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Rivals Dispute Clinton's 'Face of America' Assertion
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ShareNovember 26, 2007 2:38 PM
ABC News's Eloise Harper, Sarah Amos and Sunlen Miller report: Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic rivals are taking issue with her characterization of herself as the "face of America" during her husband's presidency.
It all started last week when Clinton's chief surrogate in Iowa, former Governor Tom Vilsack, said Clinton was the "face of the Administration on foreign affairs," under former President Bill Clinton.
Vilsack discussed Clinton's foreign policy experience on a news program, after a week of back-and-forth jabs between Clinton and Obama on several issues including foreign policy. Clinton had chided Obama for saying that he had gained foreign policy experience living abroad in Indonesia when he was ten years old, arguing that she was the one with the foreign policy experience after spending eight years in the White House as First Lady.
Speaking to reporters Sunday in Perry, Iowa, Clinton, D-N.Y., defended the characterization, saying, "There are lots of ways in which what I did that was the face of America when I was there when I was representing not just my husband but the country."
Senator Clinton told reporters, "I think that a lot of that was face for people who followed foreign policy. Obviously the president is the decision maker and the secretary of state is a very important player, but we worked as a team. I wasn't off doing these things on my own. We were connected; we were part of a foreign policy approach that was inclusive and outreaching to try to get the rest of the world to understand that we could find common ground."
However Governor Bill Richardson's spokesperson weighed in on Clinton's comments, saying "Considering Bill Richardson served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Energy, as well as a Special Foreign Envoy during the Clinton Administration on numerous occasions, we take some exception to that view. President Clinton would send Richardson to negotiate with the world's worst dictators, saying send Richardson, bad people like him. There is no question Bill Richardson has the best foreign policy credentials of any candidate in the race."
Clinton rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., also disputed Clinton's characterization.
"I don't think that Madeleine Albright would think that Hillary Clinton was the face of foreign policy during the Clinton administration," he said.
November 26, 2007 in Vote 2008: Democrats | Permalink | User Comments (9)
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Hillary IS the "Face of America"! I mean think about it...Where in the world can you go and show a picture of Hillary to a person and them not know who she is and where she's from?? How many of the other candidates can say that? The morons that have a problem with that are just that...MORONS..!! This is an issue? Grow up people..
Posted by: szelag | Nov 26, 2007 3:53:09 PM
WELL all i have to say is WE ALREADY KNOW HOW HILLARY CLINTON WILL RUN THINGS, as she has said her self in her own words, "the fact of the matter is that Senator Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own" WE ALL KNOW SHE WEARS THE PANTS IN THE FAMILY! And we already know how the us will be run and the SCANDLE that the CLINTON's were associated with. CLINTON embarrassed the US and our government and was about to be IMPEACHED! Everyone knows that if they had Family or friends in the military at that time!
Posted by: Stacey | Nov 26, 2007 4:09:43 PM
Hillary was not just married to the president of the united states, she was a partner, and as a partner she had extensive exposure to many situations the other candidates have not. You can say what you want about Hillary but the thing that you cannot deny is that she is prepared to run our country day one, and what she does not know, she has a partner who has been there and done that who can help. I aways believed two heads are better than one.
Posted by: caprice | Nov 26, 2007 8:10:15 PM
Maybe Obama should ask Madeleine Albright, but oh wait she's supporting Sen Clinton. Guess he couldn't do that for fear of the answer. haha
Posted by: RalphB | Nov 26, 2007 9:26:48 PM
Hillary Clinton is the face of
Corruption, Deceit, and Incompetence!
If she wants to claim her husbands presidency as her own she must take responsibilty for his lying under oath,
taking illegal contributions from Chinese nationals and putting up the intelligence wall between the FBI and CIA, which prevented the 9/11 plot from being discovered.
She must also take responsibility for Sandy Berger stealing national archive documents relating to Bill Clinton and 9/11 and destroying them!
What was he trying to Hide?
Why did Hillary hire him as part of her campaign team?
Posted by: reaganfan | Nov 27, 2007 12:36:27 AM
I WAS WORKING ABROAD DURING BILL CLINTON TIME AND I HAVE TO SAY BILL AND HILL WERE THE FACE OF AMERICA.
OBAMA AND EDWARD ARE REGULAR POLITICIAN AND HILLARY IS POLITICIAN WITH PASSION AND CONVICTION.
4HILLARY!
Posted by: jmaya, iowa | Nov 27, 2007 12:59:31 PM
O please with that theory I mean......... "Where in the world can go and show a picture of MONICA to a person and them not know who she is." The reason Hilary is membered by the rest of the world is because people kept speculating if or when she would leave Bill. Name me one thