'I am not a racist' : Bill Clinton

Ex-president Bill Clinton said in an interview Monday that he was not a racist, but refused to revisit his primary campaign spats with Barack Obama's campaign until after November's election.

Clinton, who became embroiled in a string of controversies while backing his wife Hillary Clinton in her unsuccessful Democratic primary bid, denied ever attacking the presumptive Democratic nominee personally.

"It would be counterproductive for me to talk about it," Clinton said in an interview with ABC television.

"There are things that I wished I urged her to do. Things I wished I had said, things I wished I hadn't said.

"But I am not a racist. I never made a racist comment and I did not attack him personally.

Clinton accused the Obama campaign of "playing the race card" against him during the primary campaign, which appeared to strain his previously close ties with the African American community.

Some Obama backers bristled when Clinton in January likened Obama's candidacy to the campaign of African-American civil rights icon Jesse Jackson in 1988.

Others also accused Clinton of trying to diminish Obama, the first African American candidate with a realistic chance of winning the presidency.

In the ABC interview, Clinton denied he was still fuming over his wife's defeat, eight weeks after she bowed out of the race and offered a warm endorsement of Obama.

"I never was mad at Senator Obama -- I think everybody's got a right to run for president who qualifies under the constitution," he said.

"I'd be the last person to ever begrudge anybody their ambition. He's a superbly gifted candidate in this and had a great operation," Clinton, said, during a tour of Africa focusing on HIV/AIDS for his global foundation.

The former president said he would not divulge his full thoughts on the campaign until after the election, and also stopped short of saying that Obama was currently ready to be president.

"You can argue that nobody is ready to be president. I certainly learned a lot about the job in the first year," Clinton said.

"He clearly can inspire and motivate people and energize them which is a very important part of being president. And he's smart as a whip so there's nothing he can't learn."
AFP: 'I am not a racist' : Bill Clinton

Looks like Bill still holds a bit of hostility. I wonder if he'll have anything nice to say at the Dem. convention or if he'll even be asked to speak. Considering the fact that he left the White House with an approval rating in the 60's, the DNC really has a fire to put out here.

DAMN.....I just hate to always be the bearer of bad news.;)

Have a good one!:s4:

I noticed that too. He was given every chance to endorse the Obamessiah, and he would not do it. The highest praise he could give was to say nobody is ready.:wtf: