Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

From an interview published March 6th in TIME Magazine.

Same reference... made much more clearly. And clearly innocent in its intent.

TIME:
Can you envision a point at which -- if the race stays this close -- and with the difficulties that everyone has analyzed in accumulating enough delegates to get any distance ahead where party elders would step in and say "Senators Clinton and Obama, this is now hurting the party and whoever will be the nominee in the fall. We need to figure this out."

CLINTON:
No I really can't. I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June, also in California. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual. We will see how it unfolds as we go forward over the next three to four months.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/ 0,8599,1719900,00.html

Tags: clinton, RFK (all tags)

Comments

27 Comments

We know

She's a repeat offender. She shouldn't have said it in March and she shouldn't have repeated it in May.

by chicagovigilante 2008-05-23 07:29PM | 0 recs
And why, pray tell,

wasn't a hue and a cry raised about it back in March, if it was inherently malicious, if no context could forgive it?

I mean, it was only featured prominently in one of the most popular news magazines in the country, and not a single Obama fanboy in the media and elsewhere saw it as a problem? Not one?

Let me tell you what that utter silence back then means: that the outrage today over the same remark is a complete fake, and that the only explanation for the outrage is the desperation and derangement of the Obama camp.

It's practically like a scientific experiment showing how much they have lost it: before, hearing statement A, they say nothing -- not a peep. Today, they hear the same thing, and the skies are falling, the tears start from their eyes, their sobs shake the cosmos.

Scientifically proven fakery.

by frankly0 2008-05-23 08:36PM | 0 recs
Re: And why, pray tell,

I can't speak for everyone else, but if I had seen it in March I would have been just as offended.

It isn't a matter of desperation; Obama's lead is so great that he didn't need Clinton to make a mistake this large. It is a matter of taste and sensitivity to this country's history of political violence. Barack Obama receives death threats on a daily basis. His wife and two young daughters have to worry for his safety with every stump speech he gives. This is by no means a typical political gaffe.

David Axelrod didn't go after Clinton on this today when given the opportunity because he probably understands that it's not politically necessary. But that doesn't mean that this comment isn't damaging to both campaigns in its cynical nature.

by chicagovigilante 2008-05-23 09:08PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

So the fact that instead of just saying something stupid, she repeated something stupid is somehow supposed to make this better?

It obviously wasn't malicious, but it was a pretty boneheaded thing to say.  Why can't Clinton's supporters just admit that?

by mistersite 2008-05-23 07:30PM | 0 recs
I do admit that

I think she worded what she said today badly. It was unfortunate.

But I do not believe that there was any malicious intent whatsoever, not today and not in March. I find the reaction to what she said to be far more malicious frankly.

To accuse a fellow human being of what she is currently being accused of is horrible in my opinion.

by twinmom 2008-05-23 07:36PM | 0 recs
Re: I do admit that

Obviously the reaction is overblown, but I think the reaction you're seeing has a lot to do with the timing.  Obviously, the first statement was made before Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer and a few months before the anniversary of RFK's death.  That's the unfortunate backdrop that caused this new comment to catch fire.

by rfahey22 2008-05-23 07:40PM | 0 recs
Re: I do admit that

the first statement was made before Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer and a few months before the anniversary of RFK's death.  That's the unfortunate backdrop that caused this new comment to catch fire.

Quoted for emphasis.

I don't think she was implicating a possible Obama assassination attempt or anything of the like, but invoking images of a dying Kennedy is significantly distasteful at the moment.

by TCQuad 2008-05-23 08:13PM | 0 recs
So you mean when she said she said it because

Kennedy was on her mind she was lying?? I simply can't believe that!

by heresjohnny 2008-05-23 07:31PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

Its just bizarre the way some folks would want to some how bring Obama into what she said .

I thought it was inappropriate to the Kennedy's in light of what was happening with Ted's situation and she apologized for it to the family which I thought was appropriate .

I watched the whole thing live and I heard the line of questioning and the answer she gave , it had absolutely nothing to do with Obama.

But of course her detractors that have nothing better to do would try to make hay out of it , so I guess you can blame her for putting herself in that position .

However those feigning outrage would probably end up realizing they made a fool of themselves because , there was not much there in the first place.

by lori 2008-05-23 07:31PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

Yup.  There's no history of young, charismatic African-American leaders being assassinated in this country.  I don't know why Obama supporters might think Sen. Clinton was referring to him.

I think that on this site the Clinton supporters being outraged at the outrage of Obama supporters outnumber the actual outraged Obama supporters.

by mistersite 2008-05-23 07:33PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

You know if some want to blame her for their own paranoia , I suspect she can handle it.

She has been in the arena for a long time , so if some paranoid Obama supporters want to accuse her of planting the seeds of the assasination of Obama due to some form of paranoia even though she clearly didn't do that I bet she can play doctor/shrink and handle it well.

by lori 2008-05-23 07:40PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

Paranoia?  Seriously?  You're going to tell the people who saw Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X gunned down that they're paranoid because they're afraid it'll happen again?

