Newsweek mischaracterized Bill Clinton to claim he "call[ed] Obama's appeal a 'fairy tale' "

An entry in Newsweek's weekly "Conventional Wisdom" feature in the January 21 issue of the magazine mischaracterized a quote by former President Bill Clinton to claim that he "call[ed] [Sen. Barack] Obama's [D-IL] appeal a 'fairy tale.' " As Media Matters for America has previously noted, in comments he made on January 7, Clinton was referring to Obama's statements about his position on the Iraq war; Clinton did not refer to Obama or his campaign as a "fairy tale." Indeed, in a January 13 piece for The New York Times' Week In Review section, reporter Mark Leibovich noted that, in using the words "fairy tale," Clinton "was referring specifically to the perception that Mr. Obama was totally pure in his opposition to the Iraq war."

The "Conventional Wisdom" entry included a "down" arrow next to Bill Clinton's name accompanied by the text: "Helps Hillary in N.H. but calling Obama's appeal a 'fairy tale' is a boomeranging dis":.......

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