Duly flagged in last night’s primary thread when it broke, I’m bringing it back because it’s too sweet not to reprise. The Clenis got a bad rap on race-baiting for his “fairy tale” comment but he’s caught red-handed here and seems to realize it. What’s shocking isn’t the fact that the Clintons would stoop to playing racial games — unless your name’s Jonathan Chait — but the clumsiness of the way Slick plays this one. The question has nothing to do with race or Jesse Jackson; Clinton injects that, then appears to catch himself and backtrack about what a super-keen campaign Obama’s run. The left’s picked this up (the video is from TPM) so expect some media attention for it in the next day or two, especially to bolster the congealing storyline that BJ’s tactics killed Hillary in South Carolina. This little parting shot may hurt her most of all, in fact, as the sheer artlessness of it throws a spotlight on any attempts by Team Clinton going forward to frame Obama’s win as a “black” victory.
Meanwhile, the Messiah shrewdly stays above the fray: “I don’t think [Bill and Hillary Clinton] were trying to demonize me.”
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