Gephardt campaign responds to odd comment about Supreme Court

Yesterday, I mentioned how odd I thought it was for Dick Gephardt to say he can get around Supreme Court rulings with executive orders.

Specifically, Gephardt spoke at a Jesse Jackson-organized event in Chicago and said, “When I’m president, we’ll have executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day.”

The good folks over at ABC News’ The Note saw that several legal blogs were raking Gephardt over the coals for this — which, in my opinion, was justified — and they asked the Gephardt campaign for a response.

“Dick Gephardt knows the law,” said Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith. “The president can not overturn a Supreme Court decision. That’s not what he said. He was simply expressing his commitment to diversity and his willingness to use the tools of his office to promote affirmative action programs to the fullest extent possible. It’s important to remember that Harry Truman used an executive order to integrate the military.”

I appreciate what the campaign is saying, but the spin doesn’t correct what was obviously a dumb mistake. Gephardt may have meant that the president can use executive orders to institute affirmative action programs, which is certainly true, but he left himself vulnerable by making a more sweeping statement.