Clinton Says She Must Counterattack

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she must respond in kind to attacks from rival Barack Obama even though she'd rather keep the race for the Democratic presidential nomination focused on their differences on public policy issues.

"I try not to attack first, but I have to defend myself -- I do have to counterpunch," Clinton told NBC's "Today Show."

"I took a lot of incoming fire for many, many months and I was happy to absorb it because obviously, you know, I felt that was part of my responsibility. But toward the end of a campaign you have to set the record straight," the New York senator said.

Clinton, Obama and their campaigns have exchanged increasingly hard-hitting jabs in recent days over race, his relationship with a Chicago developer, her vote on the Iraq war, and other issues. Clinton stopped airing a South Carolina radio ad critical of Obama on Thursday and Obama took down his radio response in an attempt to cool the angry public spat.

"I have tried to make it clear that this election has to be about the future," Clinton said. "It is perfectly legitimate to draw comparisons and contrasts. I think both Senator Obama and I have made it clear we do want to focus on what we each would do for our country. It has been obviously an incredibly intense campaign. ... But I do want to make it clear that our campaigns have to stay focused on what you know the legitimate differences are so we can give voters information."

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Comments

[Indyfromny]

Indyfromny (See profile | I'm a fan of Indyfromny)
Obama polls worse.




BeyondGoodAndEvil (See profile | I'm a fan of BeyondGoodAndEvil)
WRONG, OBAMA IS DEAD LEVEL WITH MCCAIN AND HILLARY IS 4 POINTS BEHIND!!!!
_______________________________________________
These are the latest Polls:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_clinton-224.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

Obama is closer than I last saw. You are correct. But Hillary is not 4 points behind.

[deb123]

She and Bill will calm down if it's expedient to her winning. She and Bill will attack if it's expedient to her winning. They will do whatever it takes to win and mend fences later -- if any are left standing. It's Clintonian politic! Shameful people, those two. Democrats will lose more than the election and Republicans will win.

[Gilda]

No doubt she said the same thing when she conked Bill in the head with that phone.

Spousal abuse in always a good quality in a President.

[Turnip]

Linda Tripp.


Now from HER, I would have bought the story about a 'wide stance'.

[DaRight]

.....

We need more oil...

I will only vote for a candidate that agrees to drill ANWR....

Like Clinton on a PORKY INTERN...


.

[DaRight]

....

What appens if Bill deposits his DNA in or about the White house this time.....

Will he point that "crooked, old man" finger and say " I did not leave my DNA in the Oval office...Not a single time...now I am going back to work on an INTERN for the American people...."



.

[Rubiconski]

Camp Clinton can say what they want about Obama, but it's nothing compared to what the Republicans got lined up against Hillary. It will be the nastiest campaign in American history.....They've got so much dirt on the Clintons Hillary will be buried alive long before November.

[Independent voter]

Bush / Clinton / Bush / Clinton
Stupid / Corrupt / Stupid / Corrupt

Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

[scandals&skeletons]

hey i feel bad for george clooney. he has to move because he lives too close to britknee speers. i sure hope this brought up at the next dem debate.

[semorg]

San Jose Mercury endorses Obama: "He is the best choice to unify and inspire America."

This will be big boost given the large Latino population in San Jose.

[kevenseven]

Off topic, but I don't care, regarding Telecom immunity and warrantless wiretapping:

BREAKING NEWS!

There IS hope! From Greenwald at Salon:

UPDATE V: There was some significant, and apparently unexpected, obstructionism on the part of Republicans this afternoon, whereby they blocked votes on any of the pending amendments and then filed a Motion for Cloture (i.e., to force a vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee bill as is), the vote on which will occur on Monday at 4:30 p.m. Supposedly, the obstructionism angered Reid and other Democrats and now Reid will not only support Dodd's filibuster but urge his caucus to do so as well.

I'm still trying to understand exactly what occurred procedurally and what the implications are, but for now, both Marcy Wheeler and McJoan have good explanations. The essence is that 36 Democrats already voted against the SIC bill (and in favor of the Judiciary Committee bill). To sustain a filibuster, they need 41 Senators who refuse to vote for cloture -- meaning they would need to convert 3 Democrats who voted for the SIC bill, plus Obama and Clinton (who are scheduled to be in DC on Monday for the State of the Union address). This is where Obama and Clinton's leadership could really make a genuine difference. More on this later.

UPDATE VI: Tim Tagaris, recently of the Dodd campaign, has much more analysis and information about what occurred today.

There were three embedded links in the text:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/01/24/what-ever-happened-to-upperdown-votes/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/24/18101/4412/844/442586

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3410

Act NOW or don't come on this board pissing about the Dems caving again! We only need to turn three votes.

Send a petition to Obama and Clinton at:

http://act.credomobile.com/campaign/wiretapping08

[MRb1000]

Yeah she attack using bigotry. Yeah if you are a bigot you like this kind of politics. Next thing you know she is using the N word. Yeah and all the Liberal bigots will get their laugh.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

One Reason I won't vote for Hillary

1. SHE CANNOT BEAT McCAIN!!!!

Dems need to wake up, and wake up now. A vote for Hillary is a vote for a McCain Presidency.

[StillAmused]

Interesting parallel universe we live in... EVERY talking head and columnist casually and appropriately discusses -- among other things -- the role of the African-American vote in the primaries but, if Bill Clinton offhandedly mention the subject in a speech, he's "injecting race into the campaign."

Confused dummies, please line up at the back of the room... the teachers' aides will lead you to your short bus.

[Turnip]

It's really too bad Bush has destroyed the Republican party.



Ah, no it ain't. Who am I kiddin'?