Clinton and Obama Getting Nasty

Jan. 13, 2008 — -- The back-and-forth between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over who said what and what they meant by it has entered new unfriendly territory.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" this morning, Clinton again accused Obama's campaign of peddling a misinterpretation of her comments about Dr. Martin Luther King last week.

"Dr. King didn't just give speeches, he marched, he organized, he was gassed, he was beaten, he was jailed. He understood that he had to move the political process and bring in those who were in political power. And he campaigned for political leaders, including [President] Lyndon Johnson, because he wanted somebody in the White House who would act on what he had devoted his life to achieving," she said.

"I think it's important to set the record straight. Clearly we know from media reports that the Obama campaign is deliberately distorting this and you know, I think we should just take a step out here for a minute. This is the most exciting election we've had in such a long time because you have an African-America, an extraordinary man, a person of tremendous talents and abilities running to become our president. You have a woman running to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling. I don't think either of us want to inject race or gender into his campaign."

Asked about Clinton's "Meet the Press" comments on a telephone conference call with reporters this morning, Obama had a blistering response, calling Clinton's suggestion that his campaign was involved in pushing the storyline "ludicrous".

"This is fascinating to me," he began. "I think what we saw this morning was why the American people are tired of Washington politicians and the games they play.

"Look, the, Sen. Clinton made an unfortunate remark, an ill advised remark, about King and Lyndon Johnson," Obama said. "I didn't make the statement. I haven't remarked on it. And she, I think, offended some folks who felt that somehow diminished King's role in bringing about the civil rights act. She is free to explain that. But the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous."