On the April 24 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN correspondent Jack Cafferty claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was “comparing” herself to Harriet Tubman when she invoked what she said was Tubman's urging that “no matter what happens, keep going.” Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer then repeated Cafferty's claim that Clinton was comparing herself to Tubman. But in airing the video of Clinton invoking Tubman, Cafferty left out a key part of her statement: She prefaced her remarks about Tubman by saying that she is “one of my favorite heroines.” If he had included video of that part of Clinton's remarks -- or noted that in her autobiography, Living History, Clinton refers to Tubman as an “inspiration to Americans of all races” -- viewers might have concluded that Clinton was indeed citing Tubman as an inspiration, not comparing herself to Tubman.

Notably, in a report by congressional correspondent Dana Bash on the April 4 edition of The Situation Room, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani invoked Jesus Christ, but Media Matters could find no indication that anyone on the show accused Giuliani of comparing himself to Christ.

From the April 4 Situation Room:

GIULIANI: This is -- we're getting -- we're in the Easter season, and my view of Christianity -- and Christianity is very important to me, and the teachings of Jesus is very important to me. And I kind of think when he -- when Jesus drew the line and said, you know, he who hasn't sinned cast the first stone. So I don't go around judging other people. That isn't my -- my role, to determine what is a sin, what isn't a sin.

My role is, what's legal, what's illegal? I've been really clear on that role throughout my life. I've done a pretty good job of putting people in jail who did things that are illegal. And the rest -- the rest of it I leave to the priests and ministers, the rabbis, the imams, and to your personal conscience.

I think that's what -- I think that's what Thomas Jefferson had in mind. And I think it's, you know, gotten America to being the greatest country in the world.

Nor, apparently, did anyone accuse Giuliani of comparing himself to Thomas Jefferson.

Cafferty also failed to note Clinton made her comments before a loudly cheering audience.

On the April 24 Situation Room, Cafferty stated that “Clinton says she's going to fight like the escaped slave, Harriet Tubman,” commenting that after a “microphone glitch at a New York fundraiser,” Clinton “said it reminded her of Tubman.” Cafferty's comment was then followed with a clip of Clinton's speech:

CLINTON [video clip]: She made it to freedom after having been a slave and she got to New York and she could have just been so happy just staying home and just breathing a big sigh of relief, but she kept going back down South to bring other freed slaves to freedom. And she used to say, no matter what happens, keep going. So, we're going to keep going until we take back the White House.

Cafferty went on to insist that Clinton was “comparing” herself to Tubman, asking, "[W]ill Clinton comparing herself to black heroes, or trying to sound like them, ultimately help her get that support, or will it be recognized for exactly what it is, which is pandering?" Cafferty then asked as the daily question to which viewers could respond: “Should Senator Hillary Clinton be comparing herself to escaped slave Harriet Tubman?”

In fact, as the New York Daily News' Mouth of the Potomac weblog noted, Clinton's microphone stopped working during her speech. When it started working again, she said:

"This reminds me of one of my favorite American heroines, Harriet Tubman. She made it to freedom after having been a slave and she got to New York and she could have been so happy ... but she kept going back down South to bring other freed slaves to freedom. And she used to say, 'No matter what happens, keep going,' " Hillary Clinton said. “So we're going to keep going until we take back the White House!

In her autobiography, Living History, Clinton wrote of Tubman:

Harriet Tubman is one of my favorite heroines. A former slave, she escaped to freedom on the Underground Railroad and then courageously returned to the South time and time again to lead other slaves to freedom. While not formally educated, this extraordinary woman was a nurse and scout in the United States Army during the Civil War and became a grassroots activist who raised money to school, clothe and house newly freed black children during Reconstruction. She was a force unto herself and an inspiration to Americans of all races. ”If you are tired, keep going," she said to the slaves she lead on treacherous paths from slavery to freedom. “If you are scared, keep going. If you are hungry, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” [Page 462]

[...]

Choosing to run for elected office is a tribute to those who sacrificed for our equal right to vote for our leaders. I returned home with a renewed reverence for our flawed but vigorous system of government and new ideas about how to put it to work for all citizens. And when I thought about the obstacles Bill and I still faced in Washington, I dipped deep into the well of inspiration that Harriet Tubman had handed down to us all and vowed to just keep on going. [Page 463]

On the April 24 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, CNN correspondent Tom Foreman also claimed that in her comments, Clinton was “comparing” herself to Tubman, saying she was “once again” after airing a clip of her March 5 speech in Selma, Alabama, in which she recited the lyrics of a song by the Rev. James Cleveland. In neither case did she “compare” herself to those she was referencing.

From the April 24 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

CAFFERTY: Senator Hillary Clinton says she's going to fight like the escaped slave, Harriet Tubman.

Following a microphone glitch at a New York fundraiser last night, Clinton said it reminded her of Tubman.

CLINTON [video clip]: She made it to freedom after having been a slave and she got to New York and she could have just been so happy just staying home and just breathing a big sigh of relief, but she kept going back down South to bring other freed slaves to freedom. And she used to say, no matter what happens, keep going. So, we're going to keep going until we take back the White House.

CAFFERTY: The woman is amazing. Remember last month she was talking at that church down in Selma, Alabama, where the civil rights movement began? At that -- on that occasion, she quoted the Reverend James Cleveland. Listen to this.

CLINTON [video clip]: I don't feel noways tired. I come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me.

CAFFERTY: It's just painful to listen to.

It's no secret black support's essential for any Democratic presidential candidate, but will Clinton comparing herself to black heroes, or trying to sound like them, ultimately help her get that support, or will it be recognized for exactly what it is, which is pandering?

Here's the question: Should Senator Hillary Clinton be comparing herself to escaped slave Harriet Tubman? E-mail [address] or go to [URL], you all -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jack, thank you for that.

[...]

BLITZER: Also, should Senator Hillary Clinton be comparing herself to escaped slave Harriet Tubman? Jack Cafferty has your email in “The Cafferty File.”

[...]

BLITZER: Up next, Jack Cafferty is wondering whether Hillary Clinton should be comparing herself to escaped slave Harriet Tubman.

[...]

CAFFERTY: Question this hour, we've got some great email: Should Senator Hillary Clinton be comparing herself to escaped slave Harriet Tubman?

From the April 24 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:

FOREMAN: And remember Hillary Clinton down in Selma?

CLINTON: I don't feel noways tired.

FOREMAN: Noways? No way! Well, she's once again comparing herself to a black leader -- this time, saying she'll fight for the White House like Harriet Tubman fought for freedom. I don't know.

[end video clip]

FOREMAN: African-American voters still generally like her, but there are rumblings that with Barack Obama in the race, some support among black leaders in New York is crumbling.

That's “Raw Politics” -- Anderson.