Clinton Apologizes To Black Voters

[DeSwiss]

Source: Associated Press

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did something Wednesday night that she almost never does. She apologized. And once she started, she didn't seem able to stop. The New York senator, who is tight race with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, struck several sorry notes at an evening forum sponsored by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a group of more than 200 black community newspapers across the country.

Her biggest apology came in response to a question about comments by her husband, Bill Clinton, after the South Carolina primary, which Obama won handily. Bill Clinton said Jesse Jackson also won South Carolina when he ran for president in 1984 and 1988, a comment many viewed as belittling Obama's success. "I want to put that in context. You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive," Hillary Clinton said. "We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama."

"Anyone who has followed my husband's public life or my public life know very well where we have stood and what we have stood for and who we have stood with," she said, acknowledging that whoever wins the nomination will have to heal the wounds of a bruising, historic contest.

"Once one of us has the nomination there will be a great effort to unify the Democratic party and we will do so, because, remember I have a lot of supporters who have voted for me in very large numbers and I would expect them to support Senator Obama if he were the nominee," she said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_s_apologies

---

- "Once one of us has the nomination there will be a great effort to unify the Democratic party...."

But until then....
========================================================================
DeSwiss


http://atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

1. Wow, I'm sorry to say I'm a little surprised.

Kudos to you, Senator Clinton. A little late, but at least you did the right thing.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

44. don't be taken in - she knew exactly what she was doing

the Clinton Campaign has deliberately been raising the race issue all along.

The damage is done, thats all they wanted and Ferraro has done this before.
She's been busy making the rounds of the right winger radio and tv shows.

After all, Ferraro is employed by Fox news.

[thunder rising]

2. That's shooshing sound is the fire extinguisher being applied to her flaming butt.

[saigon68]

29. Then there's this

[DJ13]

3. I think she realized her campaign had gone too far

again.

[Pirate Smile]

4. !

'... acknowledging that whoever wins the nomination will have to heal the wounds of a bruising, historic contest.
"Once one of us has the nomination there will be a great effort to unify the Democratic party and we will do so, because, remember I have a lot of supporters who have voted for me in very large numbers and I would expect them to support Senator Obama if he were the nominee," she said."

[lisa58]

5. good for her...

...there's nothing weak about apologizing

[tularetom]

6. If Senator Clinton says she ain't a racist i take her at her word

she sure seems to associate with a lot of 'em though.

[Doctor_J]

9. I don't think she is, nor are her associates

They unfortunately think that this is a way to get the nomination.

God, I wish the two of them would focus ALL of their vitriol on the cancer that is the GOP, and let the nomination chips fall where they may.

[hedgehog]

7. "You know I am sorry if anyone was offended" sounds like a

boilerplate non-apology apology to me.

[heliarc]

15. Exactly...

Its actually very patronizing to say the least. She sounds like an abusive husband. "I'm sorry I hit you. You know that I love you." Disgusting.

[hedgehog]

16. That's a good comparison. She's the abuser who blames the victim for complaining! nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

20. Thought the same thing. Sounds like: sorry you're so stupid, you misinterpreted my remarks.

[EFerrari]

21. Conditional statement. Of course. n/t

[Diane R]

27. The least sincere kind of apology. "I did nothing wrong, but it's too bad if it hurt your feelings.

[JerseygirlCT]

48. Yes, sort of "I'm sorry you're stupid enough to take that the wrong way" nt

[CoffeeCat]

8. Another campaign marketing point...

...couched as an apology.

Does this woman ever stop working it?

She's doing damage control. She's lost points in national polls since she's
been attacking, and her internals are probably telling her that there is a
lot of ill will toward her.

No longer able to market her, "Vote for me and you get Obama too!' messaging, she's moved on
to a new message, which is:

"Gee this is a bloody fight. Whoever is the nominee will have a mess to clean up! But please, don't
think that the party won't be unified after this is over. It will be. Please don't pay attention to my
vitriol and my attacks and how I pretty much endorsed McCain over Obama. We all do this. In the end, don't
worry your pretty littie heads, because we'll all be united."

She's trying to smooth over the rough edges after lobbing one verbal grenade after another at Obama.

She's done damage to Obama, and to the party with her McCain remarks--which were repeated at
least 5 times in five different places. Dems are turned off by that. So now, she's just marketing
the notion that both sides have said and done bad things, and that the party will be unified no
matter what.

So, this week she's a "uniter." :eyes:

...which means next week she'll be in attack mode again.

Nothing like taking a wild ride on the Hillary campaign's "Bi-Polar Express."

[Oleladylib]

30. She's done damage to Obama?????

[belpejic]

10. Right thing to do

But I can't believe Hillary got herself into this mess in the first place. African American support seemed way down the list of things Hillary and Bill could foul up.

[lisa58]

12. They just want it tooooo badly...

...it's not pretty and it's disappointing a lot of people who admire them.

[Edgewater_Joe]

11. Fine - But What Happens Next?

Will she call off the dogs and notice she can't win? Or will Wolfson and Penn continue to drag everything down to the sewer?

[Tarheel_Dem]

37. Her campaign is exactly where she wants it..they've got Obama

discussing issues of race, and if there's one thing White America doesn't want to talk about, it's issues of "race". This is all very calculated, and designed to chip away at Obama's white support. Tactically, it may be a stroke of genius; but I hope it's worth alienating the party's most loyal voting block. We'll see.

[NoodleyAppendage]

41. I suspect you are right. Using RACISM to win an election...how Repuke of her. n/t

j

[heliarc]

13. Its hard for me to believe her now...

Every time she is making some snarky double dealing comment about McCain's experience, or about Obama's substance there's a very smug and disagreeable look on the senator from New York's face that seems to suggest that she isn't sorry at all about the very calculated and mean-spirited things she is saying. I went into this contest liking Obama, and liking Hillary both. When I decided to support Obama, it isn't because I disliked Hillary at all.

But now I definitely dislike Hillary. She makes my skin crawl. I'm encouraged that she apologizes for this and her campaigns missteps where her own party base is concerned... that is if I can believe her anymore.

[nolabels]

47. Not to be trusted, yep, that's where it's at

She seems to want a Whitehouse key no matter how she gets it. The angle for a VP spot so she can get grips on things seems to be the ticket here if nothing else. Then still too, it could be some other kind of plan. With devious people, you just can't hardly tell how they are thinking (if at all)

And like who here thinks with Dick around that * is charge of anything really :shrug:

[goclark]

14. This is Face #20 for Pillary

Don't be fooled.

It will change in a heart beat.

Tomorrow it will be ~~~ shaking a stupid paper in his face and she'll say,"Meet me in PA Barack Hussein Obama, meet me in PA with your turban on!"

Next day, tear day.... "Oh, how could you think that I would give anything but honor to your name Sen. Osama."

Next day .... Bill's day to suggest another "I have a Dream Day"
This will be at a rally held in Philadelphia

" I spoke to Dr. King's spirit last night,he told me that his dream was that Hillary would be President and that she would take good care of Barack. Dr. King said Barack would be a perfect Vice President."

And let the church say Amen
:puke:

[EFerrari]

24. I'm right there with you.

This woman and her horrible campaign have gotten on my every last nerve.

I used to just disagree with here. Now, I actively dislike her and cannot wait until she goes away.

[JaneQPublic]

17. She said the same thing at the State of the Black Union in February

Yet the racist crap continued to flow from the Clinton campaign following THAT apology.

[monmouth]

18. Maybe that luncheon she had today with her supporters/big donaters

had a "word" with her and the conduct of the campaign..

[Up2Late]

19. But until then... It's called a Political Campaign! Get used to it!

(and this is in no way meant as a sexist or racial comment, it's an old expression)

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

What do you expect her to do, just quit because your candidate is a little bit ahead? That's just crazy!

One of the guys on CNN made the best analogy I've heard lately, he said, It would be like if the Indianapolis 500 was in lap #180 of 200 with Obama's car 2 car lengths ahead, would you expect Hillary to just say, "Oh well, you're a little bit ahead of me and there are only 20 more laps to go, I'll just quit since you'll probably finish the race ahead of me..."

No, you would expect her to finish the race, because he could crash or run out of gas or whatever. This is politics, you don't just quit when people still support you and you are this close to the end of the race, that would be silly.

[DeSwiss]

22. Being a survivor of the racist South....

...of the 60s and 70's, I know a racist when I see one and when I hear one talk.

So I'm already "used to it." Thank you very much.

[EFerrari]

23. I have no problem with her being in the kitchen.

It's her fouling the kitchen I have a problem with.

[Diane R]

28. What do I expect her to do? I expect her to act like a decent human being...and she can't do it.

[wndycty]

33. If the tables were turned and Barack had lost 11 straight plus had not chance of. . .

. . .catching Hillary, they would have told his Black ass to drop out. I say that as a Black man.

[Ddan]

39. AMEN

The entire democratic party would turn their back on Barack if he was in Hillary's place. No one seems to want to talk about that.

