Bill Clinton: “RFK Jr. Made Very Persuasive Case" For '04 Election Fraud

[kpete]

In the latest RS there’s a new story on Blackwell’s gutter tactics in the Ohio governor’s race, and how the vote may already be stacked against his challenger, Ted Strickland, a Democrat.

Also in the story is a box on p.44 about former President Bill Clinton’s response to the Kennedy article, which I found interesting:


In June we published Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comprehensive analysis of voting fraud and among those convinced by the piece was former President Bill Clinton. “I read Robert Kennedy’s article in Rolling Stone, and I think all of you should if you haven’t,” he recently urged the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. “Before I read it, I was convinced that President Bush had won Ohio…But I thought Robert Kennedy made a very persuasive case.” Clinton singled out Ohio’s secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, as the main culprit, calling him “a world-class expert in voter suppression” who did “everything he could to keep voters that he thought were Democrats from voting, in every way that he could.”

more at:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3949

Asked his opinion about Robert Kennedy Jr.'s recent article in Rolling Stone, charging that John Kerry, not George Bush, won the majority of votes in Ohio and thus won the 2004 presidential election, Clinton said Kennedy made "a compelling case."

And, he said, "I think there's no question that Al Gore would have won Florida" if all the votes had been counted accurately and all the people who wanted to vote had been able to.

http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A4545

[William769]

1. But how can that be?

By listening to alot of people on DU Bill Clinton is a Republican.

[davidwparker]

12. Yes, what about it. Does that mean he can't be right sometime?

He undercut the unions with NAFTA like a Republicon.

[femrap]

15. If he's so damn smart, why did it take him so damn

long to figure out there was a stolen election in Ohio?

He waits for nearly two years before he mentions this? Only after the Real big dog, RFK, Jr, makes the case against Blackwell.

He's part of the problem IMHO....should have spoke up long ago.

[Kolesar]

18. Thread under hijack---LET'S ROLL!!!

[CollegeDUer]

2. Bill Clinton's an "Establishment Democrat"

He's "in the Washington Beltway" -- the club. He doesn't want to rock the boat that much. He was a saint compared to the man we have now, but I wouldn't call him a working class progressive at all. He's too far removed from those people.

[Shakespeare]

4. No, Clinton's not "in the Beltway."

He's an established fundraiser (a huge distinction), and a party lion in that regard, but he was never accepted by Washington's "inside the Beltway" crowd. Occasionally, you can catch little glimpses of Clinton's lingering (and justifiable) resentment over this fact.

Sally Quinn, wife of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, wrote viciously about the Clintons throughout both terms of the administration--she was more or less the "official" voice for the beltway insiders, and she was nasty and ruthless. The Clintons lacked the social creds of the east coast intelligentia, and were treated accordingly. Woe be any (fornerly) poor southerner who dares to be part of that inner circle.

Edited to add a link to an excellent story summarizing Quinn's (and, by extension, the in-the-beltway crowd's) disdain for Clinton:

http://archive.salon.com/media/1998/03/09media.html

And one more note: I was working and living, literally, inside the beltway during this time and watched a lot of this up close.

[CollegeDUer]

5. I think you pointed out a great ill to our democracy here

That even the "elite" are not elite enough for a "higher elite."

[davidwparker]

14. Welcome CollegeDUer

[pnwmom]

7. "He was a saint compared to the man we have now. . . "

And that might be the best we can do. Unfortunately, politics is all relative.

Welcome to DU, CollegeDUer!

[Vidar]

29. Welcome to DU.

[fedupinBushcountry]

3. Need to change your title

its ELECTION fraud not VOTER fraud. Big difference.

[kpete]

6. thanks

I should know better - too much wine and talk with the girls last night...

Keep watch out for me...

[byronius]

8. I got myself trained up on that.

[autorank]

9. AP, nah; Reuters, nah; kpete OH Yeah! Check this out.

We were there... itizen Clinton Speaks Out: Former President Raises Cain - Almost July 3, 2006 .... featuring DUers mod mom, PATRICK, blm, Atomic Kitten, and MikeNY... WAY TO GO CLINTON...KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!

Snip:

Former President Clinton spoke to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies on June 17, 2006. He gave the keynote address which covered a number of topics. He even provided his answer to “the fundamental nature of the 21st century” – “interdependence.”

During the question and answer portion of the speech, an audience member made an inquiry about election fraud. Clinton’s response might have gained front page status or at least editorial page controversy if the United States had a function media. It does not.

Audience member to Clinton: Talking about elections, Robert Kennedy Jr. just wrote an article in Rolling Stone claiming the Bush Administration stole the last election. Do you think it was, and how can we guard against something like that going on in the future?

President Clinton: I must say I read Robert Kennedy’s article in Rolling Stone and I think all of you should if you haven’t. And before I read it, I was convinced that President Bush had won Ohio… I… I …thought it would have been ironic if he had lost the election in the Electoral College and won the popular vote, that is if he went out the same way he came in. But… but I think that… I think that -- two things, I think there is no question that Al Gore would have won Florida if all the votes had been counted and the people who intended to vote for him had their votes counted.

This answer is remarkable on several levels. First, he tells the audience to read the article making the case for a stolen election in 2004. Second, he states that Gore’s loss of Florida was due to the most obvious form of election fraud, a failure to count all the votes. Finally, Clinton goes right up to the edge of saying, “…And before I read it, I was convinced that President Bush had won Ohio… I…” This is what is known as a pregnant pause, a moment of simultaneous reflection and silence, in this case, causing him to stop just short of saying “…I…now think he didn’t.” He pauses again when he seems to come back to the first part of the question, was it stolen: “But… but I think that… I think that…” He then continues with what is perhaps a revealing statement about Gore winning had all the votes been counted.

[blm]

21. It appears that at least Rolling Stone read this article - a shame no one

in the corpmedia picked up on what was said, and I think it's safe to say that was what Clinton intended when he stayed below the radar with this lowtoned remark.

[autorank]

27. The association that hosted him wondered about this too.

The ran a piece on their web site saying, why isn't anybody covering this except this Michael Collins guy;;)...you quotations are great...

From: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0607/S00045.htm

Poster blm immediately questions the motives for Clinton’s description of who won 2000 and 2004 tying this stance to a larger group of centrist Democrats seeking to move the party toward consistent “moderation:”

Many of them have spent the last 2 years completely ignoring how well Kerry did and reinforcing their own SPIN that the party needs to be more centrist, Kerry was too liberal and scared the American people and didn't connect with them bull shit.

Those who want to benefit from that scenario PROMOTE the lie and have no interest in machine fraud and will not acknowledge it. Was Clinton just throwing out vague support to assuage the believers in the audience while being completely aware that a full endorsement actually helps change the storyline to one they DO NOT WANT - that Kerry won by a remarkable number. A VERY ELECTABLE Democrat.

SNIP

The dialogue was summarized on a note of pragmatism by poster blm:

We SHOULD make Clinton be MORE RESPONSIBLE for his own words, and I say we promote the heck out of them - AND hold him to his recognition that RFKs article is compelling and you'd have to be one helluva candidate to rack up that many votes against an incumbent.

SNIP (can't resist putting this on in)

A most succinct summary was offered by poster PATRICK

The main Dem leaders are a giant step behind the truth and nowhere near doing anything about it- and thinking this is the wise course and stance. Maybe their private beliefs about fraud are more on track, but with their dedication to keeping this below the public radar and absent from public policy, it truly becomes not only inconsequential but a service to fraud itself.

[helderheid]

10. WOOT!

[LSK]

11. Now he needs to read Fooled Again and the Conyers report

[joeunderdog]

22. Score a big lightbulb for a 2006 Rolling Stone article for an ex-Pres?

Is that what it takes? Ya mean, he's just finding this stuff out?

Scary.

[Bozita]

13. Big Dawg is on Charlie Rose's show tonight -- future of Dem Party is topic

[blm]

16. Well, if Clinton really BELIEVES the RFK article he should use his cache

to say so PUBLICLY - something he has NOT done since he made this remark to ALTERNATIVE PRESS.

[blogslut]

17. Total Leo

Patient, gracious people, Leos. The expend a lot of second and third chances. Be very scared when a Leo says nothing for a long time then suddenly speaks out. When they attack him for this, keep in mind, he's already planned on that probability.

Bill Clinton taught me a final lesson in the foolishness of hero worship. I like him. He's the very best possible politician - among the likes of FDR, Lincoln and Washington. He's good. He's damned good but he is a politician. He must ride the rhetorical fence because that's what politicians do. One can only hope that along the way, our elected officials leave the service of our country no worse than they found it. Sometimes a politician leaves us better. Bill Clinton is one that left us better off.

I think this is big. Clinton's statements are deliberate. I hope they unleash the yappy attack pundits on him. I hope it becomes a thing. Go ahead. Poke the lion...

[malaise]

19. Kicked

and recommended

[Supersedeas]

20. Edwards was adamant about not conceeding.

[blm]

23. So was Kerry, until the election legal team could come up with no evidence

to continue in a court case and the math was not there for them as well. Edwards had no evidence to give a judge, either.

Then they conceded, in hope that a whistleblower would come forth - - as in most corruption cases, a whistleblower is needed where there is no concrete evidence in hand.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. Too bad nobody wanted to listen when we were screaming about Blackwell

BEFORE the election...

[Pawel K]

25. Before this thread gets hijacked further I would just like to say

Thank you Mr. Clinton, I have great respect for you.

[freedomburn]

26. BIG DOG! WOOF WOOF!!

[Vidar]

28. Great to hear it from the Big Dog.

[rman]

30. Welcome to the party Bill, you're late