One day after Barack Obama mocked rival Hillary Clinton’s pledge to be the candidate of change, Clinton’s camp fired back Tuesday by accusing Obama of waging a negative campaign.
“It’s unfortunate that Senator Obama, who entered this campaign promising to elevate the tone of our politics and to run a positive campaign, is choosing now so early in the process to attack others,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson told MSNBC. “I don’t think that’s the kind of politics that Democratic primary voters are looking for or what they were promised by Senator Obama.”
Pundits have long characterized Obama as the candidate of change and Clinton as the candidate of experience in the Democratic primary campaign. But Clinton argued during the weekend that she can be both.
“I know some people think you have to choose between change and experience. With me, you don’t have to choose,” she said at a rally in New Hampshire. “I’ve learned you bring change by working in the system established by the Constitution.
“You can’t pretend the system doesn’t exist,” she added. “It’s not just about dreams, it’s about results.”
This was a veiled shot at Obama, who wrote a best-selling memoir entitled “Dreams from My Father.” Obama fired back Monday by reminding voters that he, unlike Clinton, opposed the Iraq war from the beginning.
“My experience tells me that real change and security come when we’re willing to make foreign-policy decisions based not on what’s popular in Washington, but what’s right for America, based on a real understanding of the world,” Obama said at a campaign appearance in Iowa.
“That’s why I resisted the tide in my campaign for the U.S. Senate and opposed the war in Iraq from the start,” he added. “As we saw then, longevity in Washington is no guarantee of good judgment.”
Wolfson countered: “All of the candidates are talking about change. The question that voters are going to ask themselves is, who has the strength and the experience to really bring that change and make change happen?”
