A truce?

SJF — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:54:03 GMT

Let's hear her denounce Johnson's obscene comment from yesterday. Then, she can make nice.

A truce?

Adam, Pittsburgh, PA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:54:58 GMT

Obama already held a press conference, saying similar things. Too bad Hillary didn't say this stuff on Meet the Press!

A truce?

Timothy, Philadelphia — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:56:52 GMT

Do we really need this? He's the firwt black, she's the first woman.

How about who is best to lead out country?

McCain.

A truce?

sickofitall — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:58:24 GMT

absolutely hysterical! obama has a news conference this afternoon damping down the whole controversy, and here comes mrs. unoriginal trying to sound magnanimous, once again following the leader. give us a break already! you and your lying hubby didn't have anything to say about bob johnson this morning, and if obama hadn't have made his usually classy statements on the flap earlier today, you'd still be silent. oooh, silence from the clintons ... what a concept. maybe it'll stick!

A truce?

Huh — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:58:43 GMT

This statement came out AFTER Barack Obama's call for a truce. Please correct.

A truce?

Ron, TX — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:58:48 GMT

Obama is truly presidential and has enormous amounts of character. I'm glad he finally chose to stand up and bring this to an end. I think it's great that the Clinton campaign was able to come out quickly afterwards and agree with him.

Real change! A -real- end to partisan bickering... Obama will take us there, and this is just one more example why.

A truce?

Eric Olson, Hyattsville, MD — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:00:43 GMT

Obama actually made the offer first... see http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/14/obama-calls-truce-with-clinton/

A truce?

Greg — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:03:30 GMT

Mark, please report the facts. Obama put out a similar statement before Clinton did. Do not give her the credit for this. Once again she is following what Obamam does.

A truce?

Greg — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:03:51 GMT

Mark, please report the facts. Obama put out a similar statement before Clinton did. Do not give her the credit for this. Once again she is following what Obama does.

A truce?

Kevin, SF CA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:05:15 GMT

Actually, Obama was the first to extend the truce:

"I don't want the campaign in this stage to degenerate into so much tit-for-tat back-and-forth that we lose sight why all of us are doing this," he said. "If I hear my own supporters engaging in talk that I think is ungenerous or misleading, or in some way is unfair, then I will speak out forcefully against them, and I hope the other campaigns take the same approach."

Hillary's "truce" came after Obama's statement. Just FYI since you at MSNBC didn't make not of this important fact AT ALL.

Read http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ for a more balanced point of view on this.

A truce?

Matt Hinds, Beaumont, TX — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:07:28 GMT

This story implies that Senator Clinton initiated a truce when in fact, this statement is in response to a press conference Barack Obama held more than two hours ago calling for a truce.

A truce?

chuck — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:08:38 GMT

This is rich. I'd like to believe she means it, but after her comments, those of her husband, and those of her surrogates, it's pretty tough. She's going to have to change quite a bit to get this Democrat to vote for her, should she be the party's nominee in November. I doubt this truce lasts past the official MLK holiday.

A truce?

Dem Above All Else — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:08:50 GMT

This is from Politico, namely Ben Smith's blog, located at Http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/.

"Carrie Budoff Brown has some key quotes from an Obama avail this afternoon in Reno, where he tried to put to rest the racially-charged name-calling.

'You have seen a tone on the Democrat[ic] side of the campaign that has been unfortunate. I want to stipulate a couple of things. I may disagree with Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards on how to get there, but we share the same goals. We all believe in civil rights. We all believe in equal rights. They are good people. They are patriots....
I don't want the campaign at this stage to degenerate to so much tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, that we lose sight of why we are doing this.

Obama said he wants to send "a strong signal to my own supporters that let’s try to focus on the work that needs to get done. If I hear my own supporters engaging in talk that I think is ungenerous or misleading or unfair, I will speak out forcefully against it....

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have historically been on the right side of civil rights issues. They care about the African American community.… That is something I am convinced of. I want Americans to know that is my assessment.'

His surrogates and a spokeswoman have, it's worth noting, participated in the recent round of criticism of the Clintons, and in the suggestions that the Clintons have engaged in a "pattern" of racially-charged comments."

A truce?

Tom, Sioux City, IA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:08:53 GMT

Actually Barack released a statement earlier today, so don't give Hillary credit for trying to clean up this mess that she started in the first place.
This is what Barack said,
"You have seen a tone on the Democrat[ic] side of the campaign that has been unfortunate. I want to stipulate a couple of things. I may disagree with Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards on how to get there, but we share the same goals. We all believe in civil rights. We all believe in equal rights. They are good people. They are patriots....

