Wilentz Blows Lid Off Obama Race-Baiting Campaign

TNR’s Sean Wilentz has a blockbuster article — Race Man: How Barack Obama played the race card and blamed Hillary Clinton. Excerpt:

A review of what actually happened shows that the charges that the Clintons played the “race card” were not simply false; they were deliberately manufactured by the Obama camp and trumpeted by a credulous and/or compliant press corps in order to strip away her once formidable majority among black voters and to outrage affluent, college-educated white liberals as well as college students. The Clinton campaign, in fact, has not racialized the campaign, and never had any reason to do so. Rather the Obama campaign and its supporters, well-prepared to play the “race-baiter card” before the primaries began, launched it with a vengeance when Obama ran into dire straits after his losses in New Hampshire and Nevada–and thereby created a campaign myth that has turned into an incontrovertible truth among political pundits, reporters, and various Obama supporters.

Starting from this as a base, I’ve continued a project of expanding and documenting the timeline of racial grievances between the campaigns. [The post in its current March 24 form is extensively updated from the February 27 original, and is a continuing effort.]

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First, we catalog the incidents — both those Wilentz included, and some (as stuck pigs are squealing) that Wilentz left out. I have reviewed contemporaneous media and blogs, adding context especially to the critical period from Jan 7 thru 14. Incidents omitted in Wilentz’s review are color-coded to distinguish them as this project proceeds.]

