Hillary on Rev. Wright and Bill Clinton
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 12:45 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
GRAHAM, NC -- While saying -- once again -- that she would not have attended a church led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Clinton said she regretted that Republicans have “politicized” the matter and criticized McCain for not acting more strongly to put a stop to ads by local Republicans that invoke Obama’s former pastor.
“I believe that if Senator McCain was serious, he would do more than send a letter,” Clinton told reporters this morning. “He is the putative nominee. I think he could very clearly tell the North Carolina party, tell the Mississippi party that he would not tolerate to those kinds of advertisements and I am waiting to see whether he does that.”
Asked later whether new public comments from Wright, particularly those mocking Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, reflected on Obama, Clinton was terse, saying only: “You’ll have to ask him that.”
Clinton also was asked about reports that her husband has seized a larger role in the campaign. “I’m very proud to the role my husband is playing in the campaign,” she said. “I think it’s very helpful to have the only successful two-term Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt campaign for me.”
But she did not answer -- even in a follow up -- concerns that have been raised by some party leaders, most notably Rep. Jim Clyburn, that some of his public comments are having a detrimental role.
In addition, Clinton continued to say that the prolonged nomination contest is good for the party, and called on the Democratic Party to move quickly to resolve the status of delegates from Michigan and Florida. “I’ve thought this has been good for the Democratic Party, and I think that the excitement that we’ve seen in the states since the last couple of contests has been terrifically encouraging,” she said. “We’re gonna go through these next contests, we’re gonna see where we end up. And we’ll take stock of where we are after they finish. But I also believe we’ve gotta resolve Michigan and Florida.”
The press avail came in the same fire station where Clinton earlier spoke about her plan for a gas-tax holiday to ease the impact of escalating gas prices. “Everything is headed in the wrong direction,” she said, noting rising costs and declining incomes. “It feels like people are just, you know, running in place. And it’s not just the morning commute. It is a toll that is basically put on each and every person who drives anywhere.”
McCain has also proposed a gas tax holiday. But the Clinton campaign emphasizes that his plan is not funded, while hers would offset the loss of revenues by imposing a temporary windfall profits tax on oil companies. “While we are seeing these high gas prices, the oil companies are enjoying record profits,” she said. “Last year Exxon Mobil had $40 billion in profits. So you paid through the roof and they made out like bandits.”