I don't want the campaign at this stage to degenerate to so much tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, that we lose sight of why we are doing this.

Obama said he wants to send "a strong signal to my own supporters that let’s try to focus on the work that needs to get done. If I hear my own supporters engaging in talk that I think is ungenerous or misleading or unfair, I will speak out forcefully against it....

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have historically been on the right side of civil rights issues. They care about the African American community.… That is something I am convinced of. I want Americans to know that is my assessment."

A truce?

voter — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:10:06 GMT

Good for you Hillary. Someone has to be the bigger person and speak out. Do not want to divides us going toward general election. I back you 100% Hillary 08

A truce?

J, Santa Rosa, CA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:12:12 GMT

It's about time. She should have thrown in the towel a long time ago! Now we can move on to what really matters (i.e. icking a president). Hillary was stupdid enough to make the statement about MLK in the first place then she puts up a weak attempt to drag Obama into the mud with her by using ball-less surrogates like Bob Johnson? The American people are smarter than this. We are tired of her games and we see right through her. We need someone who will unite, not divide, especially along racial lines where we are already divided enough.

A truce?

Brian, Seattle, WA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:17:34 GMT

Please include Obama's statement, which was made before Clinton's.

A truce?

Dot, Illinois — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:18:27 GMT

Well, since both Senators Obama and Clinton have called a "truce" hopefully that will put an end to the topic. Now perhaps media attention can focus of the candidates' stands on the issues. I, for one, would like to know more about the Obama economic plan that was given little attention yesterday.

A truce?

Sean, Chicago, IL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:22:01 GMT

obama was the first to call a truce chuck...maybe you wanna mention that instead of being bias

hillary's statement came AFTER obama called for a truce both in a memo and during a rally

A truce?

Kevin, SF CA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:22:06 GMT

Someone should tar and feature NBC's Mark Murray for really horrible reporting. He didn't even mention Obama's offer, let alone mention that he was first.

How can we ever trust Mark Murray to give us any kind of objective reporting of events? Mark Murray should fix this blog post.

A truce?

chuck — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:23:38 GMT

Let's see, Hillary spends the better part of a week lying, dissembling and distorting Obama's words and record. Another one of her surrogates makes comments that can only be viewed as repulsive and she, along with the surrogate, lies to everyone about the meaning behind his words. Then, she asks for a "truce" as if there were ever any shots fired at her to begin with. What a great leader!

It saddens me that I will not be able to vote for her if she's the nominee and still have any self-respect left. I've spent 16 years liking, appreciating, and defending Hillary against what I saw were vicious and unfounded attacks. I've always liked Hillary and, until the last week, was determined to support her in the general election.

After 8 years of waiting for a Democratic president, as things stand now, I can't do it and have any sense of self-respect left. If she's losing Democrats, how's she going to do w/ Independents and Republicans?

A truce?

Victor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:26:47 GMT

Who cares who said what first. They both agree on something I totally agree on, that is, we do not want to inject or fuel this whole race issue/controversy into what is supposed to be critical issues facing our nation. Thank God this idiocy is put to rest by both candidates. Let's get to the real issues.

A truce?

Michele, Katy, Texas — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:27:55 GMT

OBAMA CALLED THE TRUCE FIRST!!!!!! HRC accepted. So, who is ready to lead from day one?????? (See TIME's "The Page" by Mark Halperin)

A truce?

adam / Brooklyn NY — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:31:14 GMT

OBVIOUSLY you're preparing for the debates. You've been fanning this flame for two days just so you could get more ratings for your debate.

We get it.

A truce?

J, Ca — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:31:30 GMT

I don't think this is genuine on the part of Obama. Clearly, he is shaken by the whole thing backfiring at him.

A truce?

sonya, atlanta, ga — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:38:30 GMT

J, CA it was backfiring on Clinton not Obama.

A truce?

