SNEAK PEEK: 'You're Not Gonna Just Sit There and Take It'
Obama was dogged by questions about Bill Clinton on Tuesday
January 22, 2008— -- 4 days until the South Carolina primary (Democrats)
7 days until the Florida primary
One day after Barack Obama came close to losing his temper with Hillary Clinton, questions about Bill Clinton dogged the Illinois Democrat on Tuesday.
Following a campaign event in Greenwood, S.C., the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny got close enough to throw Obama a question.
"Are you allowing President Clinton to get in your head?" asked Zeleny.
"I am trying to make sure that his statements by him are answered. Don't you think that's important?" Obama shot back, while walking away from the media throng and towards nearby supporters.
When Zeleny follow up, Obama fired back: "Don't try cheap stunts like that -- come on, Jeff. You're better than that."
Obama then moved away from Zeleny's rope-line location to sign autographs.
A few minutes later, Obama re-approached Zeleny, his one-time chronicler at the Chicago Tribune.
"I will answer your question -- though off the record. You allowed to talk off the record? It's hard to do," said Obama, referring to cameras pointed in his direction. "But I'll talk . . . at some point, I'll answer your question."
Obama, who picked up the endorsement of the biggest newspaper in South Carolina on Tuesday, concluded by saying, "My suspicion is . . . the other side must be rattled if they're continually saying false things about us."
Watch the exchange here.
Per ABC's Kate Snow, Obama explained his Obambi-No-More mindset earlier in the day while calling into Russ Parr's radio show, a syndicated program which airs on 15 stations nationwide.
Asked about being "painted as the angry black man", Obama said he prefers to have a civil conversation about the issues. Then he talked about the need to stand up for himself.
"It's like playing basketball," said Obama. "Remember when my Chicago Bulls were playing the Detroit Pistons?"
"Michael Jordan was getting fouled a lot," Obama continued. "At some point you know, you gotta, if somebody's throwing an elbow at you, you gotta let 'em know that. . . you're not gonna just sit there and take it."
"But over the long term, my job is to score some baskets - in this case for the American people," Obama added. "And I'm gonna keep on trying to do that. And I think that if we stay focused on the issues, I'm confident that we are going to win this thing."
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