Bill gets fiery with reporters
Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 7:22 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
2008, Clinton
KINGSTREE, SC -- Bill Clinton started an event here tonight by saying that one of the great things about being out of office is you "can say whatever's on your mind." He's certainly done so in recent weeks, and continued that today as he fought back against charges from an Obama supporter about his wife's campaign tactics.
After a nearly two-hour-long event at Hugee's Restaurant in Charleston, CNN reporter Jessica Yellin asked Clinton as he was leaving about comments from former South Carolina Democratic chair Dick Harpootlian, an Obama backer. Harpootlian decried supporters of Clinton raising the issue of Obama's drug use, and talked about a focus on race. He also criticized the former president's comments claiming that the Las Vegas culinary union was intimidating casino workers who supported Clinton in Nevada, and said generally that the tactics of the campaign were similar to those of Republican strategist Lee Atwater.
Clinton fought back on some of the charges, but more broadly said that some of the "rhetoric is getting a little carried away." He then focused on the media. "You sat through this whole meeting. Not one, single solitary soul asked me about this. And they never do," he said. "[The Obama campaign is] feeding you this because they know this is what you want... They just spin you up on this, and you happily go along."
Asked by another reporter if he thought the Obama campaign was making an issue of race, Clinton grew more aggravated. "Harpootlian calls me Lee Atwater, and I spent all my life fighting those people," he said. "He doesn't care what happens. He just knows he can call you a name, and you guys will cover it."
When Clinton began responding to questions, a campaign aide ordered a worker to increase the volume of music playing the former president out. And as Clinton's staff tried to end things, he shouted out to the press: "One more story. Shame on you. Shame on you, you want another story... You wanna make this about words and name calling. I hate it."
During the meeting, Clinton spoke more reservedly about the issue of race, when a voter said she was concerned about what she considered race bating by the media. "I don't think you can blame the media for this exactly, they are just on tippy-toes because they've never had this happen before," he said. "Nobody figured that both things would happen at once. It is like, 'Oh my god, why do I have to think about this? Don't make me deal with this.'"
He added that an election is supposed to include disagreements. "When they have a disagreement or when you try to state a fact, it is wrong to accuse somebody who has a difference with Senator Obama of being a racist or somebody that has a difference with Hillary of being a sexist," he said. "For our whole lives, [we've been] waiting until we could all freely run and say whatever the heck was on our mind."