PRES. BILL CLINTON: Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, who's neutral...
SEN. CLINTON: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: ...said this, "To call that dream a fairy tale, which Bill Clinton seemed to be doing, could very well be insulting to some of us."
SEN. CLINTON: Tim, let me--let me just stop you right there.
MR. RUSSERT: But, no...
SEN. CLINTON: No, wait a minute.
MR. RUSSERT: No, I didn't stop you. Let me just go through...
SEN. CLINTON: No, but you did not give the entire quote and so...
MR. RUSSERT: No, but you...
SEN. CLINTON: The entire quote was clearly about the position on Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: But I'm...
SEN. CLINTON: It was not about the entire candidacy. It was not about the extraordinary, you know, abilities.
MR. RUSSERT: But Congressman--but Congressman Clyburn has been covering this race. Donna Brazile, herself a longtime activist in the Democratic Party, this is what she said. Here's Donna Brazile.
(Videotape, Tuesday):
MS. DONNA BRAZILE: As an African American, I find his words and his tone to be very depressing.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: So these are people who are not supporters of Obama, who are listening. Let me just go to the Martin Luther King thing because you had your opportunity to talk about this at the beginning of the show and I want to lay this out for our viewers. This is how The New York Times categorized it. "In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Mrs. Clinton ... tried to make a point about presidential leadership. `Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of '64.' Mrs. Clinton said in trying to make the case that her experience should mean to voters than the uplifting words of Mr. Obama. `It took a president to get it done.'" Again, Congressman Clyburn, "We have to be very, very careful about how we speak about that era in American politics. ... That bothered me a great deal."
A writer in the Washington Post today, a black woman said it's as if you are minimizing "I Have a Dream." That you're saying it's a nice sentiment, but it took a white president to get blacks to the mountaintop.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, I...
MR. RUSSERT: That's her take.
SEN. CLINTON: I understand the taking out of context and the mischaracterization. I've spoken with Congressman Clyburn. I have spoken with a number of my very strong and adamant supporters, but Tim, I can't let you get away with that mischaracterization and those snippets. I was responding to a speech that Senator Obama gave in New Hampshire where he did compare himself to President Kennedy and to Dr. King. You know, President Kennedy served in the Congress for 14 years, he was a war hero. He'd been engaged in many of the battles that led to his election in the 1960 election. Dr. King had been on the front lines. He had been leading a movement. But Dr. King understood, which is why he made it very clear, that there has to be a coming to terms of our country politically in order to make the changes that would last for generations beyond the iconic, extraordinary speeches that he gave. That's why he campaigned for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. That's why he was there when those great pieces of legislation were passed. Does he deserve the lion's share of the credit for moving our country and moving our political process? Yes, he does. But he also had partners who were in the political system.
And I think it is such an unfair and unwarranted attempt to, you know, misinterpret and mischaracterize what I've said.
msnbc.msn.com
THANK GOD for transcripts, Hillary! |
