Bill Clinton Barack Obama Controversy

Guide Note: In the days before his win at the 2008 South Carolina Primary, candidate Barack Obama responded to a series of attacks from former president Bill Clinton which some insisted tried to exploit the candidate's racial divide.

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• Also try: 2008 South Carolina Primary

Bill Clinton Barack Obama Controversy News

• Google News: Bill Clinton Barack Obama Controversy
• Associated Press: Bill Clinton: I Learned a Lesson (February 8, 2008)
  • Bill Clinton has said that he learned it was okay to promote his wife's candidacy using his fame and noteriety, but that he should abstain from defending her against political attacks. "I have to let her defend herself or have someone else defend her," he told an interviewer.
• ABC News: Bill: I Never Attacked Obama (February 8, 2008)
• CBS News: Polls Offer Mixed View Of Bill Clinton (February 8, 2008)
• The New York Times: "A Former President, Back in the Thick of Presidential Politics" (January 27, 2008)
  • Clinton told a crowd in Charleston that Obama may win the state because of race. "They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender. And that's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here."
• MSNBC.com: Obama projected winner in South Carolina (January 26, 2008)
  • Black voters came out overwhelmingly in support of Obama. It was unclear what effect Clinton's attacks had on the black vote, which went far more in favor of Obama than exit polls had predicted.
• CNN Political Ticker: Exit polls: Bill Clinton's effect (January 26, 2008)
  • Exit polls indicate Obama beat Clinton by a wide margin among voters who decided in the last three days — when the former President's criticisms have dominated media coverage.
• MSNBC.com: First Read: Bill: 'My message' 99.9% positive (January 26, 2008)
  • Obama suporters have accused Clinton of fudging the truth in order to criticize his wife's opponents. Clinton struck back that no specific comments of his were specified, and that he's mainly spoken up to defend misstatements about Hillary.
• Associated Press: Dems SC Strategy Focused on Race (January 26, 2008)
• The New York Times: "In South Carolina, Race Seen Through Economic Lens" (January 26, 2008)
• CNN Political Ticker: Bill Clinton: Obama vision is "articulate, compelling" (January 25, 2008)
• WashingtonPost.com: The Trail: Clinton Supporters Address Race Issue (January 25, 2008)
• Guardian Observer: 'Bill effect' threatens a civil war (January 26, 2008)
  • Obama has set up a 'Truth Squad' to combat attacks such as the ones offered by Clinton, who has suggested, among other things, that Obama is too conservative and that his candidacy resembles the 1998 effort of Jesse Jackson, who also won in South Carolina.
• CNN: Bill Clinton complains about Obama's attacks (January 14, 2008)
• ABC News: Political Radar: Obama Damps Down Racial Controversy (January 14, 2008)
• Politico.com: Clinton and Obama, Johnson and King (January 7, 2008)

Bill Clinton Barack Obama Videos

• YouTube - Bill Clinton on Barack Obama (Time 0:29)
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  • This is the video including the now-infamous Jesse Jackson comparison.
• YouTube: Barack Obama Hits Back Against Bill Clinton Attacks (Time: 2:18)
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• YouTube: Hardball: Clintons sound like whiners and criers (Time: 8:04)
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• YouTube: Bill on Obama: "Big Fairy Tale" (Time: 3:10)
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Bill Clinton Barack Obama Controversy Blogs and Commentaries

• Salon.com: Glenn Greenwald: Bill Clinton: The Chris Matthews of South Carolina (January 27, 2008) 
• TheAtlantic.com: The Daily Dish: Bill's Advance Spin (January 26, 2008)
• Talking Points Memo: The Problem with Bill 2.0 (January 26, 2008)
• TimesOnline: "Hillary unleashes pit bull Bill" (January 27, 2008)
• CBS News: Will Obama Get A Bounce? (January 25, 2008)
• TPM Election Central: Obama Spokesperson Says There's a "Pattern" Behind...Comments (January 11, 2008)
• Google Blog Search: Bill Clinton Barack Obama Controversy

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