'I am not a racist,' ex-President Bill Clinton asserts

Former presidents get a whole lot of leeway in what they say in public. But former President Bill Clinton just violated one of the prime rules of political communications: Never say what you are not.

"I am not a crook," said Richard Nixon, which, of course, raised or confirmed the issue in the minds of millions during the long-running Watergate scandal that forced him from office. And provided a historic sound bite.

Clinton, who is supposed to be a major surrogate campaigner for Barack Obama this fall and speak at the Democratic National Convention later this month, gave a fascinating and revealing exclusive interview to ABC News in Monrovia, Liberia, over the weekend.

Under some prodding and questioning, he showed an edginess that belied his denial of holding any anger about anything.

His jaw, his body language and lack of that warm, winning campaign smile added to the impression. Clinton spoke about several things, including his role in his wife's presidential primary campaign and what he regretted about it.

Asked if Obama was ready to become president, a readiness point Hillary Clinton hammered hard throughout the campaign, Bill Clinton clearly dodged the question, saying he doubted....

... anyone was ever ready for that job, that he had learned a few things in his early White House weeks in 1993.

Then he added, Obama "is smarter than a whip, so there's nothing he can't learn."

Asked about regrets over his sometimes polarizing role in his wife's unsuccessful campaign, he first said he wasn't going to talk about it, then proceeded to do so. "I got bad press," Clinton said. "Why? Because I told the truth that there was a different standard applied to the finest candidate I ever supported."

Asked specifically about his role in Sen. Clinton's campaign, he suggested the media check the voting results where he had campaigned in places like South Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, implying the results were positive for her where he had campaigned.

Then he added, "There are things that I wish I'd urged her to do. Things I wish I'd said. Things I wish I hadn't said. But I am not a racist. I've never made a racist comment and I never attacked [Obama] personally."

At one point the reporter referred to Rep. James Clyburn, who remained neutral in the primary struggle before jumping to Obama. She called Clyburn a longtime friend of Clinton's. "Used to be," snapped the ex-president.

"I'm not and never was mad at Sen. Obama," Clinton told the reporter. "You know he hit her hard a couple of times and they hit us a few times a week before she ever responded in kind. The only thing I ever got mad about was people in your line of work pretending that she somehow started the negative stuff. It's a contact sport."

The interview was broadcast on "Good Morning America." You can watch the entire video here. On a scale of four, we give it three Ticket punches.

Oh, and, by the way, Politico.com reports Sen. Clinton will be flying solo -- no Barack, no Bill -- when she campaigns for Obama in Nevada on Friday.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: Associated Press

Comments

[Dane]

Rude and Insulting..... He's Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LA Times,
Stick to what you are.... Throw-away pop stars drinking under age stories.... Not telling the complete truth about everything.....

[rachel]

Why don't you leave Bill alone. They asked questions he answered. Clybourn was not a supporter of Hillary or Bill in the primary. He sat on the sidelines then went with Obama, so Bill was right in saying he wasn't a supporter. After Clyburon tried to call bill out I wouldnt be friends with him anymore. Stop disecting bill everyword, where thes article on the work bill is doing in African, arent Obama's big ego and john's comedic ads enough for you to report on?

[chris]

Any time someone has to comment on what they are not, ity is typically because they are... get over it Bill you are what you are.

[Kroeze]

Bill is coming unglued. Time inevitably in different venues communicates the true character one is made of.

[Gary Holbrook]

You can't win with the PC folks. Either you are or your not. But they decide what shade to give you. I could vote for Colin Powell as he is a man of integrity but , I can't vote for 'O' as he is not focused and flip-flops. I think McCains time has come and gone. The best canidate? Hillary!

The 'O' folks will play the race card but it ain't going to work.

[johng]

How can you trust a man that admits to smoking joints but " never" inhaled. Yes Bill tell us another bedtime story.

[JEFO]

Bill Clinton is full of it.

anyone remember Bill's comments on Obama for the ad he ran against Hillary taking money from oil companies and Bill's response was "Next we will see ads that say, vote for me I don't steal cars"

[John]

The former President seems a little edgy. Personally, I believe he considered his zeal for Hillary as penance for another famous quote "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky" (the 20 year old intern). A noted psychologist recenlty wrote that she felt Bill unconsciously wanted to undermine Hillary's with his idiotic statements during the campaign, really wanting her to fail to secure his own place in history. Still, there is another view shared by an old Italian fisherman in a coffee shop recently; "Bill Clinton's gettin' a little dingy; he must be makin' too many u-turns under the sheets during his road trips for 'charity'." Whatever, Obama is bigger than both Clinton's because, I believe, his is a movement, and movement politics can overcome the greatest of obstacles. He defeated two Clintons, and now his eye must be trained on the defeating the larger demons in our society. McCain is just a flea nibbling at his ankles along with the parasite advising his campaign, all part of Bush's "brain" trust.

[Almost Angeleno]

A non-story.

[Almost Angeleno]

After warching the video clip, its obvious the reporter was goading Clinton into a "hatcha' moment.

Shoddy journalism.

[Casey]

The damage Bill Clinton did to his own reputation during Hillary's campaign will always be there. His anger and defensiveness are obvious. His complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

President Obama must know to never, ever trust the Clintons. They will do anything in their power to destroy him. They will do it in a sneaky, secret way -- just as they are right now by undermining him and encouraging their supporters to do likewise.

In his own eyes, Bill probably told the truth when he said, "I am not a racist", however he never promised not to use other people's racism at every opportunity in order to win.

[david in WHFD]

Clintonian triangulation- say something and blame the other guy for saying it first. The Clintons spoke in racial code- You know it and I know it- They knew the message they wanted their audience to "get" and they expressed themselves in the time-honored language of racial code. That's what they did. They did it to achieve a result. That's what they've done before. Only this time Camp Obama called them on it. Want proof? consider this- Each time the Obama camp called Camp Clinton on their use of racial code, Camp Clinton never used that particular code again. Hillary said "hardworking Americans, white Americans only once. She told the Bosnia lie at least 4 times. The Clintons used racial code in an attempt to sway voters. I don't think the Clintons are racist, however, the utter contempt in which they hold the American voter is clear. Bill and Hillary both repeatedly created cartoon caricatures of themselves deliberately designed to appeal to the worst tendencies of the voters they were performing for. They could have gone before those people and talked policy but they chose to do what they did, and then blame Sen. Obama for responding. They've done it before. they did it in '92 and in '96. When Mr. Clinton said he'd seen the memos that Obama was planning to respond that way all along, that's probably true. Camp Obama would not have been very astute if they had not studied how the Clinton machine had operated in past elections and been ready to respond to the most ugly and hateful attacks from Camp Clinton.

[CC]

Who cares?

It's about Obama now.

[Andrew Austin]

It's always interesting to see the gap between the characterization of an interview by the corporate media and character of the interview itself. Reading the characterization, I expected something completely different. What I saw instead was a very calm, rational, and pleasant former president fielding questions blaming him for Hillary's loss.

[Goldie]

Of course Hillary started it. Last July she started with the Obama is naive and irresponsible comment. Obama was always very careful and polite with Hillary. She was always quite to attack and then very thin-skinned when anyone said anything about her. I do feel she played the poor me gender card too readily and that just strengthened the negative stereotype many had about her in their minds. I think Hillary's big mistake was underestimating how strong that negative stereotype was in some people's mind. When she attacked, that just confirmed it. I really do think Hillary would have won if she and Bill had not attacked Obama so fiercely. And not complained so much when the press pointed that out. McCain is following in Hillary's footsteps and he had better watch out.

[Monica,Monrovia and Liberia]

Hey the hat trick ! Got a gal in every port. To bad the first
black pres.did not spend the whole campaign in Africa and allow the gracious lady from New York to win the
nomination.Barak better keep verbose Bill off the hustings
or face finishing in second place...wich aint bad.

