ThetaBurst

Title
Bill Clinton gets upset with CNN reporter

Link
CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Bill Clinton gets upset with CNN reporter « - Blogs from CNN.com
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Excerpt

(CNN) – Bill Clinton became visibly upset Wednesday over comments by a prominent South Carolina Democrat that compared the former president's actions on the trail to those of infamous Republican strategist Lee Atwater.

In an interview with CNN's Jessica Yellin, Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and a supporter of Barack Obama, said some of Bill Clinton's recent remarks on the campaign trail were appeals based on race and gender. He said the comments were meant to "suppresses the vote, demoralize voters, and distort the record," and said they were "reminiscent of Lee Atwater."

Clinton sharply disputed the charge, and lashed out at Yellin for raising the question.

"You live for this. This hurts the people of South Carolina," he said. "Because the people of South Carolina come to these meetings and ask questions about what they care about. And what they care about is not what's going to be in the news coverage tonight, because you don't care about it.

"What you care about is this. And the Obama people know that. So they just spin you up on this and you happily go along. I mean, the people don't care about this," he added. "They never ask about it. And you are determined to take this election away from them. And that's not right. That is not right. This election ought to belong to those people who are out here asking questions about their lives."

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Comment:

Mr. Sulu, activate project Meltdown.

ImusWallower

looks like the Democrats are shooting themselves in the ass

__________________
I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when Chrisbb rolls in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung

ThetaBurst

Beats talking out of it.

ImusWallower

true, true

__________________
I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when Chrisbb rolls in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung

BillCosby

Sheldon Alberts , Canwest News Washington Correspondent
Published: Wednesday, January 23, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Eric Elliott waited patiently for almost two hours as Bill Clinton explained in detail why his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, would make a fantastic president of the United States.

Then the 28-year-old South Carolinian stood up and asked what was really on his mind - just how big of a role would Bill play in another Clinton White House?

"People love Bill Clinton. There is no way to get around that," Elliott, who is black, said following an exhaustive question-and-answer session with the former president Wednesday at a downtown Charleston, S.C., restaurant.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton campaigns for his wife this week in Greenville, S.C.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton campaigns for his wife this week in Greenville, S.C.


"In the African-American community, he's like Marvin Gaye. They love him."

Seven years after he left the Oval Office, Bill Clinton remains wildly popular among many African-American voters in the U.S. South, where he is considered a kindred spirit in the cause of African-American equality.

The former president's appeal among black voters has been evident this week as campaign strategists for Hillary Clinton have dispatched him to rallies across the Palmetto State ahead of the Democratic presidential primary here on Saturday.

While his wife focused on winning votes in bigger states ahead of Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, Bill Clinton has acted as surrogate campaigner in cities and towns across South Carolina, where more than half of Democratic voters are black.

But the 42nd president's reputation as a fellow soldier in the African-American cause - the author Toni Morrison once called him 'the first black president' - is taking a hit as tensions mount over his harsh criticisms of Senator Barack Obama in recent weeks.

The Obama campaign has accused Bill Clinton of playing 'the race card' with warnings to Democratic voters they would be "rolling the dice" by supporting the rookie Illinois senator's presidential bid.

Hillary Clinton also stirred controversy among black voters by suggesting former president Lyndon B. Johnson played a greater role than Martin Luther King Jr. in achieving civil rights victories in the 1960s.

The feuding escalated Wednesday. Dick Harpootlian, an Obama supporter and former chairman of the Democratic party in South Carolina, likened the Clinton campaign's tactics to those of Lee Atwater, the former Republican strategist who was accused of race-baiting in the 1988 presidential race between George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis, a former Massachusetts governor.

Atwater was responsible for the infamous "Willie Horton" ads that linked Dukakis to the release of a convicted rapist who committed murder after being let out of jail.

The comparison infuriated Bill Clinton, who lashed out at reporters Wednesday following an otherwise genial town hall meeting in Charleston.

"This is crazy. This rhetoric is getting a little carried away here," the former president said.

