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Clinton apologies to Obama on drug remarks
By John McCormick and Christi Parsons
Tribune staff reporters
5:08 PM CST, December 13, 2007
JOHNSTON, Ia.
Sen. Hillary Clinton apologized to Sen. Barack Obama today for comments made by one of her campaign co-chairs about Obama's self-confessed past drug use.
The morning apology was the start of a conciliatory conversation that continued on the stage of the Democratic presidential candidates' debate this afternoon, where the closest thing to a real difference of opinion was an obscure one over farm subsidies.
The Democrats agreed on the need to fight for human rights, promote American trade and improve on what they see as the failures of President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" act. But none of the candidates was pressed to get into the finer points of those topics.
And afterward, the conversation at the debate site was about spreading news of the apology, and about Bill Shaheen's future as a Clinton campaign official. He announced his resignation Thursday in New Hampshire.
In a statement released by the Clinton campaign, Shaheen said Clinton is running a positive campaign and he does not want to detract from her work on issues important to American families.
"I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the Co-Chair of the Hillary for President campaign," he said. "This election is too important and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country."
Clinton apologized to Obama on the tarmac of a Washington, D.C. airport, Clinton strategist Mark Penn told reporters this afternoon.
"She said that she apologized," Penn said, "that that was unauthorized and inappropriate and didn't have a place in the campaign."
"From the first moment, she felt this was inappropriate and would not be part of the campaign," Penn said.
In his best-selling memoir "Dreams from My Father," Obama admitted to using marijuana and cocaine when he was a teenager. Shaheen told the Washington Post on Wednesday that he thought Republicans would exploit that issue during the general election.
The issue did not arise during the debate, a polite discussion in which the six Democratic candidates did not disagree much and largely stuck to their own talking points.
The Democrats even came to a warm moment of familial unity during their low-key debate, as the other candidates on stage all rushed to a hearty defense of Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and his commitment to the country's racial minorities.
"It may be possible that, because I speak so bluntly, that people misunderstand," Biden said hoarsely, responding to a question about some of his foot-in-mouth moments of the recent past.
"Hear, hear," the others called out, bursting into applause. Obama, the only African American on the stage, praised Biden as "on the right side of the issues" on that point.
However, the issue of Shaheen's remarks overshadowed the debate.
David Axelrod, a top aide to Obama, said Obama accepted Clinton's apology, but suggested he didn't let her off the hook easily. "She said she didn't know that this was happening and she was sorry about it, and he accepts that," Axelrod said.
But he also said Obama told Clinton he thinks it's "important for campaigns to send the signal from the very top that this isn't tolerated."
"You cannot say that negative campaigning attacks are the 'fun part' of the campaign and then expect people down the line to take a signal that this isn't okay," Axelrod said, noting the "essence" of their exchange was that "everybody has responsibilities."
Axelrod also said that Obama didn't sell or share drugs.
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