My comment: Swiftboaters, be forewarned. Here comes Obama. Also notice HIllary's comment "I am in it to win." She got a grilling for it in NH. Hillary is the first woman running for US all right. But she is also the first "self centered" woman running for President. And she is no Bill Clinton.
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Obama's first salvo targets Hillary Clinton
By Toby Harnden in Ames, Iowa
Last Updated: 2:31am GMT 12/02/2007
Senator Barack Obama yesterday launched his toughest attack yet on his rival Hillary Clinton, blasting her for backing the "tragic mistake" of the Iraq war and voting to President George W Bush a green light from Congress.
"It should never have been authorised," he said in Ames, Iowa, where he was campaigning the day after he announced he was running for the White House. "Even at the time, it was possible to make judgments that this would not work well.
"I feel good about the fact that my judgment was we shouldn't be proceeding and I think that speaks hopefully to the kind of judgment I'll be bringing to the office of president."
Mrs Clinton, he charged, was also vague about how she would end the war beyond promising to bring it to a close if she were elected. "How she wants to accomplish that, I'm not clear."
Mr Obama, 45, who has been criticised by the Clinton camp for a lack of experience, showed that he was not going to let his main opponents off the hook.
Both the front runner Mrs Clinton, 59, and John Edwards, 53, running a strong third in polls, were among senators who authorised the war in 2002 but have since modified their positions. At rally after rally in Iowa, Mr Obama slammed the "senseless" and "ill-conceived" war to huge applause.
Mrs Clinton, campaigning in New Hampshire at the same time, had to field hostile questions about her vote from disgruntled Democrats. Mr Obama also took Mrs Clinton's early campaign slogan of "I'm in it to win it" to suggest she was interested only in getting elected.
"I am in it to win it," he said, responding to calls from a Davenport crowd. "Hold on. But I want you to understand that I'm also I'm in it to transform the country."
At a breakfast in Iowa Falls, he appeared to take another shot at Mrs Clinton, who is often accused of excessive ambition. "I'm not one of those people who decided at the age of seven that I wanted to be president."
Mr Obama, increasingly confident of his ground on foreign policy, ridiculed John Howard, the Australian premier, for criticising his plan to pull US troops out of Iraq by March next year.
"I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced," he said.
"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.
"Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric."
telegraph.co.uk |
