Hillary: I'm sticking around in case Obama gets shot; Update: I had Teddy on my mind, says Hillary; Update: Hillary said same thing in March; Update: No thrill up Matthews' leg; Update: RFK Jr. defends

Reserve judgment on this one for the time being. Drudge is blaring it but he’s knee-deep in the tank for Obama. The source he links to, the New York Post, isn’t exactly Hillary-friendly. And the only video available at the Argus-Leader is a full replay of her meeting with the paper’s editors with no fast-forward function that I can see. I’m not willing to sit through the whole thing to find this snippet when someone’s bound to cut and upload it within the hour, so in the meantime let’s be prudent. I’ll update when the clip is available.

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Until then, geez.

Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.

“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

Maybe all she meant was “well, anything can happen” without meaning to imply the prospect of murder, but good lord. Exit question: Will the number of Democrats who want her out of the race still be in decline after this?

Update: Breitbart’s got a bit of the video. Doesn’t look out of context to me.

Update: The defense:

“She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historic examples of the nominating process going well into the summer. Any reading into beyond that would be inaccurate,” responded Clinton campaign spokesperson Mo Elleithee.

Why didn’t she use Teddy’s run at Jimmy Carter in 1980 instead?

Update: The obligatory photoshop.

Update: MSNBC reminds us that she said something similar, albeit much more tactfully, after getting blown out in North Carolina. She’s trying to make the point that anything can happen but this is an exceedingly poor way to do so. Although not surprising: It’s typical of the incompetent way she’s managed her campaign that she wouldn’t have anticipated the reaction to this.

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Update: So much clarification. So much weak, unconvincing clarification.

Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That’s a historic fact. The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that, whatsoever. My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to, and I’m honored to hold Senator Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family.

Update: What was that again about having Teddy on her mind?

Update (Ed): Well, this thread wouldn’t be complete without having the clip of Chris Matthews trying to explicitly take the viewpoint of — get this — an objective journalist. He’s interviewing chief Obama strategist David Axelrod, who isn’t looking much like a man whose opponents just blew trou:

Can Hillary recover from this? I don’t mean for the nomination; that’s dead. Can she salvage her career at all, or did she just kill the Clinton brand once and for all?

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I know this: the Obama campaign will not, under any circumstances, put her on the ticket now. They won’t pay her campaign debt. She will finish her run in Puerto Rico, and then she will simply … go away.

Update: RFK’s son, a Hillary supporter, answers the bell:

In a statement, Kennedy Jr. said: “It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband’s 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.”

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