Supporters greeted Senator Barack Obama yesterday in Reno.
(Max Whittaker/reuters)
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, whose sharp exchanges on race and the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have dominated the Democratic presidential race in recent days, tamped down their rhetoric yesterday as both looked to key votes in Nevada and South Carolina.
Clinton, who ignited the controversy last week by suggesting that it took a president to execute King's civil rights vision, told a labor group in New York City that the country needed to be "recommitted to Dr. King's dream." King's work, she said, had helped both her and Obama reach the heights of American politics.
"Both Senator Obama and I know that we are where we are today because of leaders like Dr. King and generations of men and women like all of you," Clinton said at an event honoring King that was hosted by a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union.
Clinton later released a statement calling for "common ground," saying that while she and Obama differed on many issues, "when it comes to our heroes - President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King - Senator Obama and I are on the same side."
Obama, in Reno, also sounded a conciliatory message, saying, "We all believe in civil rights. We all believe in equal rights."
"I don't want the campaign at this stage to degenerate to so much tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, that we lose sight of why we are doing this," Obama said, according to The Politico, a website devoted to politics.
The controversy is particularly resonant with South Carolina's Democratic primary vote a week from Saturday. At least half of that state's Democratic voters are African-American.
Clinton sparked the debate by saying in an interview last week that it took a president to turn King's dream into reality.
Some black leaders said they were offended by what they thought was Clinton's attempt to diminish King's efforts and credit President Lyndon Johnson with doing the real work on civil rights.
On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Clinton accused Obama's campaign of deliberately distorting her comments to stir controversy.
Obama responded later Sunday by saying that the fallout from Clinton's "ill-advised" remark about King was purely of her own making.
Clinton's campaign yesterday, meanwhile, trumpeted the endorsement of Alice Huffman, president of the California State Conference of the NAACP. Clinton also taped an appearance on "The Tyra Banks Show," a program popular among African-Americans.
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