NYT: Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy had a heated telephone exchange over Bill's tactics

[TeamJordan23]

January 28, 2008
Kennedy Chooses Obama, Spurning Bill Clinton Plea
By JEFF ZELENY and CARL HULSE

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Senator Edward M. Kennedy was set to endorse Senator Barack Obama for president on Monday as part of an effort to lend Kennedy charisma and connections to Mr. Obama as he heads into a 22-state showdown with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The disclosure of the endorsement, which followed a public appeal on Mr. Obama’s behalf by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, was a blow to the Clinton campaign and pits leading members of the nation’s most prominent Democratic families against one another.

Beginning with a joint appearance and rally in Washington on Monday, Mr. Kennedy, a major figure in party politics for more than 40 years, intends to campaign aggressively for Mr. Obama, heading West this week, followed by appearances in the Northeast. Strategists see him bolstering Mr. Obama’s credibility for the office and providing particular benefits with union members and Hispanics, as well as the party base.

Both the Clintons and their allies had pressed Mr. Kennedy for weeks to remain neutral, but Mr. Kennedy had become increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the Clinton campaign. He and former President Bill Clinton had a heated telephone exchange earlier this month over what Mr. Kennedy considered misleading statements by Mr. Clinton about Mr. Obama, as well as his injection of race into the campaign.

Mr. Kennedy called Mr. Clinton on Sunday to tell him of his decision.


Continue Reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/politics/28kennedy.html?hp - Link Fixed

[Diane R]

1. Interesting that Sen. Kennedy called BILL Clinton to tell of his decision. Who's the candidate?

[Robeson]

6. Isn't that a rhetorical question?....

...as is mine?

[babylonsister]

2. The Kennedys' endorsement is gold for Obama. Really something! nt

[bellasgrams]

20. To bad Kennedy didn't have the correct info before making his

decision. On such important subjects you need to actually hear the charges not read them or let someone tell you. Clinton did nothing wrong, the people will get it right.

[babylonsister]

31. WTF are you talking about? What charges? And you're telling me

Kennedy doesn't have correct info? Bwhahaha! :crazy:

You're 'people', and I hope you get it right one day.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

3. Oh man! Wouldn't I love to have heard that conversation. I

truly think Bill has lost his marbles.

[ursi]

5. Me, too! Nice to know that not everyone in liberal America thinks the Clintons deserve 8 more years

[TeamJordan23]

7. Maybe we can ask Bush or Cheney. I'm sure they have it on wiretap. nm

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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

[babylonsister]

17. You are gross. nt

[gulliver]

22. You're right. But the setup was more than I could resist.

I tried. I'm watching Family Guy and it corrupted me.

[babylonsister]

25. Family Guy is your excuse? That's even worse. nt

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Wassamatta? Teddy Doesn't Like Race Baiting?

We need to be tough and pit race against race, because the Republicans will do it too - we don't want to be seen as the party where coloreds mix with whites.

(:sarcasm:)

[cboy4]

8. "Mr. Kennedy called Mr. Clinton on Sunday to tell him

of his decision."

Boy would I have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation.

Can you imagine the profanity and tossing about of liquor bottles?

Yikes.

[Quixote1818]

15. If Bill was smart he probably played it cool. You don't want Teddy to be your enemy

However, since Teddy may come out with a statement about his displeasure with the way Bill has been acting, perhaps there was profanity and tossing about of liquor bottles. Not very smart of Bill to piss off Teddy if that is what happened.

[Tatiana]

30. DING DING DING

Bill's arrogance is shooting Hillary's campaign in the foot. Ted WARNED him weeks ago to knock it off. He is concerned about the PARTY and increasing majority in the Congress, which a President will need to pass his/her agenda and Ted will need if he wants to get legislation passed.

There are some tight Senate races with Republican incumbents that would be nice to pick up. Ted is looking at the big picture, not just the presidential race.

[Kahuna]

43. DING DING DING DING... The Dems are looking at coattails..

And if the Clintons continue to alienate their most loyal constituents the Dems could lose their majorities.

[DURHAM D]

9. Ted has been watching too much television.

And believing it. His staff needs to step up.

[AX10]

12. True.

[TeamJordan23]

14. Its not the TV Coverage. Anyone with a brain knows what Bill was up to. nm

[book_worm]

16. how is it that so many dems have come to the conclusion that Bill Clinton

has been race baiting?

[jefferson_dem]

19. How about...

'cause he has been race baiting?

[EFerrari]

21. We trust our lying eyes? n/t

[bellasgrams]

24. Book, because the BO people and the media keep telling them.

I did read somewhere that BO denied BC was doing it, after he had accused him of it.

[babylonsister]

28. Senator Obama is a gentleman who doesn't want this to be about race.

If we could turn this page, that'd make a lot of us happy. I fear it won't happen.

That's more than I can say for "BC".

[QC]

57. Same reason Scientologists believe in Xenu and the volcanoes,

The leader of their cult told them so.

[Kahuna]

44. I'm sure he has. On TV he can see Bill's outlandish conduct with

his own eyes the same way I have. I don't need the media to tell me what I saw and I'm sure Ted doesn't either.

[TwilightGardener]

11. The Old Lion's still got some roar. Wonder what "heated" sounds like

between Clinton and Kennedy, considering neither are exactly passive and quiet.

[skooooo]

13. ..

:popcorn:

[Adelante]

18. Kennedy advised Obama to run for president

This I didn't know.

Conversations about the White House began more than a year ago, with Mr. Obama paying Mr. Kennedy a visit to seek his thoughts about whether he should run for president. Mr. Kennedy told him that he should because such opportunities rarely come along.

[babylonsister]

29. That deserves its own thread; I didn't know that! I wonder who else

might have encouraged him?

[Adelante]

32. Durbin did. Daschle, I think nt

[hisownpetard]

37. Wow. I never knew that!

[snooper2]

23. Or in other words...

"who's your daddy bitch?"

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

26. Your link doesn't work, here it is below (you are missing "/politics"):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/politics/28kennedy.html?hp

[TeamJordan23]

33. Thanks, I fixed it. I guess they must have changed it since it went up. nm

[senseandsensibility]

27. Very interesting

I really enjoy this type of political gossip.

[angie_love]

35. Wow

Wow, I didn't know all that was going on in the Kennedy family re: whether to endorse Obama. Some dramatic stuff there. I loved reading it.

[Historic NY]

34. The Lions roars, especially when he is pissed off.............n/t

[LittleBlue]

36. We're looking at a schism if Hillary is the nominee

We now know the party elites and black voters both feel Bill was race-baiting. I see horrible consequences if she is the nominee.

[Beacool]

38. I hope Bill told him to F... OFF!!!!!!!!

:eyes:


I laughed tonight when my local CBS station announced during the 11:00 news that Teddy and Caroline endorsed Obama, but that several other Kennedys endorsed Hillary and listed them by name. They didn't give Teddy's endorsement any more play than they did the other clan endorsements.

[GoldieAZ49]

39. The conversation AFTER that phone call is the one I would have liked to hear

After Teddy told Bill....and this was Bills Punishment from Teddy...Bill had to tell Hillary!

The entire article is Great!

That last sentence from Ethel comparing Obama to RFK was impressive:

A year later, near the end of Mr. Obama’s first year in the Senate, Ethel Kennedy asked him to speak at a ceremony for her husband’s 80th birthday. At the time, she referred to Mr. Obama as “our next president.”

“I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did,” Mrs. Kennedy said in an interview that day, comparing her late husband’s quest for social justice to Mr. Obama’s. “He has the passion in his heart. He’s not selling you. It’s just him.”

[QC]

40. Did Ted offer to take him for a ride?

That would strike fear in the heart of even the bravest!

[Tulkas]

41. Bad Taste

Maybe you should go find a republican board to post that kinda crap on

[QC]

42. And maybe you should stop being such a prisspot.

I've been posting here since the site opened and will continue to, whether you like it or not.

[Strelnikov_]

56. And on that note . .

[PeaceNikki]

58. I nominate this as tackiest post of the day.

:thumbsup:

[Perry Logan]

45. Recommend you avoid the New York Times. It exists to confuse and demoralize the left.

[Maribelle]

46. Jackie Kennedy would not be please with this

After her husband's death, Jackie dedicated her life to sheltering their children from the political battleground. Throughout the tragedies of her life, with courage and grace she never even once allowed her children to be used as political pawns, and she continually strove to leave within their hearts the historic legacy of which they were a part.

Today we seen Caroline in her own words doing the exact opposite of Jackie's courage and grace, and uses the grandchildren of Jackie and John Kennedy as political pawns

But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

[RFKJrNews]

49. How do you presume to know what Jackie would think?

considering the lady has been in her grave for almost 15 years, I'm just wondering if you are gathering this information from a Ouija board or some more reliable source?

Jackie had no trouble with her children endorsing political candidates. By all accounts, they chose who to support for themselves, without any pressure from mom one way or the other, although they were generally in agreement.

For the record, John Kennedy Jr. endorsed Clinton back in the day. As did Jackie O. But times change, and the Kennedys change with them.


You'll be heartened to know that most of Robert Kennedys children are endorsing Hillary in 2008. Bobby jr., Kathleen, Kerry and Rory have been working hard for clinton.

(edited for spelling)

[WinkyDink]

52. Interesting, considering many Obama supporters are comparing him not to JFK, but to RFK.

[Maribelle]

54. Jackie's actions speak for themselves. But above this...

You say Jackie had no trouble with her children endorsing political candidates - - but that is not the point of my post, not in the least.

Jackie's grandchildren are not endorsing any political candidate. Caroline is using Jackie's grandchildren as pawns for Caroline's political bias.

Has Caroline raised Jackie's grandchildren to be not able to speak for themselves, if they are old enough? If they are not old enough, the problem is significantly worse.

Caroline is truly no Jackie.

[RFKJrNews]

60. Sorry, Maribelle, but that's just incorrect.

Maybe you got some bad information, but Caroline made it very clear in her speech today that she was initially going to support Clinton (and in fact has made substantial donations to Hillary's campaign.)

But it was her KIDS who changed her mind, not the other way around.

Caroline is not manipulating her three children into supporting Obama. Rather, those kids awakened something in her - call it hope or what you will - but nothing is more pursuasive than your own children lobbying you. Any parent knows that.

Further, if Jackie were here today, I know she would recognize the excitement that Obama is stirring up out there. After all, she was by JFK's side in 1960 and saw the pandemonium up close and personal. Caroline, on the other hand, was not old enough to remember the campaign. She was 3. She can only go on what others have told her.

[depakid]

47. Wouldn't you have liked to have been a fly on that wall!

[Sparkly]

48. When I heard Kennedy was endorsing Obama, it DID matter to me.

It did make me think I should take another look at Obama's creds, because I think a lot of Kennedy.

But if the endorsement is only about The Clintons supposedly "injecting race" and being "misleading" etc., not so much.

[WinkyDink]

50. Ah, but is Ted loved by the General Voting Public? I don't think so.

[CreekDog]

51. A lot of us who had only recently settled on Clinton had to pause after the past 2 weeks

And a lot of us were intrigued by Obama but thought maybe he wasn't ready yet. A Ted Kennedy endorsement towards people like me matters a lot. Although I was turning against Hillary the past two weeks.

You know why? Her campaign was going after Democrats in a way that really divides the party for November. Whenever I see a candidate do that, I grimace.

And I really loathe the Mark Penn style and philosophy of politics and leadership --and he is her closest advisor.

This has got to change and if Obama is the guy that can get rid of it, then so be it.

[Apollo11]

53. I like how you think.

Reading about Mark Penn's track record is a big part of what turned me off Hillary's candidacy (although I was never really in her camp).

GOBAMA!! B-)

[guruoo]

59. IMO, the Obama camp is at the least, equally guilty of fueling 'division'

The only diff I see is that the Obama campaign's co-opting of the Republican's well established Clinton hate propaganda machine happens to be winning out at the moment.

[Medusa]

55. Teddy knows the Clintons very well

and that's why he's endorsing Obama, as a great many long-time, heavyweight (figuratively, not literally) Democrats are. That ought to give a few of you Clintonistas a clue.