Clinton Cites Potential For Assassination As Reason To Stay In???
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Bad Decisions, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, WTF?
Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said, dismissing calls to drop out.
Umm…umm…WTF?!?!?!
Yeah, sure, if Obama somehow gets assassinated, I’m sure she’d be the next one in line, but IS SHE OUT OF HER MIND? What on earth possessed her to say that?
And by the way, for all of you Clinton supporters out there, waiting for somebody to get shot is not a campaign strategy.
On the upside, this has the potential to completely eliminate her from the VP selection process.
More as it develops…
(h/t: Rick Klau)
UPDATE:
Obama’s camp has issued a statement (via Drudge):
Senator Clinton’s statement before the ARGUS LEADER editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign, said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton…
More as it develops…
COMMENTING UPDATE:
I just deleted a comment that had a laundry list of “suspicious” people dying who’ve been associated with the Cilnton, and I’ll continue to delete comments that try to tie nonsense to her. Talk about this situation and this situation alone.
VIDEO UPDATE:
This is the clip, but what leads into it is this…”My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?”
More soon…
LATEST UPDATE (3:30 PM):
Politico reports she was answering a question about why she hasn’t heeded calls to drop out, which lines up with NY Post’s interpretation…
Hillary Clinton today cited the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign to explain why she was remaining in the race despite long odds.“We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California,” Clinton told the editorial board of a South Dakota newspaper. ” I don’t understand it,” Clinton added, alluding to the calls for her to quit.
Clinton made the statement after pointing out that her husband didn’t lock up the nomination until June of 1992, trying to point out that, by past history, it’s not late in the campaign.
The picture is starting to get clearer, and it’s not good.
CLINTON STATEMENT (3:55 PM):
Here’s what they have to say…
“She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historic examples of the nominating process going well into the summer. Any reading into beyond that would be inaccurate.”
But aren’t there a bunch of other examples? Gary Hart? Teddy Kennedy? Numerous others?
Still, it’s a big, big, big gaffe and deserving of all the WTFs in the blogosphere.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Bad Decisions, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, WTF?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I so freakin’ called this!
How many times have I said it was only a matter of time before she went to the, “but Barack could die,” meme? A lot. Hooray for me.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I don’t think she was talking about Obama, I think she was making a point that she’s waiting til June and even Bobby Kennedy waited til June. So we all can’t wait til June?
I think you are reading a lot into this and it’s more about you hating Hillary than her saying she’s waiting for Barak to die. Don’t you think your interpretation is kind of extreme?
I agree she’s tired, and not speaking her best. And it wasn’t a great comment. But who cares.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
She was simply giving 2 examples when the primary race was still going on in June. I am all for hating Hilary but this is a tempest in a teapot.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Nowhere in that comment does it mention that she said Bobby Kennedy “waited” till June…she said he was assassinated in June. To me the meaning is pretty clear (not extreme), and I’m going to need some serious clarification from her to think otherwise.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
oh, okay. wait… what?! so McCain’s healthy… but when was the last time Hill was evaluated by a doctor?!
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Preferably a psychiatric doctor >.>
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
So she is staying in so she can win if something happens to Obama?
Can’t she fulfill that exact same role without tearing apart the party by suspending her campaign but not yet releasing her delegates?
Unbelievable!
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I’m sure clarification will be forthcoming. The spin-doctors are already on their way.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
The fat lady has sung. Ms Hillary has just ended her run for the white house. The DNC and the superdelegates will not let this grotesque display stand without consequence.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Folks, from what the NY Post’s story says, her answer was to a question about why she hasn’t dropped out.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Anne Miller wrote:
“I agree she’s tired, and not speaking her best. And it wasn’t a great comment. But who cares.”
I saw Bill use a similar line in the wake of the Bosnian sniper fire flap. Sort of undermines the credibility of the 3 a.m. phone call meme, no?
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
She could have referenced other close years that DIDN’T have an assassination. Hillary is crafty and smart, I’ll give her that.
She’s just getting desperate now. Trying to get creative with delegate math, trying to lessen the value of caucus states vs. primary states, trying to compare map vs. math.
Sad, really. I wonder how many unburned bridges in the Democratic party she and Bill are going to have left after all this… at least those that aren’t with her loyal older women who are finally freely admitting that they’re angry because they’re afraid she was their best shot to see a woman elected president in their lifetimes.
It’ll happen, just not for HRC. Don’t sabotage Obama just because you’re upset that you might not live long enough to see it happen for a more worthy woman candidate.
@Fungible
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
This is not Hillary bashing – I’ve loved Hillary for a long time, and this was a flabbergasting f*&^ up. It is a little glimpse under the hood of a Clinton campaign. Some sycophant suggested to Hillary that it was her patriotic duty to stay in the race “just in case something happens”, and she thought she could slide it into our collective subconsciousness. It was cynical, and unfortunately for her it was blatantly transparent. That’s why the world is wincing. I think she feels terrible – terrible that she so clumsily lifted the lid and showed us just how they think.
I really wanted a dream ticket, but no freakin way now. I’m sad for her, but haven’t we all had enough? Hillary, it’s just not all about you. “Remember, Bobby Kennedy was shot in June.”, she says. OMG! Sorry Hil. You’re done.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
The Obama camp’s response is telling.
“…Clinton’s statement…has no place in this campaign.”
Clear as a bell. Don’t even think you’re getting an offer now. wow!
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
This should definitely eliminate Senator Clinton from any consideration as a veep. If Obama did get elected with her as the vice president and something should happen to him resulting in her becoming president, I couldn’t begin to imagine the conspiracy theories that would spring up as a result of these statements and the fractured mess the Democratic party would be in for YEARS. One could only assume this in turn would undermine her ability to effectively govern, much less get reelected and help other democrats get reelected. If she couldn’t effectively do the basic job of the vice president (taking over the presidency in case of disaster) why should she even be considered?
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
It sounded like a Freudian slip. But, it gave away her wishful thinking. The Obama people were right to critique it quickly.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Maybe this is just her way of showing she can reach across the isle and attract trailer park republicans and survivalists?
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Clinton made the same statement about Robert Kennedy’s assassination a few months ago, which further shows her apology was false. She did not know about Ted’s tumor the last time she said it.
“The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy,” she added, referring to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a brain tumor. “I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.”
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
The ‘dream ticket’ is now officially a nightmare.
We know she didn’t mean it, but do you think for one second that if she were the VP, the Republicans wouldn’t try to run scare ads about Obama dying under suspicious circumstances, if only in the hopes of dividing the Democrats against each other?
Sorry, but there’s no way you can be the VP now. That’s final.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:21 pm
If her motive was really innocent she could have said “We all remember Bobby Kennendy won California in June.” She knew exactly what she was saying but tried to leave an innocent out. She wanted to remind people of a possible taking of Obama’s life. What a desparate and tacky comment.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Robert Kennedy Jr. issued the following statement this evening:
“It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband’s 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.â€
Here’s the Link: http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/23/statement-from-robert-kennedy-jr/
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Holy smokes, the statement is illustrated way out of the context of the interview, which was about the length of the race and her opponent’s campaign to get her to concede the race early. She was talking about her staying in the campaign for the full duration until the convention or at least thru June until the voting is complete. Democracy is being trampled by the obama camapign – now that is the real story!!!! They managed to not let the DNC give Hillary her due delegates from MI and FL. Obama campaigned in Florida so he should be exempt for FL delegates, and he took his name off the Michigan ballot because the polls showed he would LOSE big to Hillary and wanted to maximize his momentum.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hilary looked discombobulated during both discussions and considering the 25 hour days these candidates have, I just wonder if she forgot her meds or food or something? She always looks more put together than that. I think they all need a rest……….
May 24th, 2008 at 10:44 am
[...] So true, Dave. A video clip of her comment here. [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
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If not Obama, who else could she be thinking about when imagining something awful happening that would give her a break? Last time I looked, he was her only remaining competition in this primary. Too bad she’s not smart enough to keep such dark thoughts like this to herself.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
She could have said–we’re waiting for another Bitter comment, or funny clothes picture, or another pastor, maybe an illness, maybe even his death. Anything could happen. And if I can’t be president I want to be Vice President because, well, Ive been thinking about all of the Kennedy’s actually and, god forbid, something should happen to the President who would be more qualified……..
Who re-did her makeup so that she could look a little grief striken??