Clinton, Obama Clash Over Race Issue

CBNNews.com

January 14, 2008

CBNNews.com - As a very large number of black voters prepare to cast their first ballots in the Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have become entangled in political rhetoric over the race issue.

In the last few days, Clinton has been trying to defend the comments that she and her husband made regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy as well as Obama's fitness for the White House. The comments have angered some black voters.

While campaigning in New Hampshire, Clinton had said King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bill Clinton said Obama was telling a "fairy tale" about his opposition to the Iraq war.

Responding Sunday, Obama said, "Senator Clinton made an unfortunate remark, an ill-advised remark, about King and Lyndon Johnson. I didn't make the statement. I haven't remarked on it. I think it offended some folks who felt that somehow diminished King's role in bringing about the Civil Rights Act," he told reporters on a conference call. "She is free to explain that, but the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous."

In an effort to turn the tables on Obama, Mrs. Clinton accused his campaign on "Meet the Press" of trying to twist her words. "This is an unfortunate story line the Obama campaign has pushed very successfully," the former first lady said Sunday on the NBC telecast. "I don't think this campaign is about gender, and I sure hope it's not about race."

Innocent Comment or Veiled Jab

Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson, a prominent black Clinton supporter, criticized Obama and seemed to refer to his acknowledged teenage drug use while introducing Clinton at her next event.

"To me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues - when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood; I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book - when they have been involved," Johnson said.

Obama has written about his youthful drug use that included marijuana, alcohol and sometimes cocaine in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father."

In a subsequent statement released by the Clinton campaign Johnson claimed that his comments referred to Obama's work as a community organizer in Chicago "and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect."

Obama, campaigning in Las Vegas, declined to respond to Johnson.

"I'm not going to spend all my time running down the other candidates, which seems to be what Senator Clinton has been obsessed with for the last month," Obama said.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Obama's wife rose to his defense over Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" comment. Michelle Obama said some blacks might be skeptical that white America will elect her husband, but advised them to look to his win in Iowa.

"Ain't no black people in Iowa," she said during a speech at the Trumpet Awards, an event celebrating black achievement. "Something big, something new is happening. Let's build the future we all know is possible. Let's show our kids that America is ready for Barack Obama right now."

Sources: Associated Press, ABC News

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