One of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most important supporters, Charles Rangel, repudiated her claims she has broader support among "white Americans," calling the comments "the dumbest thing she could ever have said."The Harlem congressman's criticism of Clinton came as rival Barack Obama Saturday took the lead among superdelegates, the group that will decide the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.Speaking to reporters before introducing Clinton at a Manhattan fundraiser Saturday, Rangel chastised the remarks as "very poorly worded."He was referring to comments Clinton made in an interview last week with USA Today in which she touted her electability. Clinton said Obama's support among "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans" was weak in comparison to her own. The comments were seized on by her critics who claim she attempted to show Obama wouldn't attract enough white voters to beat presumed GOP nominee John McCain.Rangel went on to acknowledge candidates had their respective strengths and weaknesses. "In any campaign, there are groups of people that you know that you have and groups of people that you don't," he said. "And I don't care what it is. White, black, Catholic, Protestant -- pollsters and newspaper reporters, that's all they know, and so they keep asking the same question over and over. I mean, this happens in campaigns."Nevertheless, he said "anyone with common sense or reason" would conclude Obama had already shown he could win over white voters.In denouncing how Clinton appealed to white voters, Rangel's criticism was both political and historical. The dean of the state's congressional delegation was the first local politician to approach Clinton about a Senate run in 2000 -- and was one of a handful of prominent African-American politicians to stump for her during the critical South Carolina primary in January.Privately, Clinton supporters and staffers have questioned Obama's electability, particularly after the re-emergence of his firebrand former pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. But on Friday, Clinton strategist Geoff Garin stepped back from Clinton's comments, saying no one in the campaign was suggesting the Illinois senator couldn't win the White House.Rangel's frustration with Clinton's comments didn't stop him from introducing her at the fundraiser where he told the crowd of 1,100 that talk of Clinton leaving the race was nonsense."When in the world did a winner ever quit?" Rangel said. "We know Hillary Clinton. We have worked with Hillary Clinton, and we need Hillary Clinton now more than ever," he said.Still the Clinton camp was dealt a psychological blow as Obama took the lead in the superdelegate tally for the first time Saturday, garnering superdelegates from Utah, Ohio and Arizona, plus two from the Virgin Islands who had previously supported Clinton.Nadine Hunt, an African-American from White Plains, blamed the media for making too much of Clinton's comments. "Race sells, like sex sells," she said. "At the end of the day, the Democratic Party will be fine."Another African-American supporter of Clinton said the candidate was just being "a realist." "Some strategies are likable, some are not," said Al Wilson, 54, who splits his time between Pennsylvania and Queens. "I don't think she's telling white people don't vote for Obama."Ashton Bailey, 23, of South Orange, N.J., who is white, said Clinton owes it to the states yet to hold primaries to stay in the race. "She's a fighter," Bailey said. "She really believes she knows the right way to run this country. Why should she stop?"
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