[Bill Richardson responds to attacks from Hillary supporters, including James Carville, and implicitly Bill Clinton himself (showing him to be a liar), in this op-ed, which he also uses to reiterate why he believes Barack Obama is the best choice for president. Emphasis mine:]
Loyalty To My Country
by Governor Bill Richardson
My recent endorsement of Barack Obama for president has been the subject of much discussion and consternation -- particularly among supporters of Hillary Clinton.
Led by political commentator James Carville, who makes a living by being confrontational and provocative, Clinton supporters have speculated about events surrounding this endorsement and engaged in personal attacks and insults.
While I certainly will not stoop to the low level of Mr. Carville, I feel compelled to defend myself against character assassination and baseless allegations.
Carville has made it very clear that this is a personal attack -- driven by his own sense of what constitutes loyalty. It is this kind of political venom that I anticipated from certain Clinton supporters and I campaigned against in my own run for president.
I repeatedly urged Democrats to stop attacking each other personally and even offered a DNC resolution calling for a positive campaign based on the issues. I was evenhanded in my efforts. In fact, my intervention in a debate during a particularly heated exchange was seen by numerous commentators as an attempt to defend Sen. Clinton against the barbs of Sens. Obama and John Edwards.
As I have pointed out many times, and most pointedly when I endorsed Sen. Obama, the campaign has been too negative, and we Democrats need to calm the rhetoric and personal attacks so we can come together as a party to defeat the Republicans.
More than anything, to repair the damage done at home and abroad, we must unite as a country. I endorsed Sen. Obama because I believe he has the judgment, temperament and background to bridge our divisions as a nation and make America strong at home and respected in the world again.
This was a difficult, even painful, decision. My affection and respect for the Clintons run deep. I do indeed owe President Clinton for the extraordinary opportunities he gave me to serve him and this country. And nobody worked harder for him or served him more loyally, during some very difficult times, than I did.
Carville and others say that I owe President Clinton's wife my endorsement because he gave me two jobs. Would someone who worked for Carville then owe his wife, Mary Matalin, similar loyalty in her professional pursuits? Do the people now attacking me recall that I ran for president, albeit unsuccessfully, against Sen. Clinton? Was that also an act of disloyalty?
And while I was truly torn for weeks about this decision, and seriously contemplated endorsing Sen. Clinton, I never told anyone, including President Clinton, that I would do so. Those who say I did are misinformed or worse.
As for Mr. Carville's assertions that I did not return President Clinton's calls: I was on vacation in Antigua with my wife for a week and did not receive notice of any calls from the president. I, of course, called Sen. Clinton prior to my endorsement of Sen. Obama. It was a difficult and heated discussion, the details of which I will not share here.
I do not believe that the truth will keep Carville and others from attacking me. I can only say that we need to move on from the politics of personal insult and attacks. That era, personified by Carville and his ilk, has passed and I believe we must end the rancor and partisanship that has mired Washington in gridlock. In my view, Sen. Obama represents our best hope of replacing division with unity. That is why, out of loyalty to my country, I endorse him for president.
[Note that Richardson insists that he never told Bill or anyone else that he would endorse Hillary, yet just the other day Bill went on another red-faced tirade to a group of superdelegates. According to witnesses:
"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.
According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.
But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how "sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.
It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.
"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.
The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.*
So here we have it, Bill Clinton says Richardson said he wouldn't endorse Obama, even though Richardson insisted that he never made any assurances one way or another. Richardson even says, those who say otherwise are "misinformed, or worse" (in other words, they are lying). Now I don't know about you, but if I had to pick a person to believe, Bill Richardson or Bill Clinton--or any Clinton for that matter-- I'll go with Bill "The Boyscout" Richardson, any day. But that isn't even a fair fight up against this crap track record:
But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time – never. These allegations are false.
I rest my case.
Update: Richardson reiterates, again, that Bill is lying, more directly this time:
I never did. I never saw [President Clinton] five times. I saw him when he watched the Super Bowl with me. We made it very clear to him that he shouldn't expect an endorsement after that meeting.
He also points to the Clinton campaign's negative attacks as part of the reason he didn't endorse Hillary, and says that the Clintons "should get over this". If Richardson was ever ambivalent about his decision, I think it is safe to say the Clintons and their supporters have pushed him firmly to Obama's side.
Update (4/3): Apparently not having felt they had sufficiently looked like childish, vindictive assholes yet, the Clinton campaign releases this statement:
Bill Richardson is clearly embarrassed that he broke his promise to them. He should come out and tell the truth and admit that he told both Clintons that Obama wasn’t ready and can’t win.
So now they are saying that Richardson doesn't think that Obama can win, despite the fact that he has endorsed Obama, and despite all of the polls showing Hillary is clearly the one who doesn't have an ice cube's chance in hell of being McCain, and that she has huge negative ratings and paltry positive ratings, and despite the fact that it is painfully obvious the GOP would tear her apart and come to the polls in record numbers to defeat her (and every other Dem on the ticket). Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Nice try Hillary, but no one thinks that you have a better chance of winning than Obama, aside from you and Bill...Clinton.
What blows my mind though is how childish they are being. It is almost as appalling as her childish mocking of Obama. This is classic Clinton though, if anyone disagrees with them they call them insignificant and then start in on the politics of personal destruction. I would expect this kind of shit on an elementary school playground, but coming from a Senator and someone running for president? Pathetic and embarrassing.
Update (4/3) #2: A spokesperson for Richardson respondsto the latest Clinton attack:
The Governor never promised that he wouldn’t endorse Obama. The Governor has never questioned Senator Obama’s electability. He believes Barack Obama is the right person to lead this country and he will be America’s next President.
*Obama is quite a bit more than 1% ahead in the popular vote, and even more in delegates, which according to the Clintons post-Iowa are what matter. Oh, and Hillary catching Obama in either delegates or popular vote is nearly a mathematical impossibility.
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