It’s just a compliment, jeez guys.

Despite the backlash against President Clinton when he compared the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama to that of Rev. Jesse Jackson after the South Carolina primary, a top Clinton advisor evoked that comparison again today.

Long-time Democratic National Committee member Harold Ickes, who served as deputy chief of staff for President Clinton and is a top aide to Sen. Hillary Clinton, made the comparison at a breakfast with reporters today when asked if he thinks stretching the Democratic primary on for three more months will hurt the Democrats in a general election.

“We have two really strong and very good candidates. This party has been blessed … to have a woman who, I think will be the next president of the United States [and] to have a powerful spokesman in the form of Sen. Obama and he is, that’s one of the reasons I supported Jesse Jackson in 19894 and 1988, I thought we needed a strong, powerful candidate, a black candidate, running for president,” Ickes said.

Indeed, Ickes did work on Jackson’s presidential bids. But the comparison is a sensitive subject for voters, who felt President Clinton’s comment comparing Obama’s decisive South Carolina win to that of Jackson was inappropriate and racially charged.

Ickes would also like you to know how impressed he is with how well black people dance.

Thanks to reader “anonymous” for the tip.

Related Posts with Thumbnails