Hillary And Obama Spar Over...Weather Underground
It appears that ABC is working hard to prove that it's capable of fielding debate moderators who bow to no one in their capacity for inanity, not even Tim Russert. After asking questions about Wright and the "small town" comments, the ABC moderators go on to ask Obama to account for his years-old connection to...
....former Weather Underground member William Ayers.
Obama, offering his explanation, seemed genuinely puzzled to be getting asked about this, saying that Ayers was merely a "guy who lives in my neighborhood," and made a surprise reference to Senator Tom Coburn...
The fact is that I'm also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried about abortions. Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn's statements?
In response, Hillary actually hit Obama over the Ayers connection (with a bonus reference to 9/11 thrown in):
I also believe that Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the woods foundation, which was a paid directorship position. And if I'm not mistaken, that relationship with Mr. Ayers on this board continued after 9/11 and after his reported comments, which were deeply hurtful to people in New York, and I would hope to every American, because they were published on 9/11, and he said that he was just sorry they hadn't done more....I know Senator Obama is a good man, and I respect him greatly. But I think this is an issue that certainly the Republicans will be raising.
Obama appeared to have a response ready:
President Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of two members of the Weather Underground, which I think is a slightly more significant act than me serving on a board with somebody for actions that he did 40 years ago.
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