Clinton Mocks, Draws Rebukes

Clinton Mocks, Draws Rebukes

Wednesday, November 21, 2007; Page A07

THE EXPERIENCE DEBATE

Clinton Mocks, Draws Rebukes


At a campaign event in Iowa, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton mocked Sen. Barack Obama's statement Monday that living overseas as a child had given him valuable insights about foreign policy. Clinton's comments drew a rebuke not only from Obama, but also from former senator John Edwards's campaign.

snip//

After learning of Clinton's comments, Obama responded during a town-hall-style meeting in a gym in Conway, N.H.

"I mentioned that one of the reasons that I got it right when it came to Iraq was because I lived overseas when I was a child," he said, according to an account by the Associated Press. "It gives me some judgment and perspective around what other people think about America and how they might react or respond when we make some of the decisions that we do."

"Of course, both the Republicans, in their talking points, as well as Senator Clinton said, 'Well, I don't think that what Senator Obama did when he was 10 years old is relevant to our national security.' I didn't say that."

The Edwards campaign rose in Obama's defense. Spokesman Chris Kofinis said, "Now we know what Senator Clinton meant when she talked about 'throwing mud' in the last debate. Like so many other things, when it comes to mud, Hillary Clinton says one thing and throws another."

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112001880.html

Obama's 'experience' as a child is hardly relevant to the adult world of foreign policy and international relations.

I like Biden's response best.

We need a different perspective than Rich, White America can provide to function in the coming World.

Hillary is a Woman, but she is continuing the tradition of centuries of Old White Men.

Real Change begins with avoiding her nomination.

To paraphrase a colleague: "For God's sake, we're not electing the "President of Chutes and Ladders".

If he was like 6-10 while in another country, I don't see how that makes him more informed about the rest of the world.

Not to take away from Obama, I respect him as a candidate and support many of his ideas, but saying that a childhood experience does much of anything for global perspective is ridiculous.

I spent time every summer as a child in Canada, but I wouldn't say I'm ready to hammer out a new NAFTA either.

At least he didn't blame a staffer, as has been his usual MO.

has really made her a sensitive person.

Sam Walton would be proud of her(the old bastard!).

And we are not supposed to NOTICE that.

someone called you on it. If Obama's "experience" were measured by germs, Obama would be classified sanitary.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.....

Ben David

like a 10 year old

you object to about Clinton.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Wow Edwards backing Obama over this and I have no reason why. :sarcasm:

what was that about heat and kitchen? asbestos pantsuit? .... ad nauseam - does she even see the irony if not the hypocrisy emblematic in the billary desperation of "win at all costs" ??????

...the foundation of her whole campaign.

NGU.

I guess she's getting desperate. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Hillary's foreign affairs experience is based manly on observations of Bills affairs with Canadian politicians.

do you really think she was just baking cookies during her 8 years in the White House? How about those 7 years in the Senate? Why do you think it's legitimate for Obama to cite his childhood in Indonesia as foreign policy experience and not Ok for her to cite her years as an advisor/diplomat for her husband?

Obama is slinging just as much mud....hell, they all are. Except for Biden, Dodd, and Richardson.

and why shouldn't the best candidate show the wannabes how it's done?

I think it would be an advantage having a president who benefited from growing up with a more diverse world view. It could be a very good thing, and Hillary mocked it! Just how much his childhood influenced his adult views is one thing, but to mock it is quite another. Hillary did not have to do that, and it just made her look lower as a result.

She keeps up and maybe I will change over to being an Obama supporter! What she mocks I see as a positive, and makes me more likely to consider Obama. Right now I am undecided between Edwards and Biden. I am eager to hear more about Obama from Hillary's side!

I didn't believe Hillary for a second when she said that. And many others don't as well.

You don't agree?

My mother is from France and between her and my family there, the world view is so different and it does affect how one sees things differently from the average American.
We are a country that is so full of itself that we cannot see how our actions affect people in other countries. We live inside our borders and have no clue about life outside of it. We lack the curiosity and the respect for other people. We are arrogant and incurious

I doubt we'll hear her go this route again.

See: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3744974&mesg_id=3744974

What's Biden's strongest FP credential? Sitting on his pinstriped ass on Senate committees for decades?

yes that's a pretty strong credential. Between actually going to countries and meeting with the leaders - as all of that committee does every year, and holding hearing with various experts to get multiple opinions.

He fucked up by voting for the worst foreign policy blunder in American history. So WTH can take him seriously?

Not me. Not a lot of other voters, too, if poll numbers in Iowa and NH (not to mention nationally) are anything to go by.

Well done.

pointing out Obama's ridiculous statement as a qualifier for the presidency.

because she ain't gonna be our 44th president. :rofl:

we'll see, won't we!

:rofl:

last time I was for Wes Clark and had to hold my nose (at first) and support Kerry who I hated in the primary. I'm sure once Obama wins the nomination, you'll hold your nose and support him and even end up liking him...just like I did Kerry.

Does anyone think spending part of one's formative years in a foreign country does not influence a person's world view? We all know an American childhood, in most cases, is an isolated and nationalistic one, providing a superficial understanding of other societies. A child living in another country for a time does, factually, have a wider view of the world, a more educated sense of cultural differences. This is just common sense. To say so in no way refers in quality to adult experience, but it does add a measure of additional experience. To point to it as foreign policy experience, as in fact Obama has not done that I've seen, though his opponents have, rather than foreign policy insight resulting of practical knowledge, is disingenuous.



He is talking about an added dimension to life experience that can enrich the world view applied to foreign policy, not foreign policy experience in itself. Since Obama does as an adult go on these Congressional trips to various countries and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, he is presenting what else his own background has to offer the country in making its way in the world. This is a valid difference with his opponents, (except Richardson, who also spent his youth living in different countries).

From the OP link:



Salon asked him about the benefits of his early life experience following the Iowa speech. Obama referred to a speech he gave in Kenya in 2006:



And Obama said this:



To apply that ability and life experience, the learned insight into other cultures, is a bonus in foreign relations, to be sure. To be able to apply that to foreign policy is something he values and offers the country in leading us out of the biggest foreign policy disaster of several generations. What's so bad about this?

Obama played up his experience. Hillary played it down. Qualifications are a legitimate criteria for picking a candidate. The debate on Obama's experience is just what is supposed to happen in campaigns.

I heard a tape of Hillary and she wasn't using a mocking tone.

Edwards is way out of line calling what Hillary said "mudslinging." There are no falsehoods or attacks on character in Hillary's statements.
If Edwards wants to pick out mudslinging against Obama, Edwards should mention how he said Obama lives in a fantasy world. That's an attack on character - mudslinging.

How ridiculous.

John Edwards too, how surprising. When I heard Obama say that living overseas when he was a child gave him valuable insights about foreign policy I had to go clean out my ears.

Hard to believe anyone would take that comment seriously.

When Hillary said it was irrelevant she was right. She wasn't mocking, she was just telling the truth. At least it wasn't a person attack on Obama which he seems to delight in inflicting on her.

And give John Edwards an opening, he jumps in and says something equally irrelevant. How is that mudslinging? Strong words for a factual statement that any normal, rational person would agree with.

Those words from Obama and Edwards have a familiar ring to them: they are right-wing talking points. They turn around and accuse Hillary of doing what they, themselves, are doing.

I believe that's called "projection."