[Will Hicks]

He just gave the world another way to further associate himself with Nixon. "I am not a ______"

[mark]

Once Bill Clinton (who was called our first black president by one sharp comedian) has to defend himself against being cast as a racist, then you know political correctness has gone too far. I support Obama, and one thing I'm hoping he can fix is the black community playing the race card everytime it's culture is questioned or pushed back on. Let's face it - lots of things are broken about black culture - glorifying violence (listen to some rap if you don't agree), the black crime rate, the idea that appearance (the bling aesthetic) matters more than substance (like education). Time to wake up black America and listen to your wise elders, like Bill Cosby, instead of your leeches, like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Getting defensive and playing the race card isn't going to get you anywhere.

[BJ]

Bill Clinton is "dead on" about the media perpetuating what Barack started... using the "race" card during the Primary.

Now we are left with a "eunuch" of a candidate in Obama! They should have appreciated what they had in Hillary. The DNC has found another way to lose.

I pick McCain over Obama, as the lesser of two evils.

[bb]

Bill Clinton may have said and done a few questionable things in the heat of his wife's campaign, but if you look at his entire record, I don't think he is a racist. In fact, he has done a lot for African American's over the years. I think it is a mistake to throw around the racist label too lightly, because in those cases where someone is truly a racist, the label becomes meaningless. Unfortunately, the Carl Rove approach of "label" politics seems to have spread to the press. I wish the press would stop focusing on whether someone is a "flip-flopper," or a "arrogant" or "grumpy" or "racist" and just report on what the candidates do. Let the people make up in their own minds what adjectives apply.

[Chuck]

Interesting how so many want to jump on the bandwagon attacking Clinton, yet no one (including the comments above) has given an example.

Bill Clinton was applauded for years for his work with the black community and then without provocation he is attacked. It is a shame that he should have to defend himself.

How out of line with my thoughts of the Clintons that I would come to their defense, but reason demands it.

[Cindy]

Clinton has every right to be angry. I am still upset on how they both were treated. I am a whole-hearted democrat, union person and liberal. I lived thru the Clinton administration and he did alot for the blacks and the country. And now they want to say he is racist? So far I have not forgiven the democratic party, Obama, or the biased media for what they have done to Hillary and Bill. Nadar will probably get my vote. Obama has no depth. There is something in there, an instinct or a feeling, that I just can't trust Obama. I keep waiting for him to change my mind.

[VJ Machiavelli]

Bill is not a "RACIST". Bill is Bill. he did what he had to do to make sure that Hillary Soprano lost to Obama. Bill we do what he has to do make sure that Obama loses to McCain.

You see Bill does not want to give up the title "KING OF THE DEMOC"RAT"IC PARTY.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps "APPEASEMENT ONE", and "WITHDRAWAL TWO" the official airplanes of Obama and the Democ"rat"ic Party

[scootmandubious]

I am an Obama supporter, and I have even got annoyed at President Clinton several times during the campaign.

Having said that, based on his record, it's not fair to characterize Clinton as a racist.

I think we need to let calmer heads prevail here.

As far as Clinton goes, it had to be personally devesating for him to see his wife lose a nomination that everybody predicted she would easily garner. Alas, what is predicted is not always what transpires.

For the sake of his legacy, for the sake of the future of the Democratic Party and our government, Clinton needs to lick his wounds and do what he can to prevent a McCain presidency.

I believe he will.

I also do not understand how some can't understand that this was a very personal loss for the man. Not being in his shoes, it is easy to cast aspersions upon him. We would all be better off to cut him some slack and mover forward.

Besides, who's to say, in an Obama presidency, Hillary Clinton would not become the next Chief Justice on the Supreme Court. THAT would be an amazing way to cap her career.

[N.E. BodybutHillary]

Andy Malcom writes about the Clinrons AGAIN!. Big suprise.