Presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., looks down after speaking at a political house party at the home of Mike and Debora Pignatelli in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)
Posted on 02/11/2007 4:03:16 PM PST by NormsRevenge
MANCHESTER, N.H. - After nearly four years of war and more than 3,000 U.S. dead, New Hampshire voters are demanding more than nuance on Iraq from Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
From crowded town hall meetings to smaller gathering at private homes, Clinton was enthusiastically received by voters throughout the key early voting state on Saturday and Sunday. She deftly fielded questions on a range of subjects, from education to health care to the genocide in Darfur.
But invariably, the questions returned to Iraq. What would she do to end the conflict if elected president? Would she support cutting funds to stop President Bush's planned increase in troop levels? And, perhaps most importantly, why won't she recant her 2002 vote authorizing the military invasion?
"She has a very nuanced explanation, and it's a pretty good explanation. But many people want to hear her clearly say that her vote was a mistake," said Paul LeBlanc, a Clinton supporter and president of Southern New Hampshire University.
It's a vexing matter for Clinton, who is hoping to become the nation's first female commander in chief. If she repudiates her vote — buckling to pressure from anti-war activists and two top Democratic rivals, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — Clinton opens herself to accusations of flip-flopping. But defending her vote means she'll continue to be dogged by skeptical questions about it as she campaigns in not only the early voting states but around the country.
On Sunday, Obama told reporters in Iowa that the war was a "tragic mistake" that never should have been authorized — a swipe at his Senate rivals who backed the 2002 resolution. Responding specifically to Clinton's stand, he said he was uncertain how she would proceed to reduce U.S. forces.
"I know that's she's stated that she thinks the war should end by the start of the next president's first term. Beyond that, though, how she wants to accomplish that, I'm not clear on," he said.
Throughout her weekend campaign visit here, Clinton stuck to her guns: She said she voted to give Bush authority to send weapons inspectors to Iraq, and that her vote was not an endorsement of pre-emptive war. She also said she would never have sought to invade Iraq if she had been president in 2002.
But that wasn't enough for Claire Helfman, a retired nurse who attended a Nashua house party to meet Clinton.
"I've heard your explanation for your vote: 'I didn't think I was voting for the war, I was voting for inspections.' It doesn't fly. It just doesn't fly," Helfman told Clinton.
The New York senator repeated her long-standing mantra — "If we knew then what we know now, I would never have voted to give this president the authority." And she again batted down calls for her to describe her vote as a mistake.
"I'm sorry, what I say is what I believe," she said. "I understand that some people disagree or think it's not adequate, but it's what I believe."
At a house party in Manchester on Sunday, Clinton offered an outline of what she would do as president to scale back the conflict. She vowed she would engage diplomatically with other countries in the region, relaunch the Middle East peace process and force Iraqis to take charge of their own security.
"I would tell the Iraqis, 'We are going to stop funding you unless you start doing what you've promised all these years,'" Clinton said. "I would say: 'I'm sorry, it's over. We've done all we can do for you. We liberated you, we got rid of Saddam Hussein for you, we are not going to baby-sit a civil war.'"
But she also said she would not redeploy all troops out of the region, insisting that some are still needed to quell terrorist activity in Anbar province and to protect the Kurds in northern Iraq.
"There will still be missions," she said.
She also said she was not in favor of cutting funding for Bush's proposed troop increase, despite some activists' calls to do so.
At a town hall meeting in Keene, N.H., Clinton discussed Democratic efforts to pass a nonbinding resolution expressing disapproval of Bush's plan to increase troops in Iraq.
"To those who say, 'It's a nonbinding resolution, what does it mean?' — all I can say is, the White House is working very hard to defeat it," Clinton said.
But voters should remember that Democrats still need some Republican support to get anything done, she said.
"I know that is hard medicine for some people because people say, 'Just do something!'" she said. "In order to do something, we've got to have Republicans to help us, at least until the election of 2008 when we'll have 60 Democrats, I hope."
In Nashua, Clinton thrilled many attendees by insisting that she has the mettle to take on Republicans in a general election, saying, "I'm the one person they're most afraid of because Bill and I know how to beat them and we have consistently."
But the Republican National Committee appeared eager to point out potential problems with Clinton's arguments on Iraq. In an e-mail titled "Hillary's Kerry-oake on Iraq," the committee likened her statements to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee who was badly weakened by accusations he had flip-flopped on the war.
___
Associated Press Writers Nedra Pickler in Ames, Iowa, and Holly Ramer in Keene, N.H., contributed to this report.
Presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., looks down after speaking at a political house party at the home of Mike and Debora Pignatelli in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)
U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) speaks at a campaign stop in Keene, New Hampshire February 11, 2007. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES)
Seek...but ye won't find....
I'm still laughing at the 1994 election, which was a massive power transfer to the GOP thanks to Hillary's assault on health-care. I'd like to see another such beating by Hillary.
What's the confusion (aside from the fact that they are liberals!)? She voted for the war before she voted against it!
(Oh, gee, did I tie that other name to the bad place out loud? Silly me!)
Oh my gosh, she's copied the pelosi face.
Clarity? From Hillary? On her Iraq vote?
Bwah...
It's halarious to me that she voted yes to go into Iraq in order to seem to be more of a hawk and not such a softy. It was all a smoke screen to make herself seem more electable.
Now she's having to answer for it. She couldn't have guessed that it would turn out like this.
These people expect clarity from Hillary? What a joke!
They are just the usual NH liberals looking for the spotlight
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.