Posted on 03/22/2007 5:53:07 PM PDT by Dirtysnowbank
Clinton: ‘It’s just not fair’
By Sam Youngman
March 23, 2007
Former President Bill Clinton yesterday complained that “it’s just not fair” the way his wife, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is being depicted for her controversial Iraq war vote.
Speaking to hundreds of supporters on conference call, the former president said, “I don’t have a problem with anything Barack Obama [has] said on this,” but “to characterize Hillary and Obama’s positions on the war as polar opposites is ludicrous.
“This dichotomy that’s been set up to allow him to become the raging hero of the anti-war crowd on the Internet is just factually inaccurate.”
The ex-president’s aggressive defense of his wife’s position revealed frustration in the Clinton camp over how the issue is playing into the already-overheated presidential campaign.
On a conference call with Hillraisers, Sen. Clinton’s biggest donors, which The Hill listened to after being provided the call-in information, the former president said there was a stark difference between those who voted for the Iraq resolution and those who wanted to go to war.
In response to a question from one of the supporters on the phone about explaining Hillary Clinton’s Iraq vote to undecided voters, the former president jumped in front of former Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe, saying, “Let me answer this.”
He said he had re-read the Iraq resolution last week, and that his wife had voted only for “coercive inspections.” Clinton justified his wife’s refusal to apologize for her vote by explaining that she was acting out of concern that future presidents might need similar language authorizing “coercive inspections to avoid conflict.”
“It’s just not fair to say that people who voted for the resolution wanted war,” Clinton said.
The former president also quoted an interview with Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) in this month’s GQ magazine, explaining that Hagel’s justification for his vote on the war is very similar to Hillary Clinton’s. “All these people who criticize Hillary all the time all love Hagel for being a critic of the war,” Clinton said.
The anti-war left continues to be a thorn in the side of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, protesting at most of her events. Most recently, a protester from the Code Pink group interrupted her $2.7 million fundraiser in Washington Tuesday night before being removed by security.
The former president’s phone call made it clear that the Clinton campaign is working furiously to overcome what it understands is a serious vulnerability. His re-reading of the 2002 Iraq war resolution and his use of a clipping from a glossy magazine make it plain that he did not want to miss a trick.
The difference between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) war position has moved front and center as the two, or at least their representatives, have scuffled in recent days over Obama’s perceived status as the anti-war candidate.
Bill Clinton made news recently when he pointed to a comment by Obama, who said he didn’t know how he would have voted had he been in the Senate in 2002.
Senior advisers to both campaigns, Mark Penn for Hillary Clinton and David Axelrod for Obama, traded jabs at a forum on Monday, with Penn noting that Obama’s votes in the Senate on funding the war and troop withdrawal have been almost identical to Clinton’s.
The exchange prompted a quick reaction from Obama’s camp, in the form of an e-mail that campaign manager David Plouffe sent to supporters to draw a distinction between the two candidates’ war records.
Plouffe’s e-mail said Obama’s campaign had a “resource and action center” on the Internet where voters could see a video and “interactive timeline” of the war’s progression.
“Millions of people have tuned into this presidential race wondering who will provide the leadership to end this war and the judgment to avoid strategic disasters like this in the first place,” the e-mail said.
The purpose of yesterday’s call was ostensibly to thank Hillraisers for their fundraising efforts and to ask them to push harder with the end of the first quarter in sight.
It was after phones were opened to questions, the first of which dealt with Iraq, that the former president was prompted to leap to his wife’s defense.
Before launching into a discussion on the war, both Clinton and McAuliffe profusely thanked the supporters on the call and asked them to enlist more campaign donors before the end of the first quarter — or, as Clinton put it, before “the first primary.”
“I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing for Hillary,” Clinton said, before adding, “I hope we can make it even better in the last few days.”
Clinton and McAuliffe made repeated mention of a Wednesday fundraiser in Kentucky, where on short notice the state party chairman was able to put together a $300,000 fundraiser for the senator.
Kentucky, Clinton noted, “is a red state, even though I carried it twice.”
Always the victim.
The FR sidebar is reserved for FR business.
Not this.
Thanks,
AM
How convenient that women, WHO WANT TO BE EQUAL, run like hell towards this built-in convenient cop out when the going gets tough.
I thought I hit extended news.
Yup, that sounds like Bill.
Life's a b*tch, then you marry one...
It depends what the definition of ââ is.
I left my decoder ring somewhere today. I feel lost!
I really think this was a mistake by Bill ...I hope he keeps it up...
Welcome to the FR Russian thread.
So voting for the resolution was a calculated political move? Those voting in favor had no intention of carrying through with the threat? It seems that is how Saddam saw it as well.
Hey Willeeeeee...want some cheese with that wine? Your wife, Mrs. Bill Clinton is in the big leagues now and she has to be able to take the heat like everyone else or get out of the kitchen. PERIOD!
Hey Bubba, watch your language!
Hey Slick. Put some ice on it. Can't Mrs. Bill Clinton take it?
that's easy for you to say/type.
Bill's running.
Who is Bill Clinton?
Clinton: ‘It’s just not fair’
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