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Kerry accuses Clinton of 'abusing' the truth

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor January 25, 2008 12:35 PM

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts is the latest prominent Democrat to hit former President Bill Clinton for his criticisms of Barack Obama.

"I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened," Kerry said in an interview today with National Journal On Air. "I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top. Things have been said about Barack Obama's positions that are just plain untrue."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee who endorsed Obama earlier this month, was pressed by Linda Douglass of National Journal to elaborate on his remarks about Clinton. "I think there has been an overreach with respect to what Barack Obama has said and when he said it, and I think it's been unfortunate, but I don't think we ought to spend out time there," Kerry replied.

He then went on to praise Obama's plans for reviving the economy and to trumpet Obama's legislative experience.

29 comments so far...
  1. Clintons spit lies. It is time the media and politicians call it that. Its ugly, but that is what the Clintons are. Snakes. Poisoners. Liars.

    Posted by Joshua CA January 25, 08 12:47 PM
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  1. Is that Gerry Callahan's post above hiding as Joshua?

    Posted by Mitt Romney January 25, 08 01:21 PM
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  1. I totally agree Joshua =)

    Obama’s campaign clearly reflects that he is willing, ready, and able to engage in a productive, transparent dialogue with the American people, rather than the lobbyists and the political machines which have teared our nation apart and ruined our domestic economy.

    This nation needs something fresh, clean, and uncorrupted. Someone without blood on their hands, not another Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton, family dictated regime. WAKE UP PEOPLE. WAKE UP.

    Posted by Jeni Hendrix January 25, 08 01:23 PM
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  1. Billary have been over the top in a disgusting, low campaign against Obama. I am female, white liberal; but now I will never vote for HRC in the general election. if she, unfortunately, wins the democratic primary I will vote for McCain, even though his position on Iraq is anathema to me. At least, he is honest. Our country needs a president with honesty, integrity; not the say-anything, do -anything politics of this power-hungry couple. No former president has ever got out on the campaign trail and engaged in such distorting tactics. Billary have had their day in the sun. It is now time for them to take their sleazy politics and crawl back into retirement. Democrats, we need to wake up as a party before we go down to another defeat by nominating Billary.

    Posted by Jane Thomas January 25, 08 01:47 PM
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  1. whether it's obama ,clinton romney theres a joke he did nothing for us in mass.doesn't matter they are all full of shit. it all sounds good but none of them can ever get anything done .nobody has lowered my taxes made haealth insurance any cheaper etc...

    Posted by jim January 25, 08 02:02 PM
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  1. let's all now pause as each campaign sends interns here to post carefully scripted responses...

    Posted by Why Bother January 25, 08 02:10 PM
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  1. Bill Clinton is like an anchor around the feet of the Democratic Party. On the bright side, the next sex scandal -- virtually inevitable, knowing Bill -- should wipe them out of national politics once and for all.

    Posted by Dave January 25, 08 02:15 PM
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  1. what lies? Clinton is telling it like it is for better or worse. Give me an example of a lie he has told about Obama?

    Posted by Chelsea Dem January 25, 08 02:17 PM
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  1. I'm at a Dunkin' Donuts in Chelsea. Come get me.

    Posted by Whitey Bulger January 25, 08 02:32 PM
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  1. Can we all agree the real problem here is not just Bill, but the DLC, nobody is talking about it and it is one thing that Obama and Edwards have actively stepped away from over the years and Hillary is the head of it. Down with the DLC, no more neo-cons in the ranks of the mildly leaning left democrats.

    Posted by stephen January 25, 08 02:47 PM
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  1. Chelsea ,have you read the paper or watched TV in the last few weeks? It would be easier if you told us what truths Bill has said.

    Posted by Jerry Brown January 25, 08 02:50 PM
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  1. billary are a dreadfully power-hungry couple who will say anything to get elected. do we really need bill in the white house again? would you want your daughter working as an intern in another clinton white house?they consider only polls when deciding what stance to take on any particular issue. it's thanks to billary that bin laden is even alive today. billary had several chances to kill him and decided not to do it at the last minute. send them both back to arkansas, or new york, or illinois, or wherever they say they want to be from.

    Posted by mark shiro January 25, 08 02:53 PM
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  1. What has John Kerry done for Massacusetts lately?....Nothing. In his quest to remain relevant on the national stage, when he should be working for the state he reprensents, he now injects himself into the presidential election. Guess what Mr. Kerry you'll soon have an election yourself and don't be surprised if people have had enough of you and your complete disregard for your own office.

    Posted by Dotman33 January 25, 08 02:54 PM
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  1. Barack "Change We Can Believe In" Obama is just like Deval "Together We Can" Patrick. They'll both say anything to get elected and run a kumbaya campaign. Remember Deval promised that he'll lower real estate taxes and add 1,000 new cops? After he got elected, he weaseled out of his campaign promises. Obama will be no different.

    Posted by Slade January 25, 08 03:02 PM
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  1. Just ask John Kerry...

    Posted by Christopher January 25, 08 03:03 PM
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  1. Kerry should have pointed out the GWB lies in 2004 and keep his schnozz out of THIS election.

    Obama, Clinton, McCain, Edwards or Ron Paul would all make excellent presidents IMHO.

    Posted by FrankD! January 25, 08 03:04 PM
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  1. What lies? How about 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman' ?

    Or Obama likes all Reagan policies?

    Posted by John Q Public January 25, 08 03:08 PM
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  1. Bill Clinton would never lie.......................... I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMEN.
    I TRIED IT, BUT I DID NOT INHALE.

    Posted by Monica January 25, 08 03:12 PM
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  1. An example of a lie he told about Obama?

    Try the claims that Obama hasn't consistently said that we never should have waged war in Iraq. Or the claims that Obama thought Republicans had all the good ideas.

    Heck, try Clinton's own claim that he opposed the war. Or Hillary's claim that she didn't think she was voting for a war when she voted for the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002".

    Or Hillary's claim to 35 years of experience.

    Try the finger-wagging "didn't have sexual relations with that woman" schtick.

    The Clintons are nasty, dishonest people who will say or do absolutely anything -- anything! -- to get elected. And the only way to make politicians become honest again is to vote against the politicians who aren't honest.

    Posted by Jack January 25, 08 03:15 PM
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  1. Bill Clinton gave this country some of its best years -- easy to see now that it's in really sorry shape.His approval rating when he left suggests most people were pretty happy with him, and that's with Monica or no Monica -- and for the record, he's the first president ever asked about his sex life -- yet he wasn't the first with a cheating heart by far. I'd lie too. Any sane guy would. As long as there's human blood flowing through a president's veins he's prone to error, but Bill never let anyone down where it counted and outside of his infidelity proved to be a pretty stand-up guy.

    Obama's camp started by playing the race card -- they wanted to play dirty, they get dirty. Sorry, but you reap what you sew. Obama has had a target on Hillary and she's remained largely complacent, she can't afford to do it anymore, yet as typical in a male-dominated society she'll be judged no matter what stance she takes. Strong woman? The big 'B' word? Harpie? The labels will be slapped on her no matter what she does.

    It's probably better for her campaign if Bill goes on the attack. That's his wife afterall and this is a very unique situation, it's really easy for everyone to sit and judge. How should the ex-president who's married to potentially the next President act? What should he say? He's her husband first and foremost and by my calculations, he owes her a huge debt.

    And John Kerry, based on the '04 election that should have been a slam-dunk, is an irrelevant loser. Clearly he has no influence outside the confines of Massachusetts anyway otherwise he'd be President right now. But he couldn't get the job done. He did a miserable job on the campaign trail and he let the democratic party down in a very big way. So on that note, who cares what he says?

    And as a final thought...
    anything has got to be better than George W. Bush. Go Hill. Go Obama. Go PeeWee Herman, I don't care, just bring on '09.

