Bill Clinton sounds off on backlash

Source: The Politico

Former President Bill Clinton is expressing frustration with the backlash in the black community over his claim in New Hampshire that the press has coddled Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill).

“This is what happens any time anyone tries to question a statement or a position of Senator Obama,” Clinton says in an interview now airing on Sirius satellite radio. “The response is, ‘You’re attacking me personally,’ and that relieves him of the obligation to address the substance.”

...

The former president was attempting to tamp down criticism for an assertion he made toward the end of a town-hall meeting at Dartmouth College, the day before the New Hampshire primary. He heatedly told the crowd that Obama was wrong to claim “no difference in your voting record and Hillary's” on Iraq.

“Give me a break,” Clinton said at the town-hall meeting. “This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever heard.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7857.html

You are correct.

Not like "the greatest politician of our time".

You'd think he could charm the press into reporting a bit more favorably on Hillary.

His ego is getting in the way of her campaign and he needs to shut the fuck up.

“This is what happens any time anyone tries to question a statement or a position of Senator Obama,” Clinton says in an interview now airing on Sirius satellite radio. “The response is, ‘You’re attacking me personally,’ and that relieves him of the obligation to address the substance.”

Obama has not said he took the remarks personally, but they rankled some of his supporters.
-snip-

The heartburn for the Clinton campaign continued Saturday when The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, ran a front-page article saying that the remarks have “offended” some black leaders in South Carolina.
-snip-

In the Sirius interview, Clinton exaggerated positive comments he makes about Obama on the stump. Clinton frequently says he likes all the Democratic candidates, but often omits specific praise for Obama.
-snip-

That's not enough?

And Obama isn't even the president. I think it's in very poor taste to see a former president attempting to disrupt our process like this. Let his wife run her campaign, and if he wants to help - he should speak to her record and future plans. Not tear down or bash other candidates.

this the Clinton's campaign. Plural. Twofers.

that's not a fairytale, Bill, that's a matter of record.

about the fact that Obama has not been held accountable for his stances on the issues. His record has not been held up to public scrutiny.

IMO.

I'm not making excuses for Obama, but Clinton is really in no position to talk.

America's first Black President has a few problems with his core constituency, doesn't he?

Sure, Bill, you are as credible as Donald Rumsfeld.

but he is making my skin crawl with his whining and expecting The Clinton's campaign part two to be a coronation. Freaking shameless.

He pissed away an electoral landslide in '96 because he couldn't control his hedonistic impulses and his predatory philandering.

It doesn't make the first viable woman candidate look stronger to have her husband meddling and coming to her rescue, especially when he's a former president, does it?

I'd rather see Obama win than Hillary, but I hate to see her defeated by her own husband making her look weak.

and sooner or later people think its true. Its getting so you can't tell if this is a primary or Bill Clinton's chance to air out all the hate and loathing he has for the press he got during Monica. He is overshadowing Hilary and her run for the WH. Bill keep it up I want the other guy to win and this only helps him.

Who remebers "Hilary you can"t have it BOTH way!" REALLY OBAMA...


WASHINGTON -- After White House hopeful Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, he turned over "pertinent" files from his state Senate office to his successor and did not keep other office records.

Senior strategist David Axelrod said Sunday night, "Files pertinent to ongoing casework were passed to Kwame Raoul, his successor."

Regarding papers from his eight years as a state senator, Obama said in an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," "We did not keep those records."



The question about Obama's state Senate records was raised in the last week because Obama has been pressing chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to speed up the release of her records from her days as first lady and making government transparency a major campaign theme.

Last Friday, during a press availability in Des Moines, I asked Obama if his records existed, and Obama said he did not know. "You know, I'm not certain, Lynn," Obama said. "As I said, I didn't have the resources to ensure that all this stuff was archived in some way . . . it could have been thrown out."

The day before, Obama told the Chicago Tribune, "Whatever remaining documents that I have are inevitably incomplete, and then the question is going to be where's this, where's that. Once I start heading down that road, then it puts me in a position that could end up being misleading."

"Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert, following up, asked Obama, "Where are your records?

"Tim, we did not keep those records," Obama replied.

Obama said that every "single piece of information, every document related to state government was kept by the state of Illinois and has been disclosed and is available and has been gone through with a fine-toothed comb by news outlets in Illinois."

There is no central repository of records between state lawmakers and state agencies, and Freedom of Information Act requests must be filed to obtain documents, a process that has been taking months.

You have got it totally backwards. The press has been unbelievably unfair and untruthful when it comes to the Clintons. They hate them, never wanted Bill to be president, he just wasn't their kind. Whitewater anyone? They will print any and all unconfirmed rumors concerning he and Hillary. Vince Foster anyone? No, the saying is, the press keeps printing lies upon lies until the general masses actually begin to believe that it's true. And I guess you are one of those.

You said what you said and nothing is going to undo that. And being a southerner, you should know better. I guess I was wrong about you during the 90's. Plus your signing of the DOMA proves you're a homophobe as well.
I hope the ghosts of all those Iraqi children wou killed because of your sanctions haunt your dreams every night.

So fuck you bill and your wife too!

Clinton then tried to soften his criticism by adding: “This is an election where you don’t have to be against anyone. You just have to search your heart and your mind and try to do the right thing.”

“Let’s take a deep breath here for a minute: This is an astonishingly happy moment for America,” he went on. “These people who basically have about five percent disagreement and ninety-five percent agreement are contending for the Democratic nomination. I have no negative case to make against him or Sen. John Edwards for that matter.”

......But Clinton stuck by his contention that Obama has enjoyed kid-glove treatment.

“I think that his story line is not accurate,” he said. “And in 15 debates, no one ever once bothered to ask Sen. Obama, ‘How can you say you were always against the war, and your judgment is better than theirs, and they were wrong to vote for that resolution which authorized force, when two years after you gave the anti-war speech in 2004, you, Sen. Obama, said you didn’t know how you would have voted on that anti-war resolution, number one, then two days later, you said there was no difference between you and President Bush on the war?’ ”

God I miss the Big Dog...

He did not come across as a good politician at all...it was just angry, he was angry that HIllary was losing in NH...and he knew that he couldn't do anything about it...I still don't understand how she won, and I do realize that she did...but I don't think that his attacks on Obama are helping her at all...this (to me) was really unappealing...

He wants a double standard, if you ask me.

...address the substance."

Hmm...kind of like the candidate who said, "I DO take it personally" complete with watering eyes?

Damn, the Big Dog will say anything to get back in the White House with it's 24/7 access to sweet, sweet interns.

I'd like to see it.

Hillary will get 60 percent of the AA vote.

Like someone else said, there's no there there.

BTW: If you search the archive, you'll find that I've been defending (and will continue to defend)
not just Hillary, but all of our Dems (Edwards, Obama, Hillary, Kucinich) from these politically
motivated Rovian style tabloidisms.

Have a nice day.

America deserves better than being stuck with the two ruling families.

the BCCBB Dynasty.

Enough is enough!

lets get two new people up there plz.

:)