http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/08/456214.aspxObama: It's 'part of the experience'
ALBIA, IA -- In an unscheduled stop at a local gas station today, Obama responded to the recent comment by Bill Clinton that the healthcare reform his administration had tried to pass in the early nineties failed because of him rather than his wife. Hillary Clinton had spearheaded the effort to reform health care in the 1990s.
“I’m not sure about previous characterizations,” Obama said. “All I know is that
part of the record she’s running on is on health care, so its hard to gauge if one of her claims is to have experience in this issue and then to suggest somehow that she didn’t have anything to do with the way it didn’t work.”When asked if the comment was a mixed message, Obama first hedged before elaborating that the comment brought into question Clinton’s claim that her experience trying to pass healthcare in the 1990s had allowed her to learn from her mistakes and would help her to pass universal healthcare if she were to win the presidency.
“What I was saying is if part of your basis for experience is what you did on healthcare,” Obama said, “…that’s part of the experience as well.”
But the Senator wouldn’t bite when asked if Bill Clinton was getting too involved in the race, in light of his recent comments about his wife, including that the attacks on her regarding drivers licenses for immigrants were equivalent to the swift boat attacks that John Kerry faced in 2004.
“We’re trying to focus on the kind of president I would be and the kind of nominee I would be for the Democratic Party,” Obama said. “Last time I checked, President Clinton wasn’t on the ballot.”