[maine_raptor]

50. OR............

The number two car could "crash and burn", to use your analogy, thus allowing the number one to cruise to the finish and have an easier time in the next and final race.

Nope, sorry, but what we are seeing this Political Campaign, is the downfall of a once great Political force: The Clintons.

By her words and actions during this campaign, she has only herself to blame. Her campaign staff has to take some of the blame, sure. But she was behind the wheel. She accepted the navigational directions she was given by that staff.

I pray that her "crash and burn" doesn't cause the number one car to loose in the finals.

[Diane R]

25. There can be no unity if Hillary is the nominee. She's set too many bridges on fire.

[Zhade]

26. "I am sorry if anyone was offended." That's not an apology.

That's an excuse.

Not good enough.

[jgraz]

31. They got one thing right: She is pretty sorry.

[burythehatchet]

32. "We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama."

as long as that gem (placing Jesse and Barack's names in the same sentence) can be placed in the dialogue and in the public conscience repeatedly, Mission Accomplished.

[jgraz]

42. She's probably pissed they haven't tied him to Willie Horton yet.

[TML]

34. Too little, too late

You can't take the racist comments, nor the "disagreement" back once it's out of the bottle. If she was sincere about her apology, we would have heard this two weeks ago. Now, it only comes out once Keith Olbermann laid the smack down.

We can see through the bullshit.

[Frank Booth]

35. Too late.

She's like a husband who can't stop beating his wife. She's asking for just just one more chance. And when she does it again next week, she'll be asking again for just one more chance again.

She's quite the piece of work.

[TrogL]

36. Sometimes you need to learn when to stop digging

She's trying to dig her way out of a hole and just making it deeper.

Put a fork in her, she's done.


(We need a smilie for that).

:popcorn: will do in the meantime.

[Bonobo]

38. Saying "I'm sorry IF people were offended, but" is not an apology in my book. Sorry. nt

[NoodleyAppendage]

40. Her Internal Polling Finally Showed that Racism Wasn't a Good Campaign Strategy.

I wonder which focus group was polled to allow her to make this move. Lord knows this apology doesn't come from the void that is known as her heart.

J

[williesgirl]

43. Of course she's going to finally say this in front of black publishers/reporters. But it took way

too long and it's obvious she doesn't mean a damn word of it. She's running a filthy campaign, with winning at any costs, regardless of what she's doing to our country and party. Fuck her. And this is from a feminist.

[ConcernedCanuk]

45. Back-paddling, that's how I see it

.
.
.

As a canoeist, I know what back-paddling is

It's trying to stop that forward motion that you were so happy with,

then realizing you are heading for disaster.

Back Paddle like crazy!

[ima_sinnic]

46. "I'm sorry if anyone was offended"?? F**K YOU, TWIT!

just go away!!
you have done more to hurt this nation in the last year or so than the repukes have done in 7 years.
what a disgusting, double-dealing POFS.
I didn't like her from the get-go because of her lack of leadership in ANYthing, her constant state of follwership, of testing the winds before sticking her neck out--but now I absolutely detest this wretched suck-ass POS, with her back-handed praising of McBushCo, her subtle and constant racist BS digs at Obama, constantly reminding us in every fucking way that he is a black man (which never even had to be a fucking issue), her sorry-ass Iraq Invasion complicity and approval, her potential sorry-ass Iran War complicity and approval, her planted audience members, her little scandals, her ties to big corporate greed-heads, her Wal-Mart ties, etc. etc. ad nauseum--and now this lame excuse of an "apology," timed just perfectly to fit whatever the current polls are showing about her fuckwad campaign.
Somehow The People continue to favor Obama! SO GO THE FUCK AWAY ALREADY, FUCKWAD!

[Ian David]

49. Ugh! Hillary issued a typical Republican-style non-apology.

"I want to put that in context. You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive," Hillary Clinton said. "We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama."



"I am sorry if anyone was offended" is NOT the same as "I am sorry I was offensive."


Example:

Me: You're an asshole.
You: I'm offended that you called me an asshole.
Me: I'm sorry if you're offended that I called you an asshole. We're all proud of you, you know.
You: Somehow, I don't feel much better.

That is not an apology.

This is an apology:

Me: You're an asshole.
You: I'm offended that you called me an asshole.
Me: I'm sorry I called you an asshole. That was very offensive of me.
You: Thank you. I forgive you.
Me: You would, you fucking idiot.
You: Hey!

[Alter Ego]

51. She...she apologized for something.

I know I'm speechless.

I guess it's like the Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader dichotomy--even when he was Vader, Luke knew there was still good in him somewhere.