Clinton brushes off Brown jab, says Whitman has made him ‘a household face again’

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Former President Bill Clinton said he understood the frustration that led Jerry Brown to make a joke about Clinton’s dalliance with a White House intern and said that any lingering tension with Brown from their 1992 presidential primary has long been forgotten.

Brown was irritated by a Meg Whitman attack ad that uses 1992 footage of Clinton assailing Brown during a presidential primary debate, and lashed out, Clinton said.

‘This Meg Whitman ad really got under his skin but I understand why -- it’s a devastatingly good ad, if it had been accurate … but it wasn’t, so I decided I should put out a statement,’ Clinton said. ‘Then I heard about the press conference. I’ve known him 34 years, I knew exactly what happened. I’m not young, he’s a couple years older than I am, and he was tired and frustrated and he said something he regretted and the next day went out and apologized for it. I’ve reached the point now where I just don’t care about that stuff anymore.’

Clinton was referring to Brown’s remarks last week where he called Clinton a liar and made reference to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Brown apologized Monday and Clinton endorsed him Tuesday.

Clinton made his remarks in an interview about the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting with Yahoo! News and the Huffington Post.

The former president seemed bemused by his appearance in the 30-second Whitman ad, which remains on heavy rotation on California television stations.

‘Unbelievable,’ Clinton said. ‘Meg Whitman made me a household face again and my younger self, too, which I’m very grateful for.’

Clinton, who will visit California in October to stump for Brown and Lt. Gov. nominee Gavin Newsom, said he planned to help Brown all along and that rumors about continuing hostility from his 1992 presidential primary battle with Brown are simply wrong.

‘We buried that campaign hatchet years ago,’ Clinton said.

His endorsement of Newsom in the gubernatorial primary, which many in the chattering classes cite as evidence of his disdain for Brown, is misunderstood, Clinton said.

‘Gavin Newsom I believe is one of the most innovative and accomplished mayors in America, one of a handful. And I believe that there aren’t more than a handful of people who worked harder for Hillary [in her 2008 presidential run] than he did, so I owed him,’ Clinton said. ‘It wasn’t anything against Jerry Brown.’

Clinton said he is backing Brown because he believes the former two-term governor’s combination of innovation and fiscal restraint make him the best candidate to govern California. He again praised Brown’s work as attorney general and Oakland mayor, though, as in his endorsement statement, he did not mention Brown’s prior two terms as governor.

-- Seema Mehta in Los Angeles