Saturday, May. 24, 2008

Clinton regrets reference to RFK’s slaying

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Sen. Hillary Clinton apologized Friday after citing the June 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in defending her decision to keep running for the Democratic presidential nomination despite increasingly long odds.

“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,” the former first lady said.

The episode occurred as Clinton campaigned in advance of the June 3 South Dakota primary.

Responding to a question from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board about calls for her to drop out of the race, she said: “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don’t understand it,” she said, dismissing the idea of abandoning the race.

Her remark about an assassination during a primary campaign drew a quick response from aides to Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama. His spokesman Bill Burton called it “unfortunate.”

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said the senator was only referring to her husband and Kennedy “as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer and any reading into it beyond that would be inaccurate and outrageous.”

Clinton made a similar reference in a March interview with Time magazine, concluding that having a primary go through June “is nothing particularly unusual.”

A couple of hours after her South Dakota remarks drew attention, Clinton decided to make a personal apology. She referred again to the historical context of her remarks, adding that the Kennedys have been much on her mind with the recent news of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s diagnosis of a brain tumor.

With the backdrop of long-standing concerns about Obama’s safety during the campaign, some found her comments reckless. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., an uncommitted superdelegate, said through a spokeswoman that they were “beyond the pale.”

A close Obama ally in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said he accepted Clinton’s explanation.

“I know Hillary Clinton, and the last thing in the world she’d ever want is to wish misfortune on anybody. She and Barack are friends,” Durbin said. “It was ... a careless remark and we’ll leave it at that.”

Clinton also said her campaign has had no discussions with Obama’s aides about her dropping out and becoming his vice presidential pick. Obama is just 56 delegates short of the number needed to clinch the nomination.

The New York Times contributed.

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