Emailer Andrew sent in this TNR piece which takes a quick look at the historical record of the civil rights movement in the 60’s.
Filed Under: Bill Clinton, Campaigns/Elections, Clintons, Democratic Party, Election 08, Hillary Clinton, Meet the Press, NBC
Tags: Hillary Clinton, Meet the Press
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L.A. Confidential @ 1:
So what’s your point ?
The Clintons are racist bigots hillarious.
If you read the article, particularly the bulleted items, I think the point is pretty clear.
Here’s what BO’s people are worried about.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....5171.shtml
If BO looses SC it’s over.
Is ol’ Bill running for President again? Hillary some advice to you. Tell Bill to shut up. Get him out of the spotlight. Are you not the one running for Prez? It seems moronic that people use the “she’s a woman” bias excuse, and then her hubby goes out and fights her battles publicly.
As an uncommitted voter, I watched Meet the Press today. I was convinced that Hillary is the best candidate for the Dems this year and that she will make a great President. Her quality experience and leadership skills are what America needs and she will be well served by surrounding herself with high quality people. I am in Nevada and will now work hard to get Hillary elected. I think Obama and Edwards would both be strong winning candidates, but I think Hillary is the best choice. Hillary & Obama in 2008 would be an outstanding ticket!
My my…the Clinton’s have learned from Rove, big time!
I am tired of both. The ‘Clinton past’ was better than these Bush years but it wasn’t good enough to go through agian and again and again…
macaddict @ 7:
From the sidelines, I think she is too polarizing a politician. If she were to win the Presidency, nothing would get done in Congress or the Senate because of the fighting.
Oh, Hillary. You forgot all those corporate rights you have always voted for.
As I said on a previous thread, she had to spend 10 minutes defending what Bill has said about the “fairy tale”. That was time she could have been talking about herself and selling herself. Too bad she had to do that. Then the subject of the men in the campaign “ganging up” on her. Another of her husbands comments. I think it’s time for Bill to back off a little and let her be her own woman, and not his wife. It would make her look much stronger to me. It’s her turn this time.
I’m not a big supporter of hers and I did so like many of the things Bill did. All that said, Bill was then, she is now.
I think she would be better off if she simply said her war vote was wrong. She could say at that time she trusted the president, but like so many other people discovered, that trust was misplaced and she had learned a valuable lesson. The public likes to hear people say they have learned while gaining experience.
Hillary is a snake. The more this campaign moves on, the more we get to see the true colors of the Clintons.
TRI-angulation, Same ‘ole, Same ‘ole……
It is also fair game to say HRC voted/endorsed an Attack on Iran?
I thought Hillary pretty much kicked ass this morning. The most interesting part was when Russert asked if Obama was qualified to be VP - Hillary did not react at all, but for me at least I think it is clear that if she and Obama can get together on this they could lock the whole thing down right now. I have been leaning towards Hillary as VP, but after this morning Obama should swallow hard and concede first place to her.
Why is it OK for the Clinton campaign to say that Hillary and Bill’s words were “skewed”and “taken out of context” over the ‘fairy tail’ and ‘kid’ remarks about Barack Obama? They are skewing and taking out of context Obama’s position on the war as we speak, and it just seems rather hypocritical. What’s your take?
I guess we know who you’re supporting, eh tballou?
;)
macaddict @ 7:
You don’t sound too uncommitted to me…
Something I just noticed about Hillary’s little crying game she last week. It was what she said “this is a personal issue, not just a political one or a public one”. Once the wheels and the coffee got flowing this morning I started to remember hearing those words once before. Then I drank another cup and it occurred to me that I heard John Edwards say the exact same thing at the N.H. debates the Saturday before the emotional moment. He said this is a personal issue I feel in my heart, not just a political one or public one. She ripped off his words and turned on the tear faucet to help her campaign.
We need to start supporting John Edwards more in this campaign.
Obama should concede when polls show him with a slight edge?
I thought Clinton’s interview was intersting. She made good points about the economy. But I couldn’t stomach the parsing and spinning she did over her vote for the war in Iraq. I also kind of chuckled when she asserted she did not use gender as an issue in her campaign.
Sen. Clinton should send her husband home, or tell him to shut up when it comes to Obama.
The trouble is that too many Corporate Dimocrats still are in love with Bubba.
It is time to MOVE ON. When Barack talks about change, he’s right, at least about changing this.
After 8 long miserable years of Bush, this is what the Democratic Party gets-Hillary Clinton. I am officially done with the Democratic Party!
Clinton very unfairly attacks the Obama campaign with no evidence.
If HRC is/has been the change agent everyone in the USA is talking about,
perhaps she would have brought up change first?
Again, she is chasing Obama’s message!
What? no more Madiline Albright and other grey hairs behind you to represent
experience for change? Oh, that’s right it’s Youth for Change….
Ohio for Obama!!
L.A. Confidential @ 3:
Jon doesn’t sem to remember that Clinton was more black than most when it came to his aid towards getting more diversity in Government.
Clinton is out there talking about the sputtering of the economic, but what she is
not saying is that some of the economic problems that is being experienced today is a residual effect of Bill Clinton’s economic policies, eg. American jobs being shipped overseas which started on Bill Clinton’s watch. Does anyone remember the “Downsizing of America”…..
Sany @ 21:
I empathazie with this statement. if after all these years, this is who we choose to undo the damage, the Democrats deserve to lose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0icVblxh2dI
anyone that is 4 obama should hope bill takes a bigger role
he has been terrible in her campaign and cost her more votes than he gains
i love it - now the clintons are racist
goodbye south carolina and nevada score two for obama
clintons give it up you guys are scum
budda @ 28:
budda BOOM!!!
:)
White voters are not going to be happy with Obama’s camp and their racist charges.
No one is going to sign-up for 4 years of race wars worrying every statement anyone makes about Obama is going to be flipped by the likes of Sharpton into a racism.
Obama’s response:
href=”http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/13/574170.aspx”>
you people suck…. it wasnt a crying game… she got choked up about how she feels about her country…. like we all should……
she kicked timmy’s ass today… from the beginning… he had trouble looking her directly in the face…… his demeanor was cowed dislike, distrust and hostility.. she looked him straight in the eye and answered every goddamn question he asked. some of them were pretty tough.. he even mentioned monica by name…….. she proved once again that she is tough enough and ready to be president if that is the best they can throw at her…
the reason she won in new hampshire….. was because people are afraid to put a rookie in the whitehouse …. and people are realizing obama can inspire… but THAT ISNT ENOUGH.
maybe there is a place for a secretary of talking like a preacher type inspiration.
but i want a nuts and bolts candidate who can tell me what the fuck they are gonna do for me… not someone who makes me dream of a “shining city on the hill”………. not someone i would like to “have a beer with”….. i want someone like hillary.. and im not HYPMOTYZED by obama’s southern baptis ministerical rants.
other than that.. i really have no opinion except to say…… you all suck.
Bill seems to think she can’t win without him. She should be worried that she can’t win with him. It appears that he is her attack dog because she can’t do it herself. He’s acting like his words shield her from having to say them. He looks like she needs him to attack for her and that does nothing to show her own strength.
Hilary has every right to explain her positions and to note to contrasts between MKL,JFK and then BO….. How dare the Obama campaign now make this into a RACE issue. I was voting for Obama, now,,,, Well I may go to Edwards.
kevin @ 32:
Now I know why these partisan websites can be so revolting. Why can’t you pro-Clinton zombies admit that the only reason Hillary is in the thick of politics is because of her husband. He’s the one with the gold dust, the magic personality. And why would anyone - ANYONE - support such a pathetic candidate - someone who cries on cue because her handlers tell her to look more human. If any of you have any brains (and maturity), you’ll vote for one the person who is articulate, courageous and intelligent - that would be Obama. Do really want the first woman president to ride into the oval office on the coattails of her husband? What kind of liberal-feminists are you? Grow up,,,,,
jp @ 22:
What bothered me was anytime Russert read something that sounded negative or showed a video
Hillary responded that she was glad to respond to false accusations by the Obama compaign . WTF!
The video and comments read or shown to her were either out of her own mouth or Bills.
Obama’s Response
You are right!!!! what a spin by the Obama Campaign
whiteyfresh @ 35:
Hillary had a beer with reporters the other day…OOPS that was supposed to go HERE…
Hillary fights back against the usual Russert smear, and she’s “polarizing.” For Obama supporters, apparently, ageism and sexism are just fine. When it’s positive for him, Obama’s cool about race. When it might pry some of Hillary’s black supporters away in South Carolina and Michigan, then he’s going to distort what she said, and get the editorial writers (Bob Herbert) and black talk radio to wonder aloud about her. Got to admire his combination of nice, if a little blue-dog, speeches and brass-knuckle Chicago politics. But that’s all it is.
kevin @ 32:
“you all suck” Did you make that phrase up all by yourself or did you hear it somewhere else?
Jim H @ 41:
And apparently sexism is an absolute no no with the Hillary camp but racism is just fine and dandy. What is your point?
ed68 @ 36:
Do really want the first woman president to ride into the oval office on the coattails of her husband?
I just had to repeat that line. It’s a good one. Did everyone get it? Here it is again:
Do really want the first woman president to ride into the oval office on the coattails of her husband?
By inviting potential voters to view and vet every political criticism of, and every political criticizer of, Obama and his campaign statements and appeals through the prism of racism, his campaign is now directly contradicting and weakening his message of “change” and his assertion that he is the candidate who can get us beyond, or help us rise above, our acrimonious racial history. The new, negative storyline the campaign is now pushing is the kind of storyline the media loves, so it is a tactic guaranteed to get attention in the media. But, that attention is likely to have long term negative fall out. They are destroying their successful message of “hope” and “change” and replacing it with racism-in-every-statement/even-our-friends-are-racist/”Bradley affect” storylines. Those storylines say “we CAN win”, don’t promote confidence and build on the African American community’s natural desire to see, and help, one of their own succe