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Clinton & Obama Call Truce While Black Leader Slams Obama's Comment as 'Absolutely Stupid'
By Eric L. Hinton
January 15, 2008
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have called a truce over Clinton's recent remarks that were perceived as disparaging of Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy in the civil-rights movement. But at least one major Clinton supporter is still fanning the flames.
In an interview on NY1, CNN.com reports that New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, slammed Obama for criticizing comments Clinton made stating that Martin Luther King "worked with President (Lyndon) Johnson to get the civil-rights laws passed because the dream couldn't be realized until finally it was legally permissible for people of all colors and backgrounds, races and ethnicities to be accepted as citizens."
Click play to watch the full video on CNN.com.
Rangel says he found nothing objectionable in Clinton's remarks and attacked Obama for turning the flap into a racial issue. "How race got into this thing is because Obama said 'race'. But there is nothing that Hillary Clinton has said that baffles me. I would challenge anybody to belittle the contribution that Dr. King has made to the world, to our country, to civil rights and the Voting Rights Act," Rangel said. "But for him to suggest that Dr. King could have signed that act is absolutely stupid. It's absolutely dumb to infer Dr. King, alone, passed the legislation and signed it into law."
Perhaps Rangel doesn't believe race should be injected into the political debate, but as Obama and Clinton continue toward an expected collision, it appears inevitable. A new Rasmussen poll released yesterday indicates the racial gap between Obama and Clinton appears to be widening. The poll shows Clinton has the support of only 16 percent of Black voters while Obama has 66 percent. The poll puts Clinton ahead with white voters at 41 percent to Obama's 27 percent.
Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards will sit out today's Michigan primary as the GOP takes center stage. Polls indicate Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are in a close race to capture the state. The Democrats will re-emerge for a caucus in Nevada on Saturday.
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