Posted on 12/27/2007 7:57:27 PM PST by indcons
DES MOINES, Iowa - The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan jolted the race for the White House on Thursday, sending candidates in both parties scrambling for political advantage while condemning the attack.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who have made experience a cornerstone of their campaigns, said the murder was proof of a need for a president who is ready to take command.
"I know from my lifetime of experience you have to be prepared for whatever might happen, and that's particularly true today," Clinton said in an Associated Press interview while campaigning in Iowa.
She declined to be drawn into a discussion about the impact on a leading rival, Barack Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois who has stressed a need for change in Washington.
McCain was not so reticent about comparing his experience with that of other GOP contenders.
"My theme has been throughout this campaign that I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge and the judgment. So perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials to make people understand that I've been to Pakistan, I know Musharraf, I can pick up the phone and call him. I knew Benazir Bhutto."
Asked later by reporters about his rivals, he said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee doesn't have "the same experience and background on national security issues that I do."
He said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had done a great job with a "post-crisis situation" after terrorists brought down the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. McCain added, "I'm not saying he is without credentials. I'm saying I am the one with the most credentials and the most experience and the most judgment."
Giuliani issued a statement that said the assassination was further evidence that the United States needs to increase its efforts against terrorism — and he began running an a new TV ad focusing on the Sept. 11 attacks.
Huckabee didn't respond directly to McCain, but the former Arkansas governor told an audience of conservatives in West Des Moines that he visited Pakistan less than two years ago. "We don't know who" killed Bhutto, "but we understand why — because she represented something that is a real threat" to radical Islamists, Huckabee said, adding that the attack underscored the need to enforce U.S. immigration laws to make sure terrorists "don't slip across our own borders."
McCain made no mention of another leading Republican rival, Mitt Romney. But the former Massachusetts governor was eager to join the debate.
"If the answer for leading the country is someone that has a lot of foreign policy experience, we can just go down to the State Department and pick up any one of the tens of thousands of people who spent all their life in foreign policy," he said while campaigning in New Hampshire.
Instead, he said, what is needed is a chief executive with leadership and the ability to assemble "a great team of people to be able to guide and direct them to understand what decision has to be made."
The assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister occurred one week before the Iowa caucuses, the first test of the 2008 race for the White House, and provided a reminder of the importance of national security in an era of terrorism.
After several months of near-constant campaign focus on the war in Iraq, foreign policy had taken on a less pronounced role in recent months. With violence in the war receding, at least for the present, some public opinion polls have shown more people expressing concern about the economy than events overseas.
Bhutto, an opposition leader in Pakistan, was assassinated Thursday by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up. The death triggered further unrest in the nuclear-armed nation, a key ally of the United States in the war on terror.
Alone among the White House contenders, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called on President Bush to pressure Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to step aside in favor of a coalition government.
"Until this happens, we should suspend military aid to the Pakistani government," he said in a statement. "Free and fair elections must also be held as soon as possible," added Richardson, who served as ambassador to the United Nations for a portion of the Clinton administration.
Obama said he had asked the administration for intelligence briefings on a dicey situation.
In a criticism of current policy, he said the war in Iraq had diverted troops and other resources needed to track down al-Qaida terrorists who move between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I've been saying for some time that we've got a very big problem there," he said.
Edwards declined to endorse Richardson's idea on Musharraf, saying "I don't think now is the time to talk about things like that." He later talked with the Pakistani president and said he urged him to "continue on the path to democratization, to allow international investigators to come in to determine what happened."
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters in Iowa that he had twice this past fall urged Musharraf "to provide better security for Ms. Bhutto and other political leaders. ... The failure to protect Ms. Bhutto raises a lot of hard questions for the government and security services that must be answered."
This is one of those Im supposed to care moments and really cant bring myself to. She was a sh*t disturber and pakistan (small p used to denote disrespect) is forever to be mired in islam.
Before she gets elevated to godhood we should remember that she was corrupt even by Pakistan standards and was poised to bring in her crooked cronies yet again.
Before she gets elevated to godhood we should remember that she was corrupt even by Pakistan standards and was poised to bring in her crooked cronies yet again.
true,
but she was OUR thug.
remember, the mistake of the carter administration?
of removing OUR thug, the shah?
now, we’ve got islamic thugs in charge of iran.
Well she knew Bill Clinton too, but it didn’t help her control him any. He still ran rings around her and embarrased her in front of the world.
What is the good in ‘knowing’ someone if she can’t do anything with it?
Dems just dont get it its the presidents fault no it musharifs fault cut off funds to our friends fault
I wonder if they would have said no to waterboarding if they could have stop it. oh not how bout phone taps not
Of course, you never know if a world leader's spouse (or Nobel Peace prize's spouse) might need a hug and kiss.
PLEASE someone shut this woman up!
She has the audacity to comment that she has her RADAR up on all these far away events and personalities and issues and is most informed one to sit in Oval Office.
The very Oval Office where her husband got J'd off by an intern and spilled stuff in sinks and on blue dresses, right under her very eyes (again, her "RADAR" system), and she knew nothing about it?? (or is a liar about it--either way, we dont need her in office).
No thanks, Ma'am! That dog don't hunt.
“my lifetime of experience”
THE MANTRA
Uh, that was McCain that said that.
Clinton just slays me. She's bragging that she has known someone removed from office twice for corruption, indicted & found guilty on charges of money laundering in Switzerland. Thousands of government pages of evidence of receiving illegal kickbacks from France, Poland and various companies scattered throughout Asia. Then again, this is a fat pitch right in the strike zone of the Clintons. Not to mention her 12 year investment no longer has any relevance.
Um, that was McCain quoted, not She Who Must Not Be Named.
I read the responses of the candidates today.
The Huckster “apologized” and wondered if Martial Law would continue in Pakistan. Martial Law was suspended months ago. His foreign policy knowledge is lacking.
McCain is coming off looking good. This has got to be a plus for him.
Romney politicized it, of course, talking about what Ronald Reagan would have done and then turned around after being questioned and said: “Well, I can’t say what Reagan would do.” The guy has an innate ability to double-talk.
Rudy did o.k.; he wrapped himself in 9/11, of course.
The guy who came off the best, especailly on Hannity & Colmes tonight (See the rerun at 11:00 p.m. CST) was Fred Thompson. He made some very poignant observations. It’s a shame he got started so late in this race.
Capital letters and punctuation can be your friend.
Exactly, but can you imagine Hillary being elevated as a candidate with MILITARY EXPERIENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS EXPERIENCE????? That is inane and stupid. Can you imagine Huck taking on Islamofascism? No, but I can see Rudy, Fred, or not hopefully, John or Mitt doing it.
"My theme has been throughout this campaign that I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge and the judgment. So perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials to make people understand that I've been to Pakistan, I know Musharraf, I can pick up the phone and call him. I knew Benazir Bhutto."
LOL!! Oops is RIGHT ;-)
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