Obama turns to his favorite weapons

When in doubt, blame Washington

The debate over who has the best foreign policy judgment continued
Tuesday, with Barack Obama taking punches from Hillary Rodham Clinton,
John Edwards and Chris Dodd.

But Obama, playing an unfamiliar defense game with home field advantage
on a Soldier Field stage, kept returning to two central campaign themes
to inoculate himself against criticism: blaming Washington insiders and
stressing his early objection to the Iraq war. Edwards also raged
against the establishment and gave Obama a run for the anti-Washington
crown.

Nothing very subtle in this 96-minute exchange moderated by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

Clinton hit Obama in the belly over Obama getting trapped
recently in answering a hypothetical question about a nuclear attack on
Pakistan and announcing that he would, if there were actionable
intelligence, send a U.S. strike force into Pakistan to root out
terrorists.

“I do not believe people running for president should engage in
hypotheticals,” she said. Without naming Obama, she said it was a “very
big mistake” to “telegraph” his Pakistan move and “destabilize the
Musharraf regime which is fighting for its life.”

Clinton earned boos for saying what was on her mind about Obama. “You
can think big, but remember you shouldn’t always say everything you
think if you’re running for president, because it has consequences
across the world.”

But she was warmly received as Girlfriend Clinton standing up against
six men. After taking incoming from Obama and Edwards, Clinton slipped
into a serene state. Asked to respond to the attacks, she said calmly,
“I’m just taking it all in” while urging Democrats not to fight each
other. Referring to her years wrangling the “vast right-wing
conspiracy,” Clinton said, “So if you want a winner who knows how to
take them on, I’m your girl.”

And, at a time Obama is trying to establish himself as a foreign policy
heavy, he misspoke when he called the leader of Canada a “president.”
Canada’s leader is a prime minister.

Obama turns to his favorite weapons :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Lynn Sweet

When in doubt, blame Washington

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