OBAMA: I DIDN'T CLAIM TO BE JFK, MLK [View All]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/08/559128.aspx

Obama: I didn't claim to be JFK, MLK
Posted: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:15 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Clinton, Obama, New Hampshire

From NBC’s Andy Merten


If you need any indication the Obama campaign feels confident enough going into tonight’s primary, look only at how he responded to Clinton’s most recent criticism.

Asked by a reporter about the New York senator’s statement last night that he is not comparable to John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr., Obama simply smiled and said, “You know, I didn’t claim to be.”

Clinton made her comments rebuking the notion that Obama’s leadership qualities are similar to those of Kennedy and King’s last night during a speech in Salem, NH.

“President Kennedy was in the Congress for 14 years," Clinton said. "He was a war hero. He was a man of great accomplishments and readiness to be president. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a movement. He was gassed; he was beaten; he was jailed.”

*** UPDATE *** NBC's Andy Merten adds that last night in Concord, N.H., Obama said the following: "Imagine that -- false hopes. Imagine John F. Kennedy looking up at the moon, and saying, 'Darn, that's far.' {laughter, applause}

"We can't do that." Reality check. {cheers} Can't be done.

"Imagine -- imagine Dr. King standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking out at those crowds -- a quarter million people around the reflecting pool -- and saying, "Ya'll go home." The dream has died. It can't be done. It's too hard."

"Lost hopes? You know, this is what this campaign is all about."

NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Michelle Perry ask, Is t