Having been on the receiving end of attacks that helped Hillary Clinton resuscitate her presidential campaign, Barack Obama now feels compelled to fight fire with fire.
“There’s no doubt that she went very negative over the last week,” said Obama, who was particularly hurt by Clinton’s questioning of his foreign policy experience. “I hope people start asking what exactly is this foreign experience she is claiming.
“Was she handling crises?” he asked reporters on his campaign plane. “I haven’t seen any evidence that she is more equipped to handle a crisis.”
Obama’s tougher rhetoric came the day after he lost Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island to Clinton. Obama won Vermont and may end up with more delegates from Texas than Clinton, even though she won the popular vote.
Clinton’s success came after going negative on Obama’s trade policies and his links to Chicago businessman Tony Rezko, who is on trial for public corruption.
The onetime front-runner even scored points by complaining that Obama received preferential treatment from the press corps, which sharpened its scrutiny of Obama. On Tuesday, Obama denied receiving favorable press treatment and sought to turn the tables on Clinton.
“Senator Clinton in some ways has avoided a whole lot of scrutiny on a range of issues,” he told Fox News.
Obama was still smarting from a Clinton TV ad that suggested he was not prepared to receive a 3 a.m. phone call at the White House alerting him of a global crisis. On Wednesday, he disputed the ad’s premise.
“She made the experience argument and her ability to handle a crisis, so I think it is important to examine that claim and not just allow her to assert it,” he said.
Analysts warn that by going negative on Clinton, Obama risks undermining his reputation as an idealist who operates above the political fray. On the other hand, if Obama fails to go negative, Clinton might build on her momentum by winning the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
