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Clinton Mocks Obama's Invocation of Indonesia Years

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November 20, 2007 4:58 PM

ABC News' Eloise Harper and Teddy Davis Report: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., mocked the relevance of Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., time living abroad on Tuesday just one day after an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed the Illinois Democrat with a four-point lead in Iowa.

"Now voters will judge whether living in a foreign country at the age of 10 prepares one to face the big, complex international challenges the next president will face," said Clinton. "I think we need a president with more experience than that.  Someone the rest of the world knows, looks up to, and has confidence in. I don't think this is the time for on the job training on our economy or on foreign policy."

Clinton's Tuesday comments, which she made over the speakerphone in a fire house in Shenandoah, Iowa, were the first time that she has criticized the relevance of Obama's international upbringing. The former first lady's swipe suggests that the Clinton campaign is willing to drive up her negatives on likeability in order to drive up Obama's negatives on experience.

Clinton's criticism was prompted by comments Obama made about his foreign-policy experience while campaigning Monday in Clarendon, Iowa.

"Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact that I spent four years living overseas when I was a child in southeast Asia," said Obama, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

While Clinton was specifically responding to Obama's comments from this week, Monday was not the first time that Obama has pointed to the relevance of his time living abroad.

As far back as March, Obama has pointed to his years in Indonesia as helping to prepare him for the presidency.

"If I go to Jakarta and address the largest Muslim country on earth, I can say, 'Apa kabar,' -- you know, 'How are you doing?' -- and they can recognize that I understand their common humanity," Obama told the National Jewish Democratic Council during a Washington, D.C., forum.

"That is a strength," he continued, "and it allows me to say things to them that other presidents might not be able to say. And that's part of what's promising, I think, about this presidency."

Obama's March comments went unremarked. But when he invoked his time in Indonesia on Monday, Clinton pounced.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 55 percent of likely Democratic voters in Iowa say they're more interested in a "new direction and new ideas" than in strength and experience, compared with 49 percent in July -- a help to Obama, who holds a substantial lead among "new direction" voters.

The Obama campaign responded to Clinton's criticism by unfavorably comparing her Washington experience to that of Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"The real choice in this election is between conventional Washington thinking that prizes posture and positioning, or real change that puts judgment and honesty first," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Clinton was forced to call into the fire house because her plane could not land due to thick fog.

"[I] apologize," Clinton told those in attendance, "I was in a plane flying from Iowa City and we could not land in Shenandoah. We tried twice because of the fog and after circling around we flew to Omaha and I'm on the ground now in Omaha."

November 20, 2007 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (48)

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Once again taking something that had nothing to do with her whatsoever and attempting to spin it negatively.....Hillary lost my respect as soon as she started teh insults...calling Obama naive. Naive he may be, but with him at the very least we know where he stands....no poll-driven positions. Independents for Obama!!!

Posted by: Discipulus04 | Nov 21, 2007 5:27:54 AM

Honestly I think Hilary has become Pathetic and desperate these day. Im an independent and I hate to see these kinds of spiping between Candidates

Mr Obama simply wanted to show the humanity in feeling what ordinary folks out there feel. Thats experience to me. It takes living with the poor, eating their food,suffering with them, talking their language etc etc to understand them.

Foreign experience doesnt mean going to Iraq to attack people and trying to figure out what to do with later

I feel really bad that Hilary would attack Mr Obama on this. Watch and see how voters in NH sanction her on this next polls. Its stupid for her to attack Obama on this.

Posted by: titiberg | Nov 21, 2007 5:46:01 AM

Time for a fresh start, vote Obama in 2008

Posted by: LIsten Up | Nov 21, 2007 6:26:41 AM

She talked about mud slinging in the debate and then does the exact same. Clinton comes from a family of privilege all her life and is too far removed from the common working person in my opinion. She has yet to overcome the impression she is telling the truth when she speaks. Sorry I just can't trust her.

Posted by: vnvet68 | Nov 21, 2007 6:33:45 AM

Hillary's attack on Obama is a cheap low blow. Her desperation is beginning to show.

Posted by: bob | Nov 21, 2007 7:37:11 AM

Well Well the desperate Mrs Bubba Billy makes a fool out of herself by slinging the mud at Obama. She is crumbling and will pull off a Dean in Iowa.

