Politics

Are Bill Clinton Race Comments "More Objectionable" Than Reid's?

By Michelle Levi

January 11, 2010 / 4:20 PM EST / CBS News

"Game Change," the new book by John Heileman and Mark Halperin, alleges that former president Bill Clinton told the late Sen. Ted Kennedy that "a few years ago this guy [Obama] would have been getting us coffee"

On Monday's edition of CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged," CBS News' chief political consultant Marc Ambinder said Mr.Clinton's remark is "more objectionable than anything Harry Reid might have said."

"This is coming from a former president of the United States and what we know about this comment is it apparently got Ted Kennedy, who spent a lifetime fighting for civil rights, so exercised that not only did he endorse President Obama but he went out of his way to link Obama to the legacy of his brothers," Ambinder told moderator Bob Schieffer.

However, it should be noted that it's unclear whether Mr. Clinton was specifically referring to Mr. Obama's race or his relative youth.

"So much of this book is being viewed through the prison of race," CBS News' Chief Legal Analyst Jan Crawford pointed out in raising the question.

"Game Change" also charges that later in the conversation with Kennedy, Bill Clinton said "the only reason you are endorsing him is because he's black. Let's just be clear."

The book has been criticized for being "political gossip" but Schieffer warned he thinks "it is a pretty serious political book because I think sometimes we learn a lot from gossip."

"I just think it is incredible the publicity this book has gotten for these authors," Crawford said about the book, teasing Ambinder for waiting at the book store at midnight.

Watch the full roundtable above and watch "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday when we talk to the author's themselves.