Kerrey Apologizes to Obama Over Remark

[ariesgem]

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey has apologized to Barack Obama for any unintentional insult he committed by raising the Democratic presidential candidate's Muslim heritage while endorsing rival candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Kerrey sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday, lauding the Illinois senator's qualifications to be president and saying that he never meant to harm his candidacy. Kerrey told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he sent the letter on his own and had not spoken to Clinton or her campaign about the comments he made Sunday in Iowa.

"What I found myself getting into in Iowa _ and it was my own fault _ it was the wrong moment to do it and it was insulting," Kerrey told the AP. "I meant no disrespect at all."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the senator accepted Kerrey's apology, sent to the campaign in the mail and via e-mail.

While announcing his support for Clinton on Sunday, Kerrey told The Washington Post in an interview that while he hopes Clinton is the nominee, he would like Obama to have a role _ especially because of his ability to reach out to black youth and Muslims around the world.

"It's probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim," said Kerrey, a former governor and the current president of the New School in New York City. "There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal."

Kerrey's mention of Obama's middle name and his Muslim roots raised eyebrows because they are also used as part of a smear campaign on the Internet that falsely suggests Obama is a Muslim who wants to bring jihad to the United States.

Obama is a Christian.

The Clinton campaign has already fired two volunteer county coordinators in Iowa for forwarding hoax e-mails with the debunked claim. Last week, a national Clinton campaign co-chairman resigned for raising questions about whether Obama's teenage drug use could be used against him, so Kerrey's comments raised questions about whether the Clinton campaign might be using another high-profile surrogate to smear Obama.

Kerrey told Obama in the letter that was not his intent.

"I answered a question about your qualifications to be president in a way that has been interpreted as a backhanded insult of you. I assure you I meant to do just the opposite," Kerrey wrote.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Dec20/0,4670,ObamaKerrey,00.html

[CarbonDate]

1. Once is happenstance....

...twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.

1. Vols in Iowa.
2. Pro in New Hampshire.
3. Former pol in Iowa.

Obama needs to stop accepting apologies after this. This stinks of a Rovian whisper campaign, and while I hate to think that one of our own would be doing it to one of our own, Rove started out doing it to one of their own (McCain), so anything's possible, especially given how close the polls have been getting between these two candidates.

If Sen. Clinton's campaign isn't coordinating this shit, then she needs to get her people under control. If she doesn't, then I think Obama's perfectly within his rights to hit back, and hard.

[ariesgem]

4. Clinton's campaign stinks to high heaven. I'm willing to bet they have

internal polling numbers showing that these attacks on Obama are backfiring.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[elizm]

2. Well, I'm not buying it. But then again, maybe Kerrey is that stupid? nt

[oasis]

3. Why doesn't Obama just say "My middle name is Hussien and I'm proud of it"?

This cloak and dagger stuff over his name isn't helpful.

[xultar]

5. Maybe an American president with a Muslim heritage is who we need to solve

the mid-east crisis. I think he should be proud of it too.

[ellacott]

6. I don't think it's a question of whether he's proud of it

The question arises with the motivation of someone that's highlighting it.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. That sentiment is consistent with the point Kerry claims he tried to make. n/t

[beachmom]

12. Ahem, that's KerrEy, not Kerry. Just so we're clear that this is and always

has been about Kerrey with an E, the former Senator from Nebraska.

[Tom Rinaldo]

16. Thanks. Sloppy typing on my part. If I could still edit it I would

I wasn't confusing the actual people but you certainly wouldn't think that from my spelling. John Kerry had absolutely nothing to do with any of those comments.

[babylonsister]

7. When in the history of this country has a middle name been such

an issue, and who's making it so? :think:

[earthlover]

8. methinks it is the same group that cares about kindergarden records....

[Cha]

17. Yeah, how about

more willard the rat references!

[joeybee12]

19. Hilary RODHAM Clinton...

...they had a field day with that in 1992...God forbid she should use also her maiden name.

[babylonsister]

21. Who's 'they', and why would they have a field day? Many women

use their maiden and married names. And IIRC, she wasn't running for president in 1992.

[joeybee12]

23. Stop being so defensive...I'm pointing out that this has happened

before...the repukes piled on Hilary in 1992, and the media went along. Whenever a Dem runs, his wife is considered a legit target, but not repuke women. Remember Theresa HEINZ Kerry? Was this before your time?

[babylonsister]

25. You're the 12-year old, not me. I'm not being defensive, just

responding whether you like it or not. I don't recall THeinzK getting any criticism either other than discussions of her previous marriage. You must be digging deep to find these notions.

And FWIW, you sound fairly defensive yourself. Why is that? A maiden name used by a woman is no comparison to a middle name brought up time and again for absolutely no reason except to try to smear a candidate. I see no other reason to do so, and think it's very transparent why the Clinton camp is encouraging this.

[Didereaux]

24. No 3rd term fro FDR if it had been F A (Adolph or Akayama) R...take that to the bank

[Cameron27]

22. I agree, everyone knows what his middle name is,

so he should just say it and get whatever smears it's going to cause out now.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Kerrey also wanted to invite Obama to speak at his secular madrassa in Greenwich VIllage

as part of the apology. Glad they caught that before the statement went out.

[AtomicKitten]

11. "Three times" appears to be the magic number.

1. Mark Penn fit in the word "cocaine" THREE TIMES on Hardball.
2. Three paid HRC staffers got caught circulating an email pushing the Muslim theme.
3. Bob Kerrey fit in the word "Muslim" THREE TIMES in his brief statement about Obama.

But Bob Kerrey wins the bonus round for inserting "Islamic Manchurian Candidate" into the fray.
I wonder if there will be three apologies to keep the nasty bit of business in the news.

[global1]

13. Is It Me Or Is This Apology More Damaging Than The Original Statement?.......

Consider what Kerrey said in his apology:

1. He would like Obama to have a role _ especially because of his ability to reach out to black youth and Muslims around the world.

2. It's probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim.

3. There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal.

Tell me this wasn't a well planned Rovian/Clintonian tactic.

Some things never change.

[Didereaux]

14. Obama got suckered again...tell us all again he is not naive! sheesh! n/t

[ToeBot]

15. And by apologizing, he gets to broadcast the meme all over again, he's scum. nt

[Cha]

18. Yeah, next it will be

the apology to cover the apology..like they're gonna drop this. It's too titillating for them.