Posted by: Alphonse Warakomski | Nov 21, 2007 7:41:30 AM

Obama never said his years in Indonesia qualified him in foreign policy. He said those years made him comfortable with different cultures, experience which Hillary doesn't have.

Perhaps she's a little sensitive on the foreign policy experience question. She keeps trying to claim that trotting around on good will trips as First Lady gives her that experience. Yeah, she's spoken with many heads of state: "my husband sends you greetings." Laura Bush could claim the same.

Looks like she's panicking. It was supposed to be wrapped up by now. She was already running a general election campaign when "whoops!" Back to the drawing boards on the coast to victory.

Posted by: Susan Breslin | Nov 21, 2007 8:50:44 AM

Drip, drip, drip. There goes Hillary's lead. Drip, drip, drip. She hears it in her head. C'mon, Hillary, mocking Obama is not going to win you any votes. Where's your experience Hillary? Losing the fight for healthcare is your legacy. What else do you have to show?

Posted by: Sean O'Brien | Nov 21, 2007 9:35:32 AM

Proof once again that a political tiger cannot change it's stripes. Hillary will stop at nothing to cloud the issues and bring up anything irrelevant in order to possibly gain a few points. The scary thing is she was most likely fed this drool from one of her advisors and she decided to go for it. Very poor judgement.

Posted by: LongT | Nov 21, 2007 9:36:10 AM

Hey I know! Hillary could bring up the fact that when she was first lady she and Chelsia road an elephant making her savy in foriegn policy. Obama's youth in Indonesia is about as relevant.

Posted by: LongT | Nov 21, 2007 9:40:34 AM

SO - IS this one of those "PERSONNEL" attack and "MUD slinging" that -S-l-i-c-k- -W-i-l-l-a-r-y- is SO against -----

Of course not, it wasn’t her saying it…, it was the Republicans disguised as her, using that nasty Republican play book……..hahahahahhahahah hehehehheh – she is a fool………

Posted by: FidoNY | Nov 21, 2007 9:54:43 AM

Hillary's never going to let anyone take her democrat nomination from her alive! She knows that's her nomination. It's her turn to run for president and as a Clinton, she deserves to be president and no one better cross her or question her ability. She's a Clinton and she knows that's all the democrats need for a qualification anyway.

Posted by: TexBork | Nov 21, 2007 10:46:03 AM

The primary candidates with the best foreign policy experience are Biden, Richardson and Dodd. No Republican makes the first cut. Of course God shares with Robertson, so....... Looks to me like Hillary is criticising Obama with charges "straight out of the Republican playbook!"

Posted by: Luke | Nov 21, 2007 10:47:12 AM

Some of you make an excellent point, don't' believe what the candidates say but judge them what they have done in the past. Yes, what they have actually done based on factual records. Many politicians say a lot of things during a campaign and do something all together in the opposite directions while in office. This seems to be the rule not the exception but always remember actions speak louder than words. You tell the future by the past. ***

*** The only 2008 candidate while in the House of Representatives that rose to the position of Chief Whip
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Congressman has who has negotiated for the lives of Americans successfully from hostile countries.
*** The only 2008 candidate with experience as Sec. of Energy that has negotiated with OPEC to lower oil prices.
*** The only 2008 candidate with on-hands experience as Ambassador to the UN and understands the assets and short comings of the UN.
*** The only 2008 candidate intelligent enough to speaks three languages fluently - English, Spanish and French.
*** The only 2008 candidate that helped the Bush administration with North Korea.
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Governor who cut his state taxes.
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Governor balance his state's budget 5 times.
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Governor promoted pro-growth policies and now his state is the 6th in the top 10 ranking of fastest growing state economies.
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Governor who has dealt with the illegal immigration issue first hand and who called Federal emergency help for securing our border with Mexico and took action to keep the roads of his state safe from illegal drivers.
*** The only 2008 candidate as a Governor his state initiatives in solar and wind energy alternate technologies have been recognized internationally.
*** I know the Governor Richardson is not air brushed perfect as the top rivals but I know what his values are by his actions and what he has done for others and our country. Actions always speak louder than words.

