    
Tonya
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Username: Tonya
Post Number: 6286
Registered: 07-2006
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 09:04 am: | 
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Obama: Dustup over aide's remarks just DC 'spin'
by Mike Dorning
VINTON, Iowa—Barack Obama tonight defended comments made by his chief political strategist drawing a link between rival Hillary Clinton’s vote to authorize the Iraq War and the political tumult in Pakistan that today included the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
In an interview with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer moments before he walked into an evening rally at a high school here, Barack Obama called a controversy over the comment “spin” and said his adviser “in no way was suggesting that Hillary Clinton was somehow directly to blame for the situation.”
Throughout the day, the Clinton and Obama camps traded criticisms amid an ongoing battle on the campaign trail over her claims that Obama lacks the experience needed to be president. Obama has countered that Clinton's initial support for the Iraq war, which he opposed, raises questions about her experience and judgment.
Early in the day, the Illinois senator's top campaign strategist, David Axelrod, cited Clinton's vote to authorize the war in Iraq and argued that the war has stoked support in the Islamic world for Al Qaeda, which may be involved in Bhutto’s assassination.
"Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq. And he warned at the time that it would divert us from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and now we see the effect of that," Axelrod said. "... Sen. Clinton made a different judgment. Let's have that discussion."
Phil Singer, a Clinton campaign spokesman, responded shortly afterward by contending Axelrod was "politicizing this situation with baseless allegations" when people should be focused on the implications for Pakistan, the U.S. and the world.
Obama said in the CNN interview that Axelrod’s comments were misinterpreted.
"I overheard it when he said it. And this is one of those situations where Washington is putting a spin on it. It makes no sense whatsoever," Obama said.
"He in no way was suggesting that Hillary Clinton was somehow directly to blame for the situation there," he said later in the interview.
Obama said that Axelrod was responding to a question about whether the assassination would move Iowa voters to be more sympathetic to arguments that the Clinton camp has made that Obama lacks the foreign policy experience to be president.
“His response was simply to say that if we are going to talk politics, then the question has to be, ‘Who has exercised the kind of judgment that would be more likely to lead to better outcomes in the Middle East and better outcomes in Pakistan?’ And his argument was simply that Iraq has fanned anti-American sentiment and it took our eye off the ball,” Obama said. "That’s part of the reason we are now in this circumstance."
A fast transcript follows:
Wolf Blitzer: Your chief political strategist, David Axelrod, causing some commotion out there today with his comments about Hillary Clinton, and blaming her—at least some are interpreting it this way—blaming her in part for a series of events that resulted in Benazir Bhutto's assassination today. Let me read to you what he said.
Senator Barack Obama: You know, I—I have to-I have to—Wolf, you know, I heard—I heard—I don't need to—I don't—I don't need to hear what you read because I was—you know, I overheard it when he said it, and this is one of those situations where Washington is putting a spin on it. It makes no sense whatsoever.
Wolf Blitzer: Alright, tell us what he meant. Tell us what he meant.
Senator Barack Obama: He was—he was—he was asked—he was asked very specifically about the argument that the Clinton folks were making that somehow this was going to change the dynamic of politics in Iowa. Now, first of all, that shouldn't have been the question. The question should be, "how is this going to impact the safety and security of the United States," not "how is it going to affect a political campaign in Iowa." But his response was simply to say that if we are going to talk politics, then the question has to be, "who has exercised the kind of judgment that would be more likely to lead to better outcomes in the Middle East and better outcomes in Pakistan." And his argument was simply that Iraq has fanned anti-American sentiment and it took our eye off the ball to the extent that there are those who are claiming now that their experience somehow makes them superior to deal with these issues. I think it's important for the American people to look at the judgments they've made in the past, and then—the experience hands in Washington have not made particularly good judgments when it comes to dealing with these problems. That's part of the reason we are now in this circumstance. He in no way was suggesting that Hillary Clinton was somehow directly to blame for the situation there. That is the kind of, I think, you know, gloss that sometimes emerges out of the heat of campaigns that doesn't make much sense, and I think you're probably aware of that, Wolf.
Wolf Blitzer: Well, I know that sometimes comments can be taken out of context and you're trying to give us the context. I'll just read to you what he said, and then I'm going to let you just respond. "She was," referring to Hillary Clinton, he said—
Senator Barack Obama: Wolf—
Wolf Blitzer:—"She was strong supporter of the war in Iraq, which, we would submit, is one of the reasons why we were diverted from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Al Qaeda, who may still have been players in this event today. So, that's a judgment she'll have to defend." All right, so I just want to make sure that—
Senator Barack Obama: So, that—
Wolf Blitzer: —we're getting the full context.
Senator Barack Obama: As I said—as I said, all he was simply saying, by the way, in response to a political question about how this would impact Iowa, he was simply making an argument that in fact the war in Iraq has not helped us go after Al Qaeda, deal with the terrorists and extremists that threaten America. But, Again, it's important for us to not look at this in terms of short term political points scoring. What we have to figure out is collectively, Republicans, Democrats, all of us, how are we going to deal with these problems over the long-term. And I've already said as president, immediately upon inauguration, I will begin to organize a summit with all the Muslim leaders around the world and have a direct conversation with them, our friends and our enemies, about how we can align the Muslim world against these barbaric actions, against terrorism. I believe that part of that will be to begin phasing out our occupation in Iraq, part of it will involve talking to actors like Iran and Syria, to get them to act more responsibly, part of it will be for us to shut down Guantanamo and restore habeas corpus and send a signal to the world that we're doing things differently. That's the kind of non-conventional thinking and approach that we're going to have to take to reverse the decline in our moral standing around the world that inhibits our ability to actually take on terrorism. That's what it's going to take to make us safer and that's what I intend to do as President of the United States.
Wolf Blitzer: Senator Obama, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck out there on the campaign trail.
Senator Barack Obama: Thank you so much, Wolf. I appreciate you
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/obama_controversy_ove r_aides_r.html
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