All out of love
Backed into a corner, down 11 straight States, Hillary’s claws have come out. The tears don’t even work anymore, so it’s time to revert to the wronged woman/school marm and to invoke the ghosts of Karl Rove and George W. Bush (Wall Street Journal link);
Sen. Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her attacks on Sen. Barack Obama today, comparing his campaign tactics to those of George W. Bush and urging Ohioans to see past his momentum.
“Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove’s playbook,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters at a press conference today.
She clutched two negative fliers sent to Ohio voters by the Obama campaign that she says make false claims about her position on health care and trade agreements. “Shame on you Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign that is consistent with your messages in public. That’s what I expect from you,” Mrs. Clinton said.
I guess she doesn’t like being held accountable for her voting record since Obama’s campaign just criticized her for her support of NAFTA and the fact that everyone would pay for her healthcare plan whether they can afford it or not.
Obama claims it was just a disingenuous Clinton camp tactical response than simple outrage at Obama camp tactics (Washington Times link);
Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Obama of Illinois doubted the authenticity of her outrage since the mailers in question have been circulating and weeks ago provoked response from her campaign aides.
“I’m puzzled by the sudden change in tone unless these were just brought to her attention. It makes me think there’s something tactical about her getting so exercised this morning,” he said. “The notion that somehow we’re engaging in nefarious tactics … is pretty hard to swallow.”
Mrs. Clinton, dressed in bright red and vowing she would continue her candidacy, said a voter handed her the mailers on the rope line after a rally and characterized them as “false” attacks that have her “deeply disappointed.”
The Washington Post had a more substantive response from Obama;
“Senator Clinton, as part of the Clinton administration, supported NAFTA. In her book, she called it one of the administration’s successes,” he said. “We’re pointing that out in a state that’s been devastated by trade and is deeply concerned about the position of the candidates on trade.”
It was indisputable, Obama added, that Clinton’s plan required people to buy health insurance even if they did not think they could afford it. She may not want the plan described that way, he said, just as he did not like her characterizing his plan, which does not include a mandate, as leaving out 15 million people.
“We have been subject to constant attack from the Clinton campaign except when we were down 20 points. They need to take a look at what they’ve been doing,” Obama said.
So while the Democrats argue about who’ll be the most Liberal, Democrat voters are beginning to wonder about the substance of their promises (Washington Post link);
It is also a story the two Democratic presidential candidates are promising to change. As Ohio’s pivotal March 4 primary approaches, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have each called for significant infrastructure investment, development of alternative energy and other “green-collar” jobs, while promising to toughen environmental and labor standards that accompany free trade deals.
Those ideas are welcome here in heavily unionized and heavily Democratic northwest Ohio, but at the same time, no one seems to believe they go far enough to reverse the powerful tide of globalization that many blame for the constant manufacturing job losses.
“They identify with the situation, but they don’t do anything about it,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, (D-Ohio), whose district includes Toledo. “They are descriptive, not prescriptive. We want more detail and we want it now.”
Quite a bit different than applause for Obama blowing his nose or for Hillary’s release of a few tears for the cameras, the Democrat candidates are giving Republicans fodder for this summer’s campaign.
Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades writes that Hillary’s campaign is falling apart. At Big Dog’s Weblog, Big Dog writes that Hillary can’t cherry pick her accomplishments from her record. From Blue Crab Boulevard;
“…he sounds confident, she sounds shrill. That is not a recipe for a Clinton victory.”