Posted by: threeriverscrossing | Nov 21, 2007 11:30:27 AM

Hmmm, the question is experience. HRC was the Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Interior, National Security Advisor, etc., in the Clinton administration... right? I mean where else could she have gotten all of this "applied" experience she's touting in the areas of the economy, environment, national security, etc. (I concede education because HRC has been a child and educational advocate for years)? Funny, if memory serves, the one area officially appointed to and controlled by HRC during the Clinton presidency was the healthcare issue and that was a disastorous failure. Is anyone else aware of some recess appointment or shadow position in the administration HRC held and if so, then she should disclose that information and be given proper credit or criticism for her performance during that tenure. Until then, will someone please explain why we're supposed to believe that 8 years of being a "First Lady" somehow allowed HRC to vicariously hold every major cabinet position in the Clinton administration? Give HRC due credit and respect for her years in the Senate and judge her accordingly on her votes and stated positions, but it insults the intelligence of anyone who can hear to suggest that she is somehow battle-tested and more experienced than others just because she lived in the White House and advised her spouse... like most spouses do everyday, everywhere.

Posted by: FranknLa | Nov 21, 2007 11:56:18 AM

The Hillary detractors are correct to say that any comments by Her about Obama's assertions about his upbringing will not play well in the press even though no personal attacks were included and her statements do not sink to the level of "mudslinging". On the other hand, Obama's opportunistic use of a smear by a republican mouthpiece (Robert Novak) is mudslinging of the most foul type. Why on earth would any democratic candidate challenge another democratic candidate on a character issue based on what is obviously a Rove tactic to bring down the top tier candidates by drawing them into a lose lose "death match". His willingness to latch onto this at the possible demise of the eventual democratic candidate (even if it's himself) is to me as a democrat, unforgivable. He knew that Novak's story was totally unsubstantiated but also knew that it was a losing proposition to respond to it in any fashion, so he willingly jumped into the mud and pulled her in with him instead of challenging Novak to put his money where his mouth was. I would almost bet Novak's inspiration for this farce was a recently departed White House operative with the initials K.R.. Too bad Obama didn't have the foresight to see the endgame in all of this.

Posted by: Phil O | Nov 21, 2007 12:26:25 PM

I did not take Clinton's remarks as either criticizing or mocking Obama's upbringing. Rather, she made a truthful statement regarding any 10 year old boy or girl for that matter. She is right -what 10 year old listens to or knows anything about politics and foreign affairs just because they lived in different countries? Surely that does not qualify him/her to run a country. That's like a 10 year old boy going to Italy to live after living here for a few years. I personally do not think that would make him capable of ruling Italy just because he lived in the U.S. for a while. I do not consider that experience in foreign affairs. That thought is crazier than saying GWB is a good president. If that were the case, there would not be the age requirement necessary to run for president in the U.S. - any child could do it as long as they lived in another country for a while - extreme statment? Yes, it is - so is a 10 year old living abroad being qualified to run for that reason an extreme statement. Nuts to that idea. We've had enough craziness in this country since GWB stole the office, we don't need anymore. I pray our next president is qualified and smart enough to lead us, previous baby years spend abroad not required. Democrat preferred this time around.

Posted by: Ron | Nov 21, 2007 1:02:13 PM

HELLary is so lame! She says on CNN:
Saudi rape verdict 'an outrage'
Where is her outrage on her husbands rapes and abuse of so many women?
Not to mention the Clinton Mafia's murders?
She does not have authority to ask President Bush to boycott Saudi Arabia.
She is on her way out! She sounds desperate because her lead has shrunk so much. The more she shows her racism towards Obama, the worst it gets. HELLary is a looser! GO OBAMA

Posted by: pedro | Nov 21, 2007 1:51:31 PM

Wait a minute... I just thought of something: those "She's got my vote" HELLary looser supporters, have an extremely high probability that they believe in abortions. What this means is that they will kill their babies, their future decents, therefore eliminating themselves from the human race's gene pool, making themselves extinct... hmmm.... well, you get the idea! GO OBAMA!

Posted by: pedro | Nov 21, 2007 2:04:51 PM

As much as Ms Clinton has a point, is she really the person to be making it. I mean, what FP experience does she have? Come to think what FP experience, in terms of actually being President does anyone have? Even someone like Bill Richardson, who has as fat a resume on this as anyone in either field? The job is sooooo big that experience, in my view is much overrated. Much rather someone who shows good judgement and foresight, and Obama, IMO bests Clinton on those things.

Posted by: saintlymark | Nov 21, 2007 2:17:51 PM

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