Poor Bill Clinton....

He's resigned to the fact that Bob Johnson wasn't talking about activism:

Mr. Clinton then lit into the Obama campaign for its "overtly racist" opposition research piece labeling Mrs. Clinton as a senator from India "(D-Punjab)." Pressed further on Mr. Johnson's comments, Mr. Clinton retreated a bit, disclaiming any advance knowledge of his remarks on the part of the campaign. "Bob Johnson said what he said yesterday. Nobody knew what he was going to say. It wasn't part of any planned strategy." Mr. Clinton also said campaign officials did not plan for the Attorney General of New York, Andrew Cuomo, to use the term "shuck and jive" in what appeared to some to be a reference to Mr. Obama's campaign, but which Mr. Cuomo said was a general comment about campaigning techniques in New Hampshire and Iowa. "Certainly, nobody had any advance notice of anything Attorney General Cuomo said," Mr. Clinton said.

And agrees that caucuses aren't really Democratic (true, but don't admit it before the freakin' caucuses!!!)

Asked about the New York senator’s chances in Saturday’s upcoming caucus, [Bill] Clinton eluded to the recent criticism he and his wife have been voicing of the caucus process. “A caucus is different. It’s not like an election,” he said. “So we’re doing the best we can.”

Comments

Bill: "I think we have to take him at his word."

No, I don't think we do.

Posted by Mike | January 14, 2008 2:27 PM

Its so dishonest I don't know whether to laugh or be incredibly depressed.

Yeah, that unmentionable community organizing that contrasts so well with Hillary's hard work on civil rights...that makes sense. Never mind if his explanation is completely at odds with the point he was trying to make...

Posted by Michael | January 14, 2008 2:43 PM

Poor Bill indeed. He will go down as one of the biggest letdowns in American history.

Posted by Nadeem | January 14, 2008 2:54 PM

"We're doing the best we can."

Is it me, or has the campaign now fully transitioned from "Hers" to "His and Hers"? Pretty soon Bill is going to be talking about what he's going to do for America once he gets back into office.

Posted by Helter | January 14, 2008 2:58 PM

Someone should inform Mr. Clinton that the whole D-Punjab thing started when Senator Clinton herself said "I can certainly run for the Senate seat in Punjab and win easily."

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/06/sen_clinton_dpunjab.html

Posted by BT | January 14, 2008 3:04 PM

If you really think caucuses are undemocratic--from a purely principled standpoint--wouldn't the time to make such an argument have been...

...um, I don't know...

BEFORE THE IOWA CAUCUS!

Posted by natthedem | January 14, 2008 3:06 PM

"I did not have sex with that woman."

Pathological lying is scary stuff, isn't it?

Posted by Billary | January 14, 2008 3:18 PM

Are Democratic Party supporters finally coming to the realization that these people, the Clintons, are not good people?

Do yourselves a favor...If you want one of the most outstanding electoral victories since Reagan, nominate Obama.

Posted by DDP | January 14, 2008 4:14 PM

Was Obama even living in Chicago at the time he detailed his drug use? I was under the impression that the limited use that he acknowledged was suppose to have occurred during his teens, when he was, I beleive, living with his mother's parents in Hawaii.

I'm no Obama expert, (or fan), but if we are to believe that the things he wrote about himself in the book are true (a tall order for any autobiographer) then Johnson's comment of what he did in "the streets of Chicago" seems a bit less toxic. If he raised questions of "What Obama was doing while a teenager in Hawaii", then it seems more clear that he would be raising innuendo about drug use.

I was shocked to see that the CURRENT maximum sentance for the drug possession that Obama felt so free to admit to, and even joke about in later instances, is 7 YEARS in a federal penitentiary! Holy crap. I'm not sure what it was back in the day, but it seems like the young Obama was only an unlucky break or two from earning a criminal record which would have effectively buried his later political aspirations.

Posted by robert ethan | January 14, 2008 8:48 PM

...further to the last post, I did find an online record of a reporter who interviewed him about it some years ago. In two different discussions with her he acknowledged using pot, "but not for the past 20 years" (he was 42 at the time) and later after reminded of the book, "other banned substances, but not after the age of 20 or so.".

His statements in his book were most directly about his problems "around the age of 17", and mentioned "getting high with a white guy in the dorm, a brother from down at the gym, or a couple of Hawaiian guys at the beach.". That
would place his admitted usage in Hawaii only.
This may be quibbling over detail, but hey, that is what we do on politcal forums...;)

Posted by robert ethan | January 14, 2008 9:06 PM

Punahou is a day school so "in the dorm" would be when he was an undergrad at Occidental or Columbia.

Posted by go warriors | January 15, 2008 4:22 AM

True, he's a freaking liar, but he's also pretty smart and got the country on track. I hope his wife learned more than just his lying skills.

Posted by Herunar | January 16, 2008 5:22 AM