Controversy explodes over Clinton YouTube video

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Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on Thursday, March 27, 2008, at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: May 2, 2008 at 11:32 AM EST

Story Updated: May 2, 2008 at 3:09 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — The Hillary Clinton campaign is dealing with a quickly exploding controversy. WSBT News has received dozens of emails about a YouTube video that shows a high level Clinton campaign advisor allegedly making degrading remarks about people from Indiana.

In the video from 1992, Mickey Kantor, who was an advisor to former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign and the commerce secretary when Clinton was president, says it doesn’t matter whether Clinton wins Indiana. He then appears to make comments about Hoosiers at large.

Kantor is currently a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign.

The video is a clip from the movie "The War Room," which is a behind the scenes look at the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign.

Hillary Clinton's Indiana spokesman Jonathon Swain says what wasn't clear from this small video clip, but is clear from a fuller context, is that Kantor was referring to the pollsters who took an Indiana poll, not the people of Indiana.

"It is a despicable attempt to misrepresent and make accusations that are unfounded and untrue," Swain told WSBT Radio. "It is clear that this video has been edited and doctored to mislead and misrepresent what was going on at that moment. I think most viewers of the video can see that."

In the second statement in the clip, subtitles suggest Kantor used a racial epithet, but the audio and video, even enhanced, are completely unclear.

"This is a clip that was taken from a movie that was in theatres 15 years ago. It’s been on DVD and video since then," Swain told the South Bend Tribune. "The fact that suddenly, 15 years later, someone would discover this as much as this video has been viewed? It’s clear that it’s been doctored and dubbed over, and that it’s been done so intentionally to mislead some folks."

The director of "The War Room" also says his film had been doctored.

Click here to watch the video featuring the alleged remarks.

Swain sent WSBT Radio a link to what he called "the real" unedited video.

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