Lee Delaney, Las Vegas — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:38:50 GMT

What a surprise. The Democrats fighting among themselves. They have been doing that all their lives and that is the beauty and exzcitement of the party. In the words of Will Rogers about 80 years ago, "I belong to no organized political party. I am a Democrat." Fight, scrap, accuse, defend, intelligence, discussion, opinion and other such words are the hallmark of the Democratic Party and the country has always benefited from these intelligent battlers. It would be a pity if the country were to be entrusted to the group of lock step, we think alike, take the word "Tax" out of the English Language and we can't complete a sentence, war mongering, fear spreading, empty suited Neanderthals that stride across the Republican stage. Democrats look to the future; Republicans shake their heads and mutter unendingly "Dire consequences, dire consequences, dire consequences..."

A truce?

RobK, Seattle, Wash. — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:41:17 GMT

Just goes to show IT TAKES A MAN to turn the other cheek given the abuse Barack had to absorb from the Clinton Tag Team.

Surely sad that after spending an hour attacking Barack on Meet The Press, that she had to acknowledge to go positive after Barack's generous offer to go so.

Karl Rove would be so proud of Hillary.

A truce?

Jon Brady — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:43:31 GMT

Barack and Hillary? Best qualified? Not a chance. Most whiney? Absolutely!

A truce?

J. Franklin, Denver, CO — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:43:36 GMT

J, if this thing were backfiring on Obama, the Clintons would not drop the issue. Trust me.

A truce?

Rick,ky — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:48:35 GMT

If any of us Barack supporter's think 1st read is gonna change this thread to the Real Truth of who initiated this so-called Truce, we're sadly Mistaken. An Update at the bottom of the Thread don't cut it. However, since this connection of Intertubes, we don't need 1st read to find the Truth, we can with the click of a button.

Barack Obama for President!!!!!

A truce?

Dr. Ashley, Chicago, IL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:52:02 GMT

THANK YOU MSNBC! I was getting concerned you guys had suffered a lobectomy yesterday.
Obama was brought into this HIllary drama buy her error on Meet The Press. There is no race debate, it's Hillary saying things before thinking about how they're coming out of her mouth.

Hillary needs to come forward and say that she made in error in stating that Obama "distorted" her statements, that is COMPLETELY false!! He didn't enter into this discussion until she mentioned his name, again erroneously on Meet the Press. She also needs to come forward to denounce what Bob Johnson said, and I can't even believe she would want an endorsement from such an obscene womanizer...have any of you seen BET when he was in charge? It was disgusting!

Give Obama credit where it's due and request Hillary to come forward and admit her mistakes.

Stop giving Hillary a pass in the media.

OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT. Someone who is not about the drama and theatrics and media spin, but about the REAL ISSUES for REAL PEOPLE!

GO OBAMA!

A truce?

Adam, Pittsburgh, PA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:53:51 GMT

J, Ca: In order for something to backfire, you have to shoot. When did Obama shoot? It was the media that pointed out the weirdness (at best) of the Clinton comments.

A truce?

Mitchell Feldman, Vestal, NY — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:54:51 GMT

Glad to see that the vast majority of the blogosphere (at least this small segment of it) has gotten it right.

BTW, I love the way that the media is trying to push some Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama fusion ticket (that's fusion of good and evil, as far as I'm concerned). LOL, that will never happen. The Clinton ego would never accept second place on a ticket and not only would Obama not compromise himself by associating with the Clinton machine but he would refuse to play second fiddle to a de facto Bill Clinton vice presidency.
Obama '08

A truce?

FACTS — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:59:59 GMT

Two Washington self serving paperhangers throwing a little mud?? Both are ""NOT qualified to lead a scout troop, let alone this nation. They show immaturity and false self serving agenda. Promises which they have no command to place on congress, because the major issues have already been tabled or swept under the carpet by the other self serving paper hangers.

Like two little brats in a sand box, one gloats while the other sobs because she has sand in her mouth! Christ""get real!!!

The slander and low life statements are of meager minds, not that of one who has leadership traits, their intent to insult by gender or race proves to the people their inner being! This gender card is all washed up, the election is to select a president not a common immoral bimbo who portrays she is wrong about nothing, commands issues as she is the lone invention of how to solve major! question being: If she is the great problem solver then why is it """she has failed in congress along with the socialist gang bang club of jackasses she belongs with????

HRC, is a open insult ""ELECTABLE HELL NO""""!!!!!!

A truce?

Kevin, SF CA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:03:15 GMT

Yay, we got them to update the blog posting to better reflect reality. This Internet thing is neat!

A truce?

James Wichita KS — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:07:22 GMT

Clean up this blog post... leaving the incorrect info at the top is not good enough.

A truce?

David, Chattanooga, Tn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:07:27 GMT

Apologies? All working on the debate? Give the readers some credit. You men are not reporters, you just past on emails from campaigns. I guess the NBC political director should pay more attention to his "employees" instead of so much time with his BS on TV.

A truce?

justwaitandsee — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:16:32 GMT

Once again Hillary can never make a decision on her own....

Senator Obama was the First Person to step up and call for an end to all this ugliness...

And then Hillary Clinton FOLLOWS...She has always and will continue to be a follower who NEVER LEADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A truce?

Tareli, Fuquay Varina NC — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:16:58 GMT

Obama is dealing with dirty politics:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/01/calling-all-ind.html

Obama calls for a truce because he sees that his lies are blowing up in his face. What a hypocrite.

A truce?

P.D. — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:24:42 GMT

Why can't American's wake up! This latest manufactured scandal is just that! Bush has just secured an arms deal with the Saudi's to the tune of 20 billion dollars! Weren't 11 of the 12 highjackers Saudis? This is whitewash to keep the people distracted from Bush's middle east trip.

A truce?

Nashville_fan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:31:22 GMT

No matter what happens in this campaign, Senator Obama continues to demonsrate to me that my trust in him is well placed.

A truce?

Mark Morris, Cupertino CA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:33:44 GMT

Please write a new post about Obama calling a truce. Hillary deserves no credit for accepting it, naturally she would do so or look extremely petty. Obama stepped up and proved his character here and he deserves more credit than an "Update: Oh sorry Obama said it first"

A truce?

Hillary+Obama sitting in a tree — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:55:07 GMT

george soros sat them both down and tolds them to make nice,cause he didn't want his millions wasted this time on a republician winning After funding a bogus iraq report georgie us getting of losing his money

A truce?

Edwards die-hard — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:02:39 GMT

Who cares? Neither Clinton or Obama is showing any real leadership in this campaign. It isn't about being black or a woman -- it is about what is happening in the good old USA, and all of the really important leadership has come from John Edwards. He has led on health care, on prohibiting added nuclear and coal-fired energy plants, on trade and the economy and on other issues. Edwards is the candidate who has made it okay to be a liberal\progressive in this election cycle. This stuff about race and gender is simply distracting from the real issues. Why don't you Obama\Clinton supporters challenge them on the issues? Ask them why they support nuclear energy, ask them about the Kyl\Lieberman amendment, ask them about NAFTA and current trade deals, ask them about Povery in the US, ask them about New Orleans,......

A truce?

Anderson, Savoy, IL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:03:16 GMT

This was all created by the media and anyone blaming anyone else is ridiculous. The first time I heard it was Donna Brazile on CNN spouting off about Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" comment. Perhaps she should have read the entire quote, and then she would've realized he was talking about a specific item and not Obama's campaign for president. By then, however, it was too late, for the media has to have been waiting for this since the campaign started way back whenever it started.

That all being said, I think it was handled very poorly by the Clinton campaign. They said some things that were either taken out of context or clipped, and instead of trying to set the media straight, they immediately began pointing the finger at the Obama camp. Thank you Senator Obama for stopping this nonsense before it escalated even further!

A truce?

Wade Enns Miami, Florida — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:33:23 GMT

Bam Bam and Hillarious are the traveling circus.

I hope they both campaign at circus circus, there a couple of real clowns.

A truce?

Mutzie, Kenosha, Wi. — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:59:55 GMT

Obama started the whole thing by playing the race card. I have lost respect for him. He is a great Orator. Knows how to say the words to the inspire the people who feel deprived. No more drug users as President for me. I want to know what drugs he used and for how long. Not a good image for our children to look up to. Say goodby to my vote Obama.

A truce?

Marbw — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:32:10 GMT

January 14, 2008,
Clinton Receives Tepid Reception at MLK Event
By Patrick Healy

“Hillary is very good – she’s a Christian woman, she’s been to my church – but Obama is so fresh and brilliant,” Ms. Tabb added. “We’ve got a woman and a black man. It’s hard. But I’ll probably go with Obama. He’s the one who gets me really excited.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/clinton-receives-tepid-reception-at-mlk-event/

A truce?

Anne, Columbus, OH — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:56:05 GMT

That little update is not enough. Yesterday Athena also reported that Clinton spoke at an MLK event, but initially failed to report about the booing she received until people called that out in the comments. This is not responsible reporting. This site is definitely not my "first read" if I want accurate news.

A truce?

