Obama To Hillary: You Can't Pick And Choose From Bill's Record
Barack Obama rebutted today the charge that it is unfair for him to attack Hillary Clinton over her husband's NAFTA policy in the 1990s. At a press conference in Ohio, Obama said that since Hillary has used "35 years of experience, including eight years in the White House" as a premise for her candidacy, she can't claim just the good parts of Bill's administration as her own, and declare other issues off limits.
"The notion that you can selectively pick what you take credit for and then run away from what isn't politically convenient, that doesn't make sense," Obama said. "If she suggested she had nothing to do with economic policy in the Clinton White House, then it would not be fair for me to bring it up but as you know, that's not the claim that she is making."
Right on.
February 24, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad someone finally pointed this out. And how much of that 35 years is Wal-Mart corporate board experience?
February 24, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair, Hillary has had the experience of attacking the credibility of 12 year old girls who were raped.
Just another solution for the 21st century!
February 24, 2008 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Billysumday,
What do you mean?
February 24, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usark245589997feb24,0,2670956.story
February 24, 2008 9:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think it's really fair to criticize her for being a court appointed defense lawyer. It's very important for our justice system and lawyers who do that work should be criticized.
February 25, 2008 12:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant.
February 24, 2008 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Logic sucks.
February 24, 2008 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, that was uncalled for. Basically, lookingin, there was a news report out today that detailed how HRC defended a man accused of raping a 12-year old girl in Arkansas when HRC was 27. Part of her strategy was to attack the 12-year old's credibility by insinuating that the 12-year old sought out older men to have sex with, and that the 12-year old had a history of lying. It's not relevant, and I regret that I threw it up there. It was just the last thing I read and it pissed me off and I was trying to be snarky. Carry on. Apologies again.
February 24, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. It's not relevant to this campaign. It's a devastating part of our justice system, which I otherwise believe in, and it makes me sad that that child had to go through what she did.
I'll only point out, though, that I have no doubt Wolfson would be sending emails and holding reporter conference calls if the roles were reversed. (They are on record for pushing utter nonsense, including the recent Ayers non-story.) Has Poulffe or Axelrod or Burton tried to make hay of this story? I hope not and I seriously doubt it. Obama seems to have reined everyone in from the early days of the campaign -- relevant policy hits? Yes. Irrelevant past-life stories? No.
And this dichotomy is one of the many reasons I'll be volunteering in Columbus in the last four days up to March 4 to put an end to this primary.
February 24, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think we've seen or heard before anyone quite this responsive, this clear in politics. He seems to have no trouble zoning in on just the right answer...can't wait until the general election!
February 24, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed!
February 24, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
As the worm turns!
Well played.
Well timed.
This is an impeccably clean argument that leaves her little room to wiggle and squiggle.
Kid Barack proves once again that he is a big time player. One is left wondering how much more of this purely rational abuse Clinton can take before she either:
1) Throws in the towel.
2) Goes insane.
One thing is absolutely sure: Bill Clinton's reputation has been destroyed. And now Hillary is on the fast track to destruction.
As much as I hate to see such wanton whole scale destruction... it is nevertheless:
EYESORE DELICIOUS.
February 24, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
All I want is for Obama to act "presidential" at the debate. He is riding incredibly high right now and hubris is everything at this point and time.
February 24, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tomorrow she will begin touting her 27 years of experience.
February 24, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. This is such an important point when responding to accusations that Obama lacks substance: showing himself to be such a clear and responsive thinker is one of the most substantive attributes one could want in the next president.
February 24, 2008 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
You want Obama to act presidential??? Have you been watching Hillary lately?? Look at this and tell me Obama needs to look presidential.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/24/hillary-clinton-mocks-bar_n_88194.html
She disgusts me, she is an angry, bitter, shameless, spiteful person, who only cares about her own political ambitions, and will destroy anyone who gets in her way, whether it be fellow Democrats, our her entire party.
February 24, 2008 9:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama just keeps doing exactly what he should be doing, it must be driving them nutz that he isnt making any mistakes they can attack.
February 24, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect Obama is acutely aware that making a behavioral mistake now would seriously compromise his lead. He needs to misspeak or overreact just ONCE to give Hillary all the ammunition she needs to point and say "ZOMG SEE?!?! I TOLDZ YOU SO!"
February 24, 2008 9:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
She dodged this bullet for a loooong time. Thank god she didn't have to campaign in Michigan or he would have hit her with it then.
March 4th can't come soon enough.
February 24, 2008 9:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
InevitaBill InevitaBill InevitaBill InevitaBill
The ultimate, dare I say it, crowning irony.
I guess that when the history is written, we'll know that it took the Big Dawg to show us why this lady is a tramp.
BTW, sarcasm is not my style. However, in this case it just seems to fit the daily zeitgeist.
February 24, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
A slam dunk for Obama.
And what he said goes double for John McCain.
February 24, 2008 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just happy that people are starting to see that Obama not only can take the heat without screaming back at HRC, but he can also counterpunch effectively and efficiently. Right now, it just seems like HRC is trying to land a haymaker... and Obama is way ahead on points and keeps getting more by nailing straight punches.
February 25, 2008 12:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's like watching the final season of West Wing all over again.
February 25, 2008 6:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama is exactly right. Hillary can't have it both ways. If her time in the White House is central to her claim of experience -- which is most certainly is -- then she can't squirm out of taking the hit for the Clinton administration's failures. Somehow, it strains credibility for her to argue that she played a substantive role in all its successes but argued behind the scenes against the decisions that turned out to be errors.
February 25, 2008 8:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Outsider vs. insider has always been a powerful theme in presidential politics. It's why US senators hardly ever get elected anymore. One of the Republican smears against Kerry was that "he voted to raise your taxes 350 times!". Reagan proclaimed, "Washington isn't the solution to the problem, it is the problem." (BTW Josh reformulated that sentence last summer which I've been using to great effect since, "Occupying Iraq isn't the solution to the problem, it is the problem.")
Obama has been nailing this for a year. He says he has enough experience in DC to know that the politics as usual no longer serves average Americans. He hasn't had the hope boiled out of him. Hillary's theme that she knows how to work the levers of power is exactly the wrong message for the times. I'm sure she does because lobbyists who grease the levers of politics are in her ear every day. Her line about raising false hopes in NH probably did as much damage to her campaign as Bill's race baiting in SC.
February 25, 2008 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink