Josh says "no context can save her" and maybe he's right, but I have to say that, while my first reaction upon reading the comments was "WTF?" after watching the video, I realized the point she was inartfully trying to make was simply that in 1968 the nomination fight was still going on in June. And indeed, the Clinton campaign's statement confirmed as much:
A Clinton campaign spokesman said Clinton "was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nomination process going well into the summer. Any reading beyond that would be inaccurate."
That context is important. Her intention is important. And it's not even parsing her words to come to the conclusion I did, nor is it some apologia, it was simply my honest reading of what she said as I heard her say them, as cringe-inducing as her choice of words was on the surface. The reason I feel it's important to make this point is that some in the diaries are saying "she was making the case that anything can happen." No, it would be inexcusable for her to raise that spectre in terms of 2008, she never would. Elsewhere I've seen it suggested that Hillary's comments demonstrate that she wishes harm to come to Barack Obama. And I'm just thinking to myself, wow, is this the point we've come to? In some corners of the blogosphere, the anti-Clinton derangement has risen to such a level that it's gone beyond the shit Republicans were peddling in the 90s? Truly amazing. Josh, of course, is making a much different point, one which I respect, although don't necessarily share.
For me, honestly, it was nothing more than an unfortunate choice of historical references and as her apology makes clear, she would agree (over the fold.)
"I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns of both my husband and Senator (Robert) Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact," she said."The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy," she added, referring to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's recent diagnosis of a brain tumor. "I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.
"My view is that we have to look to the past to our leaders who have inspired us, give us a lot to live up to, and I'm honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York and have the highest regard for the Kennedy family," she said.
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