"She did not play the race card, but (Obama's campaign) did. They are feeding you this, because they know this is what you want to cover. This is what you live for ... Shame on you. Shame on you."

Only moments before, Clinton told a crowd of about 100 people that the criticisms of Obama were a healthy part of a competitive election.

"It is wrong to accuse somebody who has a disagreement with Senator Obama of being a racist," Clinton said.

"That doesn't mean you are against Obama. Most of the white people who support Hillary like Obama. This is not about liking or disliking."

He attributed the heightened sensitivity about race to voter surprise at the likelihood that a woman or black man will be the Democratic nominee.

"It's almost like an embarrassment of riches. Couldn't we have done this in some order?" Clinton said.

The former president's high-profile in his wife's campaign has prompted speculation he would seek a prominent role in a Hillary Clinton White House, possibly complicating her ability to fill senior positions like vice-president or secretary of state.

Senator Joseph Biden, who recently abandoned his own presidential campaign, has said he would not consider acting as Hillary Clinton's running-mate because it would be a "ceremonial post."

But some voters, including Eric Elliott, say the possible return of Bill Clinton to the White House makes a vote for Hillary more appealing.

"I talked to my family about this a lot, and the one thing a lot of them said was, 'I am going to vote for Hillary because Bill is going to be there,' " he said.

Addressing concerns he would be a meddlesome first husband, Bill Clinton said he planned to continue working on his private foundation but would take on any role she asked.

"I would be there, but make no mistake about it, she will be president," he said.

"She has to have a strong vice-president, and a strong secretary of state and a strong cabinet. Therefore, they need to know on the front end, I am not going to be big-footing them. That's not my job."

For the most part, Clinton played the part Wednesday of proud and protective husband - saying his wife had been victimized by Republicans for 15 years.

"The right wing of the Republican party just beat the living daylights out of her for the eight years I was president, and they are still working on her today," he said.

"And she has to live with the smears and the slime and the stuff that people put on her all those years. She gets up everyday and goes to work, and has the strength and the moral force to do what she thinks is right in public service. I think she has shown a degree of toughness that I have rarely seen in public life. I don't how many other people could take the kind of whipping she's taken for 15 or 16 years from those people and get up there."

Now, he said, fellow Democrats supporting Obama and former senator John Edwards are being just as vicious.

"I watched her in the Iowa caucus - I watched her being called dishonest, not truthful, phony, plastic," he said. "It's like open season."


© Canwest News Service 2008

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Heretic

...again...

__________________
"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

gorillamom

And they have the nerve to talk about "change!"

__________________

The Clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power,
To tell just when the hands will stop
On what day or what hour.
Now is the only time we have,
So live it with a will,
Don't wait until tomorrow,
The hands may then be still.

Heretic

Hillary (R) Clinton is more shifty than Romney [and THAT's hard to do], so I suppose her message of change translates into flipflopping.

__________________
"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

JeffinCO

The more the Clintons and Obama throw poop at one another, the closer I come to wearing an Edwards tag.

I realize that this is the big leagues, and the republicans will pitch high and inside too, but the fact is, that the style and content of their exchanges were more about each of them personally, than the goals and objectives for the future of our country. Gawd I'm sick of that shit.

And Slick Willy is sure walking a fine line when it comes to barking campaign slogans for his wife.....as an ex President of the United States.

Certainly, Edwards ....and perhaps even the repugs are the only beneficiaries of this shit in the long run, IMO.

__________________
красные крыла всасывают

"Oh, what a lovely little.."

BillCosby

Are teh clintons hell bent on achieving their personal goals & aspirations even if it means destroying the dem party in order to save it???

IMO bill or hillary will stop @ nothing..... Drag down who ever necessary in order to fulfill their dreams............

IMO Obama can do far more to bring this country together......... TO empower ppl & bring real change........ The clinton, contrary to what they will say, are the past..... DO we want to go back to the exclusive 90's again or do we want to move forward into the inclusive future.........?????

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror