Obama Apologizes for D-Punjab

Barack Obama just released an apology on the website of the South Asian Obama supporters who have been expressing dismay about his camapign's "D-Punjab" memo attacking Hillary Clinton for her business interests in an Indian billing company.

"In sum, our campaign made a mistake. Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign - and in particular myself - responsible for the mistake. We have taken appropriate action to prevent errors like this from happening in the future."

With this, the campaign hopes to put the whole mess behind them.

Here's the text of the letter.

I wanted to respond personally to the concerns you expressed regarding the recent research memo that our campaign put into circulation.

I believe that your concerns with the memo are justified. To begin with, the memo did not reflect my own views on the importance of America's relationship with India. I have long believed that the best way to promote U.S. economic growth and opportunity for American workers is to continually improve the skills of our own workforce and invest in our own scientific research, technological capacity and infrastructure, rather than to try to insulate ourselves from the global economy.

More importantly, the memo's caustic tone, and its focus on contributions by Indian-Americans to the Clinton campaign, was potentially hurtful, and as such, unacceptable. The memo also ignored my own long-standing relationship to - and support from - the Indian-American community.

In sum, our campaign made a mistake. Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign - and in particular myself - responsible for the mistake. We have taken appropriate action to prevent errors like this from happening in the future.

Please feel free to share this letter with other members of your organization or leaders in the Indian-American community. I look forward to our continued friendship and exchange of ideas - during the course of this campaign, and beyond.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama