Clinton seeks to blunt outcry over Kennedy comment

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign moved quickly Friday night to counter criticism the senator received after noting that her husband had not received the party’s nomination until June and commenting “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

Her words quickly sparked a frenzy on the internet and on cable news networks.

{mosads}In response, her campaign moved quickly to counteract the criticism, releasing a statement from the senator along with statements from Robert Kennedy Jr., and the Argus Leader, a South Dakota newspaper which had published the comments.

In Clinton’s statement she invoked Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier in the week.

“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,” she said. “I certainly had no intention of that, whatsoever.”

The campaign also released a statement of the Argus Leader. Clinton’s comments were made in an interview with the newspaper’s editorial board.

“The context of the question and answer with Sen. Clinton was whether her continued candidacy jeopardized party unity this close to the Democratic convention. Her reference to Mr. Kennedy's assassination appeared to focus on the timeline of his primary candidacy and not the assassination itself,”the newspaper said in its statement released by the campaign.

And Robert Kennedy Jr., Robert Kennedy’s second son and namesake, said in his statement: "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.”

The discussion during the interview revolved around the nomination battle and speculation about a possible Clinton withdrawal from the race to preserve party unity.

“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. There's lots of speculation about why it is,” Clinton told the newspaper.

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) spokesperson Bill Burton said in a statement that Clinton's comment “was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.”

Obama, the Democratic frontrunner and most viable African American to run for president, received Secret Service protection earlier than most candidates — almost 18 months before the general election and before he was his party’s front-runner — because of concerns about his safety.

It was not Clinton's first comments about Robert Kennedy. Time magazine noted she made similar remarks in a March interview with the magazine. "Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual," Clinton said at that time.