Have fun with that.

by mistersite 2008-05-23 07:54PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

so Obama is like Medger evers, MLK and Malcom X...what a joke!!! Dude lay off the Kool-aid will ya.

by tarheel74 2008-05-23 08:11PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

No, He is not. None of them would have been able to come close to the presidencial nomination. Especially against the inevitable one.

by SunSon 2008-05-23 10:01PM | 0 recs
she stopped using the term in early May

She got warned by her campaign.  Unfortunately it came out again today.

by Regenman 2008-05-23 07:33PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same

Well doesnt this just defend what she said today that she was talking about the races going into june.

I have seen and read both and both are very clear that she is talking about.  She says "Primary contests used to last a lot longer".  Your posting her second comment just proofs what she was saying and undermines most of the outrage post here the last few hours.

And if this was sooooo bad why didnt anyone make a big issue of it.  Because it wasnt anything anyone thought was an issue.  Your argument ends up supporting HRC's views.  Just saying.

daivd

by giusd 2008-05-23 07:34PM | 0 recs
I am defending Clinton

That was my whole point of the diary.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I agree with you... the fact that she said this so clearly before should undermine the outrage. Probably won't though.

by twinmom 2008-05-23 07:39PM | 0 recs
Re: I am defending Clinton

Faux outrage can't be undermined.

by Scotch 2008-05-23 07:44PM | 0 recs
Re: I am defending Clinton

Sorry, my bad it is late and i am beat.  I will read it more carefully next time.

david

by giusd 2008-05-23 07:50PM | 0 recs
No worries

I think we are all beat.

by twinmom 2008-05-23 07:55PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

There comes a time when opportunism and the wish to destroy someone for their own personal gain is so obvious it can't be taken seriously.  I think the Obama supporters who are so desperate for Obama to be declared the winner, are at that point at least in this corner of the world.

Prior to coming here and before  hearing pundants start to slober at a possible news story, I saw nothing at all in her comment except an attempt to show concrete examples of long primaries.  Kennedy's assination was something tangable from history that people could actually remember.  

But if Obama supporters want to become hysterical about it and gasp and pull at their cloths about it, go ahead it only reflects on you.

by Scotch 2008-05-23 07:42PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

Stop with the insults. I am an Obama supporter and I am not desperate for Obama to be declared the winner. It is already clear to me that Obama is the winner.

Hillary Clinton's remark was incredibly insensitive and horrendous judgment, just more evidence that her judgment is too horrendous to be president. It was insensitive not just to the Kennedy's but to Obama. It is no secret that a lot of blacks (and whites and others) are concerned about the danger to Barack Obama being a black man running for President. For Hillary Clinton to publicize the possibility, just like Huckabee's idiotic joke, just confirms for me that I intensely do not want her to be president, ever. The context in which she brought it up, as part of saying that anything can happen so why should she drop out just makes it worse.

Now I agree that a number of Obama supporters, especially on Daily Kos are quite outrageous, even more outrageous than Hillary, in claiming that she wants him to be assassinated. To me that is a very hateful claim.

But I think it behooves Clinton supporters to realize and admit that Hillary's statement is awful, and reflects terrible judgment on her part.

by berkeleymike 2008-05-23 08:05PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

I am not hysterical.  I am a bit mad about the remark.

Am I not allowed to have a reaction?  I haven't been near any sort of TV coverage of these remarks.  My reaction is to the text itself.

She shouldn't have said it.  It was stupid.  She deserves to get dinged for it.

Words matter.  It ain't that important to me, but it was stupid.

by Reaper0Bot0 2008-05-23 08:27PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

There's no innocence in intent, knowing she's uttered it at least twice that we know of, maybe more, almost verbatim.

by wanderindiana 2008-05-23 07:54PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

It's completely innocent.  She is pointing out a very memorable event to remind everybody that a campaign was still going on in June.  If you want to make a point like that, you remind people of something memorable, not something obscure.

I find it interesting that she made the point in print, in one of the most prominent news outlets in the U.S., months ago and it didn't cause a peep.  Then today, it causes some kind of faux outrage in the blogosphere and media.  Why?  It was a perfectly innocent remark then and it is now.

by markjay 2008-05-23 08:16PM | 0 recs
Re: Clinton Made Same RFK Reference In March

It's not really that surprising considering the timing.  Plus, it's not like there's some database that reporters go to in order to see whether a politician has ever made the exact same statement before.  That doesn't mean it's all justified, but I can see why these comments made the news.

by rfahey22 2008-05-23 08:30PM | 0 recs
The standard on judging your opponent's rhetoric

was established by Hillary in South Carolina and Indiana.

The standard was that the candidate who uttered the statement and the statement itself was subject to the worst possible interpretation and the worst possible presumed motivation.

If you judge Hillary's remark by Hillary's standard then it doesn't look very good for Hillary.

by Sam Wise Gingy 2008-05-23 09:19PM | 0 recs

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