    Posted by Heath January 25, 08 03:17 PM
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  1. Chelsea: (1/25/08, 2:17pm)
    here it is:

    "Obama said the Reagan had all the good ideas" (papraphrased) Billary

    he never said good ideas, just that the repubs were the party of ideas.

    Bill (in 1992) and Hillary in Brokaws's book Boom said the same thing. check out Bills quotes at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/bill_clinton_credited_reagan_i.html

    Posted by mark January 25, 08 03:21 PM
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  1. Clinton lied his way to the presidency...we had enough of his like so we brought back the wrong Bush. Dole, ventura, gore should have been the last few presidents. WE NEED TO EXIT THE MIDDLE EAST. Let Germany, Britain, France deal with it

    Posted by deval drinks coke January 25, 08 03:25 PM
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  1. I wouldn't vote for Obama in a million years. A light weight nothing!

    The Clintons deserve our respect and our gratitude for their willingness to continue to serve this nation. In case you have forgotten, when the Clintons left office seven years ago we had a surplus in the US Treasury, we are now in debt going into the trillions of dollars. Do some research before you spread lies around and damn people.

    Posted by Carlos B. January 25, 08 03:33 PM
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  1. The behavior that the Clintons have been engaged in over this past month has me voting in a place where I never would want to be. I will not vote for Hillary for the decisions made by her, Bill and the campaign rob the American people a chance with someone who really had a chance a changing things for "ALL" Americans. They have made it job number one to bring Obama down. That is not what being a democrat is about. I know so many folks who felt inspired to become and strive to be better American citizens so now we will just have the same old junk. How depressing.

    The Clintons know full well that a large part of the population do not have the time nor energy to follow up on their lies and twisting of the truth.

    Posted by cape cod January 25, 08 03:34 PM
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  1. uhhh... Carlos, when Bill Clinton left office (not "the Clintons" as you put it), there was a BUDGET surplus, but the U.S. national DEBT was still in the trillions. The U.S. has been a debtor nation since the early 1980's, and that is unlikely to change any time soon, regardless of who is president. "Do some research before you spread lies..."

    Posted by Not so quick, Carlos! January 25, 08 04:07 PM
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  1. Please see the humor in Sen. Kerry. His whole life is a lie. He tried to copy Jack Kennedy like that that be cloned. Obama is a winner. Bill and Hillary are winners.
    John Kerry is hilarious. But I'll give him some credit. Remember his chin surgery? He had the "courage to change his profile". His first wife had a couple of hundred million dollars and his second has a billion. Oh yea, he is committed to the great issues of our time, not his own social status. I love Sen. Kerry because he makes me laugh.

    Posted by Tim January 25, 08 04:10 PM
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  1. Not that I'm condoning the actions of the former President, I don't, but this guy is not so stupid. Bill knows that whoever wins the party nomination will be the next President, period the end. He will keep on doing what he does best. Watch out for him to open his trap and spit out some remark (untruth) directed at the undecided voters that make up there minds as they walk in to a polling booth at key State primaries. He’s the king of political maneuvers and Obama needs all the help he can get to neutralize him.

    Posted by Dr. Ruth January 25, 08 04:47 PM
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  1. Go Obama! Go Federal Tax Code replacement! Both would be great assets to all Americans and the American economy! The U.S. economy would flourish!

    Posted by Robert J. Ransom, Jr. - ChFC January 26, 08 02:16 PM
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  1. I'm not so sure the winner of the party nomination will be president, the campaigns have been full of surprises so far. Obama is engaging and charismatic but, sadly, I'm more concerned about who will beat the republican nominee than which democrat is nastiest on the campaign trail. If Obama wins the dem nomination how far will the red states go to keep a black man from becoming president?

    Posted by lmh40 January 27, 08 03:11 PM
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About political intelligence Field reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors covering the 2008 presidential campaign and the national maneuvering of Bay State politicians.

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