ANDREA SEABROOK, host:
Senator Hillary Clinton charged today that Senator Barack Obama's campaign had injected racial tension into their contest for the Democratic Party nomination.
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): This is, you know, an unfortunate storyline that the Obama campaign has pushed very successfully. They've been putting out talking points; they've been making this. They've been telling people in a very selective way what the facts are. And I'm glad to have the opportunity to set the facts straight.
SEABROOK: Senator Clinton spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press." She was responding to questions about remarks she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had made - remarks that prompted concern among some prominent African-Americans.
NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams joins me now to catch us up on all this.
And Juan, remind us how this dispute between the Clinton and Obama camp started.
JUAN WILLIAMS: The background is very interesting, Andrea. And I think lots of people hadn't been paying attention, maybe even thought that this was some kind of small issue that was just off to the side. But in recent days, we've seen a bunch of comments come forward.
One, former President Bill Clinton saying that he thought one aspect of the Obama campaign was a fairy tale. Initially, it was taken that this was referring to the hope and optimism that Obama has adopted as his campaign themes, that he has a vision for a different kind of America, that he's not going to get caught up in partisanship.
But subsequently, President Clinton has called the likes of Al Sharpton's radio show in New York to say, no, he was talking about Obama's claim that he has always been a consistent opponent of the war. President Clinton is saying, no, he gave one speech. But subsequent to that, then took the speech off his Web site and has not been consistent in terms of his vote. He'd, in fact, did vote to fund the war effort as a U.S. senator.
And then on top of that, you've had the attorney general of New York, Andrew Coumo, speaking about the necessity for candidates to get out there and get beyond the rhetoric by not shucking and jiving. And of course, many people took that to be racially loaded.
And finally, Mrs. Clinton herself made a statement when asked about Barack Obama's affiliation, association, if you will, with the likes of Dr. King, Robert F. Kennedy. She said, well, when it comes to actually getting something done, you have to also include Lyndon Johnson. It was President Johnson, she said, for all that Martin Luther King - that it was President Johnson who signed the '64 civil rights legislation.
Well, that last comment really rang a bell with lots of people, including Jim Cliburn, the number three man in the House but also the well-known and well-respected congressman from South Carolina who said, you know, you got to be careful how you talk about this. You don't want to be somehow diminishing Martin Luther King. And similarly, others have said, wait a second, this is now really seems like a racially loaded if not coded effort by the Clinton campaign to remind voters that Obama is a black candidate.
SEABROOK: So, Juan, in your analysis how is this playing out among African-American voters?
WILLIAMS: Well, so far, I don't think the impact has been great. Now, obviously, the Obama campaign, according to the Washington Post, has even sent a memo listing all of these incidents. And the idea is, I think from the Obama people, to stir the pot and remind voters in one key state, South Carolina, where you have about half of the Democratic primary voters as blacks, and of course most of them are black woman, that somehow there is a black candidate in the race and that they should practice identity politics.
But also that Mrs. Clinton has been playing some racial games. But Ms. Clinton was on "Meet the Press" today. You played a segment of that earlier, and she says all of this is a distortion, and in fact the Obama campaign is playing a race card out there, trying somehow to damage her campaign by making it appear that the Clintons, who have a very strong and long record of being supporters of civil rights causes and efforts, that somehow they are playing racial politics.
SEABROOK: It's interesting though to see, Juan, that Barack Obama's relationship with, sort of, the old guard of the civil rights movement is not close.
WILLIAMS: No, it's not. And if you go to people like Andrew Young, who was Dr. King's top lieutenant, you know, they say that Bill Clinton has a much better record in terms of supporting key efforts in the black community civil rights legislation. When you hear these people speak, they're talking about the Clintons as a trusted ally for the civil rights movement, and that Barack Obama, as a young man who they take great pride in, but someone that they don't believe - is unknown quantity in the black community, someone they can't rely on down the line in political terms. And that's why they say they prefer the Clintons.
SEABROOK: NPR's Juan Williams. Thanks very much.
WILLIAMS: You're welcome.
SEABROOK: Senator Obama spoke this afternoon and gave this apparent response to the controversy.
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): The slaves and abolitionists fought against that evil system...
Unidentified Man: Yes
Sen. OBAMA: ...with their prayers and their hope. That's what allowed them to resist and that's how a president was able to chart a new path.