Clinton Naive Charge Triggers Ferocious Obama Pushback

Until last week, White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) lived a charmed political life, never the subject during his campaigns for state Senate, U.S. House and U.S. Senate of a major negative hit, so he never had to punch back.

Accused by chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) of being "irresponsible, and frankly, naive" for saying he would meet with foreign despots without preconditions during his first year as president -- the charge coming the day after Obama said it in Monday's Democratic primary debate -- the Obama campaign mounted a ferocious response, giving a taste of what is in store in the months ahead.

Obama shot back that she was the naive one for voting to authorize the Iraq war, marking the first time the two have personally engaged, on the record and not through surrogates or memos.

With Obama's theme of "change" and "hope" threatened by a word that raises questions about his experience -- a vulnerability --the Obama camp started a drive to neutralize the "naive" tag by applying it to Clinton for voting to authorize the Iraq war -- her major political problem -- and calling her (not by name) Bush-Cheney lite. The Obama campaign launched banner ads on its New Hampshire and Iowa Web sites Friday stating there is "one candidate who knows it's naive to believe we can resolve conflict without talking to our adversaries."

All this notwithstanding Obama's pledge to run a different kind of campaign.

That Obama is running "an aspirational campaign," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told me Friday, does not mean he does not engage when there are "substantial differences" on the table.

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