Hillary Clinton In Barack Obama Race Row

Former President Bill Clinton is scrambling to head off a potential backlash among black voters against his wife Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-New York) presidential campaign after the couple were each accused of making racially demeaning comments. President Clinton telephoned the nationally-syndicated radio talk show of Rev. Al Sharpton, the outspoken black leftist, to deny that he had dismissed Sen. Barack Obama’s bid to become the first black president as “the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen”.

Donna Brazile, a leading black Democratic strategist and former Clinton insider, said that many blacks had found President Clinton's widely publicised comments condescending and insulting. “For him to go after Obama using 'fairy tale’, calling him a kid as he did last week, is an insult,” she said. “As an African-American, I find his words and his tone to be very depressing.” Some black radio stations and internet blogs contained much harsher criticism and alleged the put-down was racially-charged.

President Clinton, who is still revered by many African-Americans from his time as president, insisted that his “fairy tale” jibe was aimed not at Sen. Obama’s presidential aspirations but at uncritical media coverage of his much-vaunted opposition to the Iraq war. Indeed, he produced unusual praise of his wife’s rival, telling Rev. Sharpton: “He’s put together a great campaign...He might win.”

President Bill Clinton’s damage limitation exercise came after his wife also provoked controversy by appearing to diminish the achievements of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sen. Clinton said it took President Lyndon B. Johnson to implement the reforms that the assassinated civil rights leader had championed. Aides to Sen. Clinton acknowledged that she had “misspoken” in her effort to make clear that change required action not just words - the basis for her frequent attacks on Sen. Obama’s campaign rhetoric of hope and optimism.

The Clintons have a long reputation for supporting black rights and President Clinton has been referred to as America’s “first black president”. But some Obama supporters believe that Sen. Clinton’s camp is deliberately trying to damage Sen. Obama with criticisms that carry racial undertones. Sen. Clinton has recently parted company with campaign aides who circulated emails inaccurately describing her rival as a Muslim, or suggesting that he would be targeted by Republicans for alleged drug-dealing because he has admitted taking cocaine as a teenager.

Another article discusses Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-South Carolina)'s displeasure that Sen. Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton appeared to dismiss, respectively, the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to the passage of civil rights legislation and Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy. This is important because Rep. Clyburn is the most highest-ranking black in congressional leadership. He is also a power in the politics of South Carolina, whose upcoming Democratic primary will feature a 50% black electorate. Until now, Rep. Clyburn has remained neutral in the presidential race but may now make an endorsement for a candidate other than Sen. Clinton.