Hillary Clinton has given many reasons for remaining in the presidential primaries even as Barack Obama's victory appears inevitable, but when she mentioned political assassination as a rationale for staying in the race, she undermined what is already a shaky bid for the Democratic nomination.
Ms. Clinton referred to the June, 1968, assassination of Robert Kennedy while she was campaigning in South Dakota Friday, when asked by a newspaper editorial board about calls for her to concede the Democratic nomination.
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?” she told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just, I don't understand it.”
To bring up the assassination was seen as grossly inappropriate by many observers, in light of concerns Mr. Obama could face similar violence.
“Why drop out of the race before all the assassins have had their say?” David Rees asked on the website Huffington Post.
“What is Clinton saying?” asked one commenter, in a story in The New York Times reporting Ms. Clinton's statement. “That she should stay in the race so she's ready to step in, in case Obama is assassinated? I realize she's capable of saying anything, but that's going a bit too far.”
Ms. Clinton quickly apologized for the statement, saying she was only trying to illustrate the history of prolonged primary battles.
“I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever,” she said.
But the Obama camp was quick to respond, with spokesman Bill Burton saying that her comment was “unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.”
The spectre of assassination hangs over Mr. Obama's campaign. He was given a large secret service detail, reportedly in response to unspecified threats, and some black voters have expressed trepidation about voting for him, worrying that his success would incite racial hatred.
“Given the concerns that have been expressed over Mr. Obama's safety, you would think she would stay away from it,” said Don Abelson, director of the Centre for American Studies at the University of Western Ontario. “It's just not an appropriate reference to make. You would not even want to raise the possibility that Obama could be assassinated.”
But it is not the first time Ms. Clinton has referred to the Kennedy assassination during the primaries. In a March interview with Time magazine, she suggested that electorate has a short memory of presidential contests.
“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,” she said. “Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.”
Toby Condliffe, a superdelegate who lives in Toronto and is supporting Mr. Obama, said he is willing to give Ms. Clinton the benefit of the doubt.
“I can't imagine she wants to wait for him to be assassinated,” he said. “I don't want to believe that.”
Elaine Kamarck, who served in the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1997 and is a lecturer in public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said she did not think anything of the comment when she first heard it.
“I think people are reading a lot into it that isn't there,” she said. “People are taking this in a terrible way.”
Ms. Kamarck is a superdelegate and said Friday's comment would not affect her support for Ms. Clinton.
Mr. Abelson believes that despite the potentially offensive message of her comments Friday, Ms. Clinton's campaign is beyond further damage.
“She's done, she's just too far behind,” he said. “At this point, it doesn't really matter what she says.”
