Daschle taking on Clinton
by Jerome Armstrong, Sun Jan 13, 2008 at 11:22:36 AM EST
Tom Daschle, hitting back against Clinton on behalf of Obama (CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer")-- in the extended entry. It's odd, because just reading through this, you'd get the sense that Clinton is the underdog, and Obama the favorite, which isn't the case (at least from it looks like for the upcoming contests). I can't help but wonder, given what Daschle is saying about his being aligned with the "Ben-Gay Forum" that met recently in Oklahoma, on what that means for the general election, if Clinton were to be the nominee and Bloomberg also a candidate.
BLITZER: Let's talk about Hillary Clinton. She says the Obama campaign, the campaign you're supporting, is distorting what she and her husband, the former president, have been saying.
She went on "Meet the Press," just a while ago and said, among other things, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.: In my campaign, any time anybody has said anything that I thought was out of bounds, they're gone, you know. I have gotten rid of them. I have said, that is not appropriate in this campaign.
You know, when Senator Obama's chief strategist accuses me of playing a role in Benazir Bhutto's assassination, there's silence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: She was referring to David Axelrod, who made comments that the Clinton campaign interpreted along those lines. What do you say?
DASCHLE: Well, this is not something that Barack Obama is going to participate in, Wolf. We've seen too much divisiveness, so much of this back-biting.
This is what the American people are tired of. They don't want to see this kind of thing. They want to move on. They want to have our candidates talk about the major issues, not the back-biting kind of thing that you've just seen again today.
BLITZER: Well, this morning...
DASCHLE: So I think that's really what Barack wants to do. He wants to talk about the issues the American people care bout, not who said what in the last round of give-and-take by the candidates.
BLITZER: This morning, in a conference call with reporters, though, he was pretty critical of Senator Clinton, especially her latest comments on "Meet the Press" today.
What we saw this morning -- I'm paraphrasing -- is why the American people are tired of Washington politicians and the games they play.
He was referring to some comments she made about Martin Luther King and his role in the civil rights movement, as opposed to LBJ. You're familiar with all of that.
So it looks like they're getting, a little, back and forth between the two of them.
DASCHLE: But see, that's exactly what Barack has been trying to say from the very beginning, Barack -- Wolf -- that it's really time for us to start putting the focus on issues that the American people care most about.
They care about the economy. They want to see what the candidates are saying about the economy. They care deeply about health care. They want to see what we're going to do about health care and climate change, and all the issues that really affect them directly.
They don't really care about who said what in the last round. And that's what Barack said this morning.
BLITZER: You sound like one of those moderate Democrats and Republicans who met in Oklahoma recently, who want to see the Left and the Right basically move closer together.
DASCHLE: Exactly.
BLITZER: That's where you are, personally, I take it?
DASCHLE: Well, it's not only where I am personally. But I think it's where the American people are. It's where Barack is. It's why Barack is drawing so much support from independent and Republicans across the country. It's why Republicans say, for the first time, you know, I think I can work for that guy -- or work with that guy, because they don't feel as if he's representing the old Washington politics of the past.
This is the politics of the future, and he reflects it.
BLITZER: And she says he hasn't been really honest, if you will, or above board, with the American people, when it comes to his position on Iraq, which is an important issue, the war in Iraq in this campaign.
BLITZER: I'll play another clip of what she said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: If he was again the war in 2002, he should have strongly spoke out in 2004. He should have followed what he said in his speech, which was that he would not vote for funding in '05, '06 and '07. That is inconsistent with what he is now running his campaign on. The story of his campaign is premised on that speech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right.
DASCHLE: To borrow a phrase, there they go again. I mean, that is exactly the kind of thing that the American people are so tired of. If there's anything Barack has been clear, straightforward and very, very courageous on, it's Iraq, going all the way back to the very beginning.
I wish I had the record on rhetoric and on position that Barack Obama has today. This is the kind of thing...
BLITZER: You voted in favor of that resolution.
DASCHLE: I voted in favor of it. I regret it today. I wish I could have that vote back. But I'm telling you, no one has been more clear, more forceful, more straightforward on the issue of Iraq, but this is the kind of thing you expect. And this is the old Washington politics that, as I said, the American people are very tired of.
BLITZER: But she says and the former president Bill Clinton, who I know you admire a great deal, he said it earlier in New Hampshire as well, that he hasn't been consistent. He did have a position before the war against the war, but once he became a United States senator from Illinois, that position seemed to change. Listen to the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution. You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war. And you took that speech you're now running on off your Web site in 2004. And there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since.
Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairytale I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. You know, he went on radio shows later to elaborate, to explain. But that's basically -- he's not deviating from that position that Barack Obama has not been consistent on the war in Iraq.
DASCHLE: Well, I think President Clinton would like to take a lot of those words back.
BLITZER: Why?
DASCHLE: Well, because I think he regrets them now, that's why. Because it's not in keeping with what people expect of President Clinton, frankly. This is below him. This is beneath him.
BLITZER: But tell us why. If he's trying to differentiate and keep him honest on his position on Iraq, what's wrong with that?
DASCHLE: There's nothing wrong with keeping politicians honest, Wolf, but it's another thing to distort the rhetoric. Those quotes were taken totally out of context. If you look at the entire context from what Barack said, again there is no question he has been as clear as anybody in this race with regard to his position on Iraq all the way back to the very beginning.
So, you can take things out of context, you can take clips, but it isn't going to change the position. The position is, he had the good judgment, he had the ability to forcefully articulate that position all the way through this, and it's one of the reasons I'm supporting it....
Tags: 2008 election (all tags)
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