Clinton "Glad" Obama Gave Race Speech
PHILADELPHIA -- Hillary Clinton said she was pleased her opponent Barack Obama gave a speech on race today, but said she had not yet heard or read the speech.
"I wanted to start out by saying I did not have the chance to see or to read yet Senator Obama's speech," said Clinton. "But I am very glad he gave it. It's an important topic."
Clinton appeared alongside Philadelphia Mayor Joe Nutter, former ambassador Joe Wilson, and Wilson's wife, outed CIA agent Valerie Plame.
"Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history and they are complicated in this primary campaign," continued Clinton. "There have been detours and pitfalls along the way."
She went on to note the historic significance of either a woman or an African American becoming the first presidential nominee of a major political party.
On the issue of economy, Clinton said that this weekend's purchase of Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan was "not a bailout, it was a fire sale" and warned that the financial detriment in this country rested on the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
While Clinton focused most of her statements on the war in Iraq snd Wall Street's financial woes, many of the questions continued to ask about Obama's speech.
Clinton appeared to entertain the idea of making her own speech on these issues, but repeated that she would not agree to make a similar speech until she had viewed the one he made today, also in Philadelphia.
"I'll take a look at it," Clinton assured members of the press.
Tomorrow, the National Archives will release her White House schedules from when she was First Lady. Asked about releasing her tax records, a list of earmarks, and campaign donor information, Clinton said she is "the most transparent" when it comes to documentation of her personal and public matters, and that more would be released in the future.