Irritated Independent, M.Lee FL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:18:32 GMT

a-body has to read message boards/forums to get to any truth. Media are proving they are puppets. Narrow-minded, at that--definitely appearing bought-and-paid-for, as in bought-off/paid-off.

WHEN are the media and the candidates going to give us Substance! This is NOT a high-school-personality-contest! America is being sold off, piece by peace--we are in the middle of electing our next Commander-in-Chief, trillions of dollars in debt--TO COMMUNIST CHINA and SAUDI ARABIA, for pete's sake!, millions in poverty, jerks like Romney forcing buy-outs of America's jobs (Of Course our president OK'd the "sale" of 20 Billion Dollars worth of high-tech weaponry! It's just a trade off/lowering the amount of our debt--they have us over a barrel!--(please pardon the unsightly cleche').

No wonder so many are still Undecided! There is No Substance from our candidates, No Substance from our media. This is the wildest political kangaroo-court scenario I have ever witnessed--having been in/around politics 30 yrs +-.

Sure, DEMS champion 'everyone's' civil rights--except for any who can't speak for themselves.

A truce?

Dickie Flatts, Charlotte, NC — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:35:23 GMT

Obama blinked. When guys like Bob Johnson take you to the woodshed you know you have a political loser on your hands.

This whole thing hurt Obama with the hispanic community as well, who don't like African American race politics.

A truce?

PollM, Dallas TX — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:45:44 GMT

Clinton, Obama Step Back From Race Flap

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama stepped back from a controversy over race Monday night, agreeing that a prolonged clash over civil rights could harm their party's overall drive to win the White House.

Regardless of whether you're on the Obama Camp or Clinton camp, who do you believe got damaged the most from this ordeal?

http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1538

.

A truce?

Paul Miller, Woodbridge, VA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:54:42 GMT

I agree this was a manufactured feud. It was manufactured by the Clintons, and kept alive by the Clintons explicitly for the purpose of keeping the story line away from Hillary's extraordinarily intriguing comment in Vegas the other day:

"No woman is illegal."

Just four words, which should raise so many questions. But none were asked, because everyone was focused on the spat.

A truce?

CA - Ohio — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:04:08 GMT

Good for both of them, good for democrats. Hopefully the media can finally move on to covering where the candidates stand on issues and stop blowing single sentance statements out of proportion.

A truce?

Amy B Portland, ME — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:17:21 GMT

"We're all Democrats, we all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights."

Yes! This is why I support Obama. He gets the big picture, while Hillary is stuck in the details. She is self-serving, he will serve a larger cause.

A truce?

A Lifelong Democrat Who's Had It With Obama's Garbage — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:32:17 GMT

It's sickening that Obama and the people associated with his campaign started this non-sense to begin with. It goes to show that this man would say or do anything to get himself elected. He doesn't care if our party is fractured because of his campaign rhetoric, he only cares about himself.
I could never vote for a despicable man like this. My devotion to this party runs too deep than to allow it's principles to be compromised by a man who puts self above service, and "winning" over ideololgy/morals.
If this guy gets the nomination, I'm voting Republican. I will not be bullied into voting for anyone!

A truce?

DP Fawcett, Brookline, MA — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:32:49 GMT

This horse has been dead for days; let's bury it and move on before the stench of decay overwhelms us completely. There are important things to consider: differences between the candidates' economic stimulus proposals (see Krugman's recent column), for example, and the hardly mentioned fact that Huckabee has advocated changing the Constitution to align with God's law.

A truce?

POLpursun — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:42:30 GMT

Yes, it's NOT their "racism" (it's absurd to call the Clintons "racist"); it's their selfish blind ambition. So sad. No other dream, including MLK's, is to supersede theirs. Thus, they will do what it takes. Numbers are objective --- one is one, two is two, etc. The black population IS 12%.

A truce?

Adrienne, Chicago, IL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:04:21 GMT

You people are COMPLETE idiots. Don't you get it!!! It really - I REPEAT REALLY - doesn't matter who said it first. Let's face it - either one (Clinton or Obama) would make fantastic Presidents. Perhaps even a President and the VP. With this back and forth - it just continues to pour gasoline on a fire. Stop the nonsense!!!

Who really cares - Hillary proposed an economic stimulus one day before Barack - Barack's could be better - who knows?

Makes me want to stay home and sit this one out on February 5th. The supporters of both OBAMA and CLINTON are pathetic at BEST!!!