Posted on 03/22/2008 3:41:06 PM PDT by indcons
Bill Clinton has become embroiled in a new race row after he appeared to question the patriotism of Barack Obama, his wife Hillary’s White House rival.
Supporters of the Democratic frontrunner promptly branded Mr Clinton a modern-day version of Joe McCarthy, the red-baiting senator who led a government witch hunt for communists in the 1950s. The former president was accused of taking a dig at Barrack Obama's patriotism.
Discussing the prospect of a presidential election between Mrs Clinton and the Republican candidate, John McCain, the former president told a group of war veterans in North Carolina: "I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country.
"And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."
His words were immediately interpreted as a dig at Mr Obama, whose pastor, Revd Jeremiah Wright, was exposed last week for delivering sermons in which he told worshippers "God damn America."
The Illinois senator responded to the Wright controversy by giving a speech on race in which he denounced the words of his pastor but asked voters to understand the frustrations and anger of black Americans.
Retired General Tony McPeak, a former US air force chief of staff and co-chairman of the Obama campaign, hit back, saying: "I grew up, I was going to college, when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I’ve had enough of it.
"It’s a use of language as a disguised insult. We’ve seen this before, this little clever spin that’s put on stuff."
It is Mr Clinton’s first major brush with controversy since the South Carolina primary election, which Mr Obama won in a landslide after the former president was accused of injecting race into the contest.
A Clinton campaign spokesman, Phil Singer, called the comparison to McCarthy "absurd" and accused the Obama campaign of seeking to divert attention from the Pastor Wright controversy.
But Mr Clinton is just one of several Clinton allies accused of using the Wright controversy to hurt Mr Obama. advertisement
Former Ambassador Joe Wilson, a Hillary supporter, wrote a piece on Friday saying her rival’s handling of the affair proves that Mr Obama’s "claims of superior intuitive judgment" are "disingenuous".
And Clinton campaign staff in Pennsylvania, scene of the next primary election on April 22, have also been exposed for listing Revd Wright as an example of why Obama would be "less electable" in November’s election.
Mr Obama’s speech attracted plaudits from commentators but polls taken since Tuesday suggest that he has lost support among working class white voters, who hold the key to victory in several swing states.
They show that Mr Obama’s standing against John McCain has slipped by around five points over the last week as the row has engulfed coverage of the election.
The three most recent tracking polls, which include samples taken since Mr Obama’s speech, show Mr McCain with leads of one, three and eight per cent over Mr Obama in a general election.
The three polls before that showed Mr Obama ahead by up to five per cent.
Two national polls taken since the speech show show Mrs Clinton with a 47 to 45 lead over Mr Obama, while a third gave him a one point edge.
The most recent national polls before the speech showed Mr Obama with a lead over Mrs Clinton of between three and seven points.
On Friday, Mr Obama was forced to hold a press conference to clarify comments he made on Thursday, in which he said his white grandmother’s fear of unfamiliar black men on the streets made her a "typical white person".
He told reporters: "What I was trying to express is something I expressed in the speech, which is that we all harbour stereotypes. That doesn’t make us bad people. That’s not even unique to white people. African-Americans have incorporated those stereotypes."
The race row shows little sign of abating. Mr Obama has also attacked the right-wing cable television news channel Fox for "deeply irresponsible" coverage for repeatedly screening videos of Pastor Wright’s inflammatory statements.
He even won support from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who accused his own station of "Obama bashing" for coverage that took the grandmother comments out of context.
The Obama camp was also troubled by revelations that three different State Department employees viewed his confidential passport details over the last three months.
Mrs Clinton and Mr McCain’s files were also breached.
OPERATION CHAOS ON YOUTUBE - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990107/posts
LOL. Actually, a treasonous weasel like Bill Clinton is not fit to shine the shoes of a true patriot like Joe McCarthy.
But since Obambi pretends to forbid his staffers from engaging in such attacks, it is time to demand McPeak’s resignation from Obama’s campaign advisory staff.
Actually, Obama, you’re closer to “McCarthy tactics” on this one.
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