1. Bill Clinton’s comment includes Obama among the “boys” (Edwards, Biden, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd, Russert, etc.) in ‘Even though those boys have been getting tough on her lately, she can handle it.’ [2007-11-12] Obama supporters leverage this to claim Bill called Barack “boy“. [2007-11-12]
2. Jones County Democrats Secretary Judy Rose (one of 25o Iowa “Women’s Leadership Council for Team Hillary” members) forwards the infamous “Obama MUSLIM” e-mail (circulating virally since at least January 2007), [2007-11-21] to a short list including a Clinton staffer (who condemns it) and Jones County Democrats Chair Gary Hart — who breaks the story on dailyKos [2007-12-04] relating his “guess” that message had the Clinton campaign’s “tacit approval”. nationwide furor ensues. Hart later concludes ‘her intent was to alert him of negative campaign tactics’ and confesses ‘I probably did make a mistake in making it sound the way I did in the first place’.
3. Clinton NH co-chair Bill Sheehan speculates on how Republican opponents might exploit Obama’s admitted drug use. [2007-12-12]
4. Hillary apologizes to Obama in person, on the tarmac at Reagan National. [2008-12-13]
5. Obama NH co-chair Ned Helms associates the Sheehan comment and the MUSLIM e-mail incident to infer a ‘pattern … How many times are we going to see the isolated incident followed by the denial’. [2008-12-13]
6. Obama spokesman David Plouffe launches a fundraising e-mail bacsed on Sheehan’s remark. [2008-12-13]
7. Sheehan abruptly resigns from the campaign [2007-12-13].
8. Clinton pollster Mark Penn says “cocaine“ approximately 850 words into a Hardball discussion of the Sheehan brouhaha (spun up and kept aloft by Chris Matthews, Obama surrogate David Axelrod and Edwards surrogate Joe Trippi). [2007-12-13]
9. Clinton supporter and former Senator (D-NE) Bob Kerrey claims (errantly and oxymoronically) that Obama attended a “secular madrassa” as a child in Indonesia. [2007-12-17]
10. Former NYT editorial page editor Gail Collins tosses the expression “fairy tale” into play: ‘ “It” is about Barack’s promise to sweep away the old, unlovable red-meat politics and create a nonpartisan “coalition for change that stretches through red states and blue states.” Which Hillary, veteran of the right-wing-conspiracy wars, regards as a fairy tale.’ Bill Clinton has not previously been a habitual user of “fairy tale” as a euphemism for “bullshit”. [2008-01-05]
11. In NH debate, Edwards joins Obama in crossfire vs Hillary as status quo (‘Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of status quo attack’). Hillary responds ‘we don’t need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered’. [2008-01-05]
12. WaPo reports ‘Clinton ordered her advisers Sunday to reorient their message to more aggressively focus on the idea that Obama is all talk and no action’. [2008-01-06]
13. Obama attacks the “false hope” theme, suggesting Hillary would not have put a man on the moon, rebuilt Japan and Germany after WW II, or freed the slaves. [2008-01-06]
14. Politico reports Hillary’s advisers fear a NH primary loss. Polls have Obama 8-10 points up. Unnamed Clinton adviser confides “We’re going to lose South Carolina”. [2008-01-06]
15. In Portsmouth NH, Hillary tears up at a meeting with undecided women voters. [2008-01-06]
16. MSNBC First Read reports ‘The new argument the Clinton camp is making about Obama is “Talk vs. Action.” ‘ and ‘the campaign also is trying its best to soften Clinton up’. [2008-01-07 09:22]
17. “Iron My Shirt” pranksters are ejected from Clinton rally in Salem NH. [2008-01-07]
18. Introducing Hillary, Dover NH event host Francine Torge mentions JFK assassination. [2008-01-07]
19. Obama again mocks Hillary’s “false hopes” comment, portraying MLK at the Lincoln Memorial conceding ‘Sorry, guys. False hope. The dream will die. It can’t be done.’
20. Hillary credits LBJ (in contrast to prior Presidents) with essential role in realizing MLK‘s “dream”. [2008-01-07]
21. Obama surrogates pounce on Hillary’s alleged disrespect for Dr. King’s memory. Bystanders chime in, spurred by false summary reports on FOX and deceptive excerpts in NYT (among other media). See extended discussion in section following. [2008-01-07]
22. Bill Clinton allegedly insults Nelson Mandela (praising Mandela and Yitzak Rabin for their fortitude, but avowing there’s nobody he’d rather have with him in a tough spot than Hillary). [2008-01-07]
23. Hillary opines ‘I don’t think it was by accident that Al Qaeda decided to test the new prime minister’. [2008-01-07] Obama surrogates agitate “fear card” furor. [2008-01-07]
24. Bill Clinton, at Dartmouth, characterizes Obama’s account of his Iraq War posture as a “fairy tale“. [2008-01-07]
25. Bill Clinton’s Dartmouth remarks are reported at length … but not the “fairy tale” throwaway line. [2008-01-08 09:20]
26. Obama invokes JFK and MLK in rebuttal to Clinton’s “false hopes” charge, but denies comparing himself to either. [2008-01-07]
27. (Stealth Obama surrogate) Donna Brazile interprets the Dartmouth clip on CNN as Clinton calling Obama himself (or his candidacy) a “fairy tale“. [2008-01-08 16:00]
28. Brazile further characterizes Bill Clinton’s “tone” as that of ‘calling Obama a kid’. (Unshakable belief takes hold among Obama supporters that Bill literally called Obama a “kid“. They extrapolate “kid” as a code-word euphemism for “boy“.) [2008-01-08 16:00]
29. Gary Hart endorses Obama as a candidate ‘in a unique position to end race as a factor in American politics’. Nobody notices. [2008-01-08]
30. In a shock to pollsters and pundits, Hillary Clinton wins New Hampshire primary. [2008-01-08]
31. The search for explanations includes to the “Bradley Effect” — the theory voters will express racial prejudice in the privacy of the voting booth, but not in pre-election polls . Wilentz asserts the Obama camp “vigorously” pressed this claim. I can’t confirm the aggressiveness of this push from published sources, but senior Obama aides reportedly identified the effect as a potentially adequate explanation for the NH result. (Wilentz claims ‘Clinton campaign officials later told me that reporters contacted them saying that the Obama camp was pushing them very hard to spin Clinton’s victory as the latest Bradley Effect result’.) [2008-01-08]
32. Obama national co-chair Jesse Jackson Jr. attributes Hillary’s tearful moment to racial insensitivity (since she did not cry over Hurricane Katrina and other events affecting African-Americans) and as something ‘we’re still analyzing within the Barack Obama campaign’ [2008-01-09]
33. New York Post headlines Bill Clinton’s “fairy tale” remark. [2008-01-09]
34. NYT’s Adam Nagourney further misreports the “fairy tale” remark, alleging Bill ‘described the story of Mr. Obama as a “fairy tale”’. [2008-01-09]
35. NYT columnist Maureen Down misreports the “fairy tale” remark, alleging ‘Bill churlishly dismissed the Obama phenom as “the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen” ‘. [2008-01-09]
36. Obama personally endorses misinterpretation of “fairy tale“, and further suggests Clinton is accusing him of taking a cakewalk [racially charged term]. [2008-01-09]
37. Discussing Gore 2000 and Kerry 2004 campaigns in small-state primaries, Clinton supporter Andrew Cuomo utters the phrase “shuck and jive“ — a common idiom (despite its racial origins), and especially so among candidates and their PR handlers. Cuomo is not an active surrogate and did not utter the remark in reference to Obama (or even directly to the Clinton-Obama contest). Nationwide “race baiting” furor ensues. [2008-01-09]
38. Rep. James Clyburn, reached overseas by reporters, is taken in: ‘To call that dream a fairy tale, which Bill Clinton seemed to be doing, could very well be insulting to some of us’ [2008-01-10]
39. In a 17-minute endorsement of Obama, Sen. John Kerry invokes parallels with JFK and MLK. [2008-01-10]
40. A UK Guardian opinion piece quotes (paraphrases?) an unnamed “Clinton adviser”: “If you have a social need, you’re with Hillary. If you want Obama to be your imaginary hip black friend and you’re young and you have no social needs, then he’s cool.” [2008-01-10]
41. Obama campaign minority outreach specialist Candice Tolliver insinuates a pattern of race-baiting — ‘not just these latest comments but really a pattern, or a series of comments that we’ve heard for several months’. [2008-01-11]
42. Jesse Jackson Jr., through a spokesperson, accuses the ubiquitous “they” of using “reactionary, disparaging rhetoric”. [2008-01-11]
43. Bill Clinton calls in to (stealth Obama surrogate) Al Sharpton’s radio program, clarifying “fairy tale” remark, and noting ‘You have a hard choice, and if you decide to vote for Senator Obama I respect you because it is a source of enormous pride in the African American community’ [2008-01-11]
44. Hillary expresses personal offense at racial interpretations of recent comments (‘any fair reading of what both of us said would be clear and I think it’s regrettable that these are being in a way used to try to divide people in our country during this election and I’m not going to have any part of it … I personally find it offensive.’) [2008-01-11]
45. Obama campaign produces an inventory of racial grievances (“shuck and jive“, LBJ/MLK, Mandela, drug use, and “fairy tale“). The South Carolina Memo is rapidly and widely circulated. Campaign officially disclaims it as a research compilation prepared on request for a single activist. [2008-01-11]
46. NYT columnist Bob Herbert misreports the “fairy tale” remark, by referring to ‘the former president … saying of Mr. Obama’s effort: “The whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.” ‘ [2008-01-12]
47. NYT columnist Bob Herbert misreports the LBJ/MLK remark, accusing Hillary of ‘taking cheap shots at, of all people, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’ [2008-01-12]
48. A Clinton pollster confides to Ryan Lizza ‘The Hispanic voter—and I want to say this very carefully—has not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates’ in an article in which Lizza himself states ‘There are lingering tensions between the Hispanic and black communities which [Obama] doesn’t want to inflame’. [2008-01-12]
49. NYT reports Bill Clinton’s clarification of “fairy tale” context on Al Sharpton’s radio program. [2008-01-12]
50. NYT reports “Clintons Move to Tamp Down Criticism From Blacks”. Obama spokesperson Bill Burton stirs the pot: ‘Voters have to decide for themselves what they think of this’. Donna Brazile relents: ““At this point, we are willing to let this lie.”” 2008-01-12]
51. Hillary appears on Meet The Press, defends Bill’s “fairy tale” remark. [2008-01-13]
52. Obama personally hypes the LBJ/MLK flap in a conference call, and calls Hillary’s MTP defense “ludicrous“. [2008-01-13]
53. Michelle Obama addresses Trumpet Awards in Atlanta, deliberately reinforces the discredited interpretation of Bill’s “fairy tale” remark. [2008-01-13]
54. Bruiting compound falsehoods, Obama personally alleges that Hillary ‘made an ill-advised statement about Dr. King and suggested that Lyndon Johnson had more to do with the Civil Rights Act … For them to suggest that we’re injecting race as a consequence of a statement she made that we haven’t commented on is pretty hard to figure out’. [2008-01-13]
55. NYT reports “Clinton Accuses Obama Camp of Distorting Her Words”. Obama spokesperson Bill Burton fans the flames: ‘People were offended at her words, and she can explain them however she’d like’ [2008-01-13]
56. Obama campaign releases an accusatory compilation closely resembling the South Carolina Memo, in response to Hillary’s explanations on Meet The Press. [2008-01-13]
57. Still-a-candidate John Edwards chimes in on the LBJ/MLK controversy, “fundamentally disagree[ing]” with HRC’s purported assertion that ‘real change that came not through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, but through a Washington politician’. [2008-01-13]
58. HRC attends African-American church service, praises Obama to the rafters … but BET’s Robert Johnson, accompanying her, reacts to the LBJ/MLK flap: ‘Barack knows better than that, why he would let his people let that come out just shows to me either he is not in control of what they are saying or he’s allowing them to say it knowing it’s wrong’. [2008-01-13]
59. BET billionaire Robert Johnson, introducing Bill & Hillary in a town hall forum, alludes to Obama’s drug use (‘doing something in the neighborhood. I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book’). [2008-01-13]
60. Obama camp demands repudiation of Johnson’s drug use remarks. [2008-01-13]
61. Clinton camp releases Johnson’s statement, (implausibly) denying any drug use innuendo. ‘My comments today were referring to Barack Obama’s time spent as a community organizer, and nothing else’. [2008-01-13]
62. MSNBC’s Dan Abrams suggests the media are promoting a fight: ‘Tonight, the inside Washington media buzzing about the supposed war over race breaking out between Clinton and Obama, but in reality the DC media I believe invented this war and sucked the candidates into race baiting gotcha politics.’ [2008-01-14]
63. NYT reports ‘supporters of Mr. Obama … were concerned Mrs. Clinton and her allies might be deliberately raising the issue of race … “I don’t want to believe that, but I’ve got to tell you I’m wondering,” said Representative Elijah E. Cummings’. Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro opines ‘The spin will be put on it that they are talking about race. The Obama campaign is appealing to their base and their base is the African-American community … What have they got to lose?’ [2008-01-14]
64. Hillary is booed, and some members of a largely black audience walk out, as she starts to speak at a New York labor event honoring Martin Luther King. [2008-01-14]
65. Hillary and Obama exchange reciprocal “olive branch” statements. [2008-01-14]
66. Clinton supporter Rep. Charlie Rangel sounds off in a (pre-recorded?) interview on cable channel NY1: ‘How race got into this thing is because Obama said “race” … to suggest that Dr. King could have signed that act is absolutely stupid.’ [2008-01-14]
67. NYT reports ‘but in television interviews, [Obama] also accused the Clinton campaign of playing up the race issue as “strategy” and of being “silly.” ‘ [reported 2008-01-15, interview referencess uncertain]
68. Reporters question Obama on his pastor and spiritual mentor’s praise for Louis Farrakhan as one who “truly epitomized greatness.” Obama releases a statement: ‘I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan’. [2008-01-15]
69. NYT profiles Obama’s pursuit of Latino votes, with notes on history of black/Latino political frictions. [2008-01-15]
70. Las Vegas Sun contrasts the olive branch vows with sniping between surrogates: ‘supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton had made clumsy statements that appeared to play to stereotypes of black men in recent days and weeks, while supporters of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama had begun to accuse the Clinton campaign of stoking racial bitterness‘. [2008-01-15]
71. NBC’s Domenico Montanaro profiles ”10 Days That Led to a Controversy Over Race” [2008-01-15]
72. In the Las Vegas “Black and Brown” debate, Obama is asked about the South Carolina memo, ‘our staff get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say. And it is my responsibility to make sure that we’re setting a clear tone’. His slant on the LBJ/MLK question seems to affirm Hillary’s: ‘… that’s what I draw from Dr. King’s legacy. You know, what happens in Washington is important. And we’ve got to have elected officials that are accountable and serious about moving forward’. [2008-01-15]
73. Rep. Clyburn tries to calm troubled waters, takes umbrage at the idea of Obama (as a black man) being asked if he’s qualified, but allows that Hillary (as a woman) probably faces even steeper barriers. [2008-01-15]
74. Rep. Rangel regrets his earlier comments, hopes we can all get along. [2008-01-15]
75. Belatedly, Robert Johnson apologizes in writing for drug use innuendo: ‘In my zeal to support Senator Clinton, I made some very inappropriate remarks’. [2008-01-17]
76. Bill Moyers’ special segment offers firsthand witness testimony affirming the Clinton version of the LBJ/MLK relationship. [2008-01-18]
77. Obama supporter and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, speaking at Ebeneezer Baptist (MLK’s old post), brazenly adopts the “fairy tale” straw man with Bill Clinton in attendance, and later (just as brazenly) claims her use of the phrase made no allusion to his. [2008-01-21]
78. In a stump speech litany on purported Clinton campaign attacks, Obama implies they have lied about his religion. (‘I respect other people’s religions. I just don’t like it when they lie about mine’) [2008-01-25]
79. Bill Clinton “bitches out the media” for playing up racial angles in SC primary campaign. “once you accuse somebody of racism or bigotry, or something, the facts become irrelevant. There are facts here.” [2008-01-26]
80. NYT columnist Bob Herbert reports that (Clinton supporter, Former Atlanta Mayor, UN Ambassador and Civil rights movement original) Andrew Young made an off-color quip that Bill Clinton had gone with more black women than Obama. [taped possibly 2007-09-05; first known report 2007-12-08; Herbert’s NYT column 2008-01-26]
81. Bill Clinton, buttonholed by a reporter at a SC polling place on election day, mentions Jesse Jackson‘s 1984 and 1988 SC primary wins in passing, casting Obama’s SC expected win as a historic parallel. ‘Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice, in ’84 and ’88. And he ran a good campaign. Senator Obama’s run a good campaign here, he’s run a good campaign everywhere.’ [2008-01-26]
82. Angry blogosphere “exploded with accusations” at Clinton’s mention of Jesse Jackson. [2008-01-26]
83. Obama SC victory speech ‘reminding the crowd of the attacks he’d faced from the Clintons over the past two weeks. “We are up against an idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election,” he said. “We know that this is exactly what’s wrong with our politics.” ‘ [2008-01-26]
84. Barack Obama on ABC’s This Week affirms WJC’s comment (‘Jesse Jackson ran historic races in 1984 and 1988, and there’s no doubt that that set a precedent for African Americans running for the highest office in the land’) but attributes Clinton’s use of the precedent to “racial politics” (‘Well, you know, I think that that’s his frame of reference … a lot of South Carolinians looked at it through a different lens.’)
85. Obama supporter Jesse Jackson concurs in WJC’s remarks regarding Jesse Jackson, discounts any adverse racial interpretation, and indicates Obama has made similar remarks. [2008-01-28]
86. Clinton-hater Frank Rich’s NYT propagates a series of imaginative “race card” accusations — not having enough black faces (and one in the “servile” role of moderator) in a TV special; asserting (and defending!) the “creepy” (but empirically-grounded) notion that Latino voters have not shown affinity for black candidates; a remarkably inverted interpretation of Mary Frances Berry and Roger Wilkins’ plea to resolve the Michigan/Florida delegate seating impasse. [2008-02-10]
87. Drudge Report posts the “Somali photo“, asserts that Clinton staffers circulating it. Obama campaign immediately accuses Clinton of ‘the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election’. [2008-02-25]
88. Obama campaign exerts pressure on black elected officials to renounce support for Clinton. [2008-02-29]
89. Blogger Ann Althouse suspects subliminal race-baiting in Hillary’s “It’s 3 AM” ad, in the form of the letters “NIG” in a fold of sleeping child’s “GOOD NIGHT” pajamas. [2008-03-01]
90. Miscellaneous objections to alleged racially coded language. [Advance warning: I Kid You Not.] Hillary’s repeated reference to the “Black and Brown” Debate in Las Vegas (sponsored jointly by African-American and Latino organizations on MLK’s birthday) as the “black and brown” debate; reference to primaries and caucuses as “races”; reference to Obama supporters as “fans”; references to the campaign’s motor conveyance as a “bus”; the word “HANG” visible in “CHANGE” poster obscured by two faces at Obama rally. [references on request]

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Next, the LBJ/MLK “Outrage”: You’ve been Drudged and FOXed

If you were offended by Hillary’s remarks “diminishing” the accomplishments of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in comparison to President Lyndon Johnson, you probably heard a counterfeit cut before you ever heard the real one. If you’ve been paying attention, you probably know that by now.

But if you really paid attention, you’d be really offended by something more you probably don’t know.

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First, there was an important prelude, earlier that day. Here’s the NYT report:

Clinton’s Civil Rights Lesson
By Sarah Wheaton

DOVER, N.H. — … Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually” passed the civil rights legislation.

That sounds offensive to the memory of JFK, and was disclaimed immediately by the campaign:

Phil Singer, a Clinton spokesman said: “We were not aware that this person was going to make those comments and disapprove of them completely. They were totally inappropriate.”

But we find a different and more detailed version of Torge’s remarks in this NBC report.

“If you look back, some people have been comparing one of the other candidates to JFK, and he was a wonderful leader,” she said. “He gave us a lot of hope. But he was assassinated, and Lyndon Baines Johnson actually did all of his work and got both the Republicans and Democrats to pass those measures.”

Better connected, logically and textually; refers only to the work of Presidents; and (unlike the verbiage tacked on in the NYT post) draws no line that denies credit to MLK.

The mention of assassination is sensitive — but not racially insensitive. It’s blurted out by a starry-eyed small town gal hosting the big cheese — not by a traveling campaign pro.

Anyway, this is the stage-setter for FOX’s interview later that same day.
Later on, FOX News reporter Major Garrett asked Hillary Clinton a leading question, and she answered. When did you hear or read her answer? What was the question? And what did (or didn’t) she say?

You might have heard this — a FOX network “tease” [2008-01-07 6:12pm EST] on Garrett’s blog, suggestively and severely mischaracterizing her answer:

[HRC] appeared to diminish the role Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played in the civil rights movements, saying it wasn’t hope that King inspired that made the difference but President Lyndon Johnson’s decision to fight for and sign the Civil Rights Act into law.

Offended? You might be, as I might.

http://bourbonroom.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/07/clintons-candid-assessment/

You might have heard this — Garrett’s lead-in to a video news segment, a total fabrication putting the following words in Hillary’s mouth:

“You know, Major, Dr. King was important but the real driving force in civil rights in America was President Johnson because he signed the civil rights legislation.”

She said nothing of the kind.

Or you might have read this version in the New York Times, relating part of the answer but taking it misleadingly out of context.

“Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Mrs. Clinton said in trying to make the case that her experience should mean more to voters than the uplifting words of Mr. Obama. “It took a president to get it done.”

… rather than the full quote the NYT (and most other media) refused to run until days later:

And so the storm blew up out of context, and out of proportion, and out of reason.

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Here’s the full transcript of Hillary’s “MLK moment”, in the Major Garrett interview:

GARRETT: You mention Senator Obama. Let me read you a quote from a speech he gave today, saying:

[OBAMA: ] False hopes. Dr. King standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking out over the magnificent crowd, the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument:

“Sorry, guys. False hope. The dream will die. It can’t be done.”

False hope. We don’t need leaders to tell us what we can’t do. We need leaders to tell us what we can do and inspire us to do.

GARRETT: Would you react to that?

CLINTON: I would, and I would point to the fact that Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, president[s] before had not even tried, but it took a President to get it done.

That dream became a reality. The power of that dream became real in people’s lives because we had a President who said “we’re going to do it”, and actually got it accomplished.

This is a one-minute excerpt of a seven minute interview in which he first inquires whether she had an “Ed Muskie moment”, and invites her to speculate as to whether the American people can accept a President with “an emotional scale that’s that broad”. For best viewing see the embedded Flash video in Garrett’s blog post, at about the 3:43 mark. See also Aaron Bruns’s original and more accurately-written embed post. [2008-01-07 4:47pm EST]