Clinton Apologizes to Black Voters for Racial Comments
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 in a 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.
The Clintons long have enjoyed overwhelming support from black voters, but that has been eclipsed during the primaries and caucuses by enthusiasm and support for Obama, who has pulled huge margins among black voters. Arguments over the role of race and gender have flared up repeatedly throughout the contest between Obama, who would be the nation’s first black president, and Clinton, who would be its first female one.
Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton supporter and fundraiser Geraldine Ferraro gave up her honorary position with Clinton’s campaign after she said in an interview last week that Obama would not have made it this far if he were white. Obama said Ferraro’s remarks were “ridiculous” and “wrong-headed.”
Of Ferraro’s comment, Hillary Clinton told her audience: “I certainly do repudiate it and I regret deeply that it was said. Obviously she doesn’t speak for the campaign, she doesn’t speak for any of my positions, and she has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee.”
As first lady and senator, Clinton rarely cedes an inch to her critics. On the issue of her vote to authorize the Iraq war, for instance, she steadfastly has refused to apologize, coming close by saying she regrets it, despite calls from many anti-war voters in the party to make a more explicit mea culpa.
Her third conciliatory statement of the evening was more in keeping with that fighting stance.
Asked about the government’s efforts in the Gulf States after Hurricane Katrina, Hillary Clinton turned an apology into a criticism of President Bush, who happened to be speaking at a Republican event in another room at the same hotel.
“I’ve said it publicly, and I say it privately: I apologize, and I am embarrassed that our government so mistreated our fellow citizens … It was a national disgrace,” she said.
I am a black republican voting for Ron Paul this fall but this is to all you people that think Geraldine Ferraro was right….. this is for you:
I’m black… my mother’s black and I have no father…
I went to the best private school in the city when I was a kid (becuase I’m black)
I got one of the most stablized jobs in the country working for Verizon (because I’m black)
I graduated high school witha 4.0 gpa (because I’m black)
I got excepted to Harvard F’n law school on a full academic scholarship (because I’m black)
I was class president when I was in H.S. 3 out of the 4 years (because I’m black)
I was the star running back on my football team in high school (because I’m black)
And if I were to have 12 years of legislative experience and get voted in to be the senator of 1 state in this country you people would think I got that because I’m black too….right?
WRONG….
I got where I am today because my mother worked her BUTT off to get me into the best school… She was a teacher for 32 years and made ME work my butt off so I could graduate and get into one of the best schools in the country. And to have ALLLLL that I have achieved be discredited because I dont have the kind of experience WASHINGTON approves of… you say I wouldnt be where I am if I wasn’t black… that hurts me very much. Barack Obama got into Columbia and Harvard not because he was black… because he worked his butt off. Barack Obama was elected senator of Illinois not because he was black… but because he is good at his job. BARACK OBAMA HAS MORE VOTES NOT BECAUSE HE’S BLACK….BUT BECAUSE HE’S MORE HONEST… MORE POLITE…. MORE STRAIGHT FORWARD… AND MORE GENUINE THAN HILLARY CLINTON…
So for all you Gareldine backers out there…. you can all kiss my black republican behind.
HAS ANYONE READ THE ARTICLE ON REVEREND WRIGHT?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337308,00.html
THIS IS WHAT I CALL RACIST….
Hillary needs to give it up. I voted for Bill twice, would I vote for HillaryHeckkkkkkk NO!!!!!!
This lady changes her story more times than she changes her clothes> Hillary for President I….Don’t think Soooooooooooo
I’m a black man who has been a democrat all my life. The more I see the politics of the democrats play out the more I think Mccain looks like a good candidate.
Remember, Clinton did not make these comments, Geraldine Ferraro did and the last time I checked, she was capable of independent thinking. Also, keep in mind that she ran for vice-president, so she was obviously well-thought of by at least some in the Democratic Party.
Also, we all have First Amendment rights under the Constitution that allows us to say what we feel regardless of how anyone else feels about it. Saying that Geraldine Ferraro can’t speak her mind is like saying we don’t have the right to state our opinons on Clinton, Obama, Ferraro, McCain, etc.
In terms of racial issues, I have been called many bad names by people of many different races. So, to say that racism comes from only one race in particular would be very inaccurate.
You don’t hear much about one of Obama’s aides calling Clinton a monster, even after she quit, so what is the big deal now with Ferraro’s remarks? Might I add that you can prove Obama is black but you cannot prove Clinton is a monster (it is fact vs. opinion).
Anyway, now that I have spoken my mind, lets get back to the real issues that are important to us Americans. Also, I am a 20 year college student who supports Hillary Clinton.
I am not a Democrat or a Hillary supporter, but I hate to see someone lay down and be a door mat for Obama and his camp. There is no doubt that Hillary is intelligent, educated and if elected will serve our country to the best of her ability.
Hillary don’t keep apologizing to Obama and his camp for remarks that are blown out of proportion. Ms. Ferraro did not make a racial remark. Ms. Ferraro is a strong, well-spoken person. Hooray Geraldine.
FOX …… WHAT HAPPENS TO MY POST?
Barrack Obama should apologize.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337308,00.html
Why is Shilliary apologizing anyway? She didn’t apologize for her husband’s consistent remarks…
To answer the one lady’s question, about what white has gone as far with such little expierence. The white man, who went as far as Barrack Obama, just happens to be Abe Lincoln. so yeah, I’m pretty sure race doesn’t have much to do with his success.
Hillary Clinton, is shady. You can tell by her look, and how she beats around the bush with every question, in regards to her husbands doings. I really hope the nation doesn’t feed into her excuses and lies. Seriously, look at Abe Lincolns case, lack of expierence, yet he ended up changing the entire country. Maybe expierence is what got us in this mess anyways. We need someone fresh, with fresh ideas, willing to take this mess and clean it up. We need Obama