Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., delivers a campaign speech in Denver, Colo., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Posted on 01/30/2008 12:21:06 PM PST by NormsRevenge
DENVER - Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday said rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is too polarizing to win the presidency and she has taken positions shared by President Bush and Republican candidate John McCain for political expediency.
Obama depicted Clinton as a calculating, poll-tested divisive figure who will only inspire greater partisan divisions as she sides with Republicans on issues like trade, the role of lobbyists in politics and national security. At the same time, he elevated McCain, fresh off victory in Florida's crucial primary, as the likely Republican nominee.
"Democrats will win in November and build a majority in Congress not by nominating a candidate who will unite the other party against us, but by choosing one who can unite this country around a movement for change," Obama said, speaking as rival John Edwards was pulling out of the race in New Orleans, leaving a Clinton-Obama fight for the Democratic nomination.
"It is time for new leadership that understands the way to win a debate with John McCain or any Republican who is nominated is not by nominating someone who agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq or who agreed with him in voting to give George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran, who agrees with him in embracing the Bush-Cheney policy of not talking to leaders we don't like, who actually differed with him by arguing for exceptions for torture before changing positions when the politics of the moment changed," Obama said.
"We need to offer the American people a clear contrast on national security, and when I am the nominee of the Democratic Party, that is exactly what I will do," he said.
The Clinton campaign said Obama was abandoning his pledge to run a positive campaign by making misleading attacks on her record.
"Senator Obama laments this kind of politics in his book, 'Audacity of Hope,'" her campaign responded in a Web posting that containing a quote from page 133 of the book: "That is how most of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, enter the Senate their words distorted, and their motives questioned."
Obama drew more than 10,000 people to his speech at the University of Denver. They packed a hockey arena and crammed into two overflow rooms and still were lined up outside to get in. Colorado is a caucus state, one of 22 to hold nominating contests Tuesday, and is one of a handful of states where the Obama campaign is predicting victory. Clinton has the advantage in several others, while several are still up for grabs.
Obama said he understands voters might feel some comfort at the idea of returning to another President Clinton after eight years of Bush. But he cautioned voters not to buy the argument that Clinton's experience is what the country needs.
"It is about the past versus the future," he said. "And when I am the nominee, the Republicans won't be able to make this election about the past.
"If you choose change, you will have a nominee who doesn't just tell people what they want to hear," Obama told them. "Poll-tested positions, calculated answers might be how Washington confronts challenges, but it's not how you overcome those challenges; it's not how you inspire our nation to come together behind a common purpose, and it's not what America needs right now. You need a candidate who will tell you the truth."
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., delivers a campaign speech in Denver, Colo., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Well, he gets the “captain obvious” award for the day.
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Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., applauds Caroline Kennedy during his campaign stop in Denver, Colo., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Well, she is very divisive. I don’t think all of America yet knows how liberal Obama is, but we all know Hillary is divisive and polarizing.
The late Jerry Falwall had said that only the devil himself could motivate his followers as much as having Hillary as the Dem. nominee. There just isn’t that feeling against Obama, though Obama is perhaps more liberal than Hillary is.
Obama is definitely more liberal than Hillary. He’s pretty much a socialist. He just lacks her track record.
Awww, come on, Ossama, tell us how you really feel. Seriesly, folks, this has needed saying by this very individual for a long, long time.
Oh, boy, Captain Obvious everywhere, even here!
And he's just as divisive, if not more so. This image he has as a uniter is all an illusion. He's playing hardball, too. He may even be better at the game than the Clintons. They've finally met their match.
I’ve noticed that the only time the Democrats tell the truth is when they’re campaigning against one another.
He learned from them well.
After the handshale rejection of last night, he goes on the offensive instead of trying to talk his way out of the initial situation.
It’s strange about Obama, I sort of like and admire him...all the while knowing I could never vote for him.
Love that squirrrel, how can I save it???
Take this headline and roll it around on your tongue. Wait a moment and savor the irony.
Right click and “save picture as..”
The good Captain has been busy to day. :^)
Next week: Water is wet.
I can't wait for Obama to call her a war criminal!
"Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price."
Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat, New York)
During an interview on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
September 13, 2001
Dude can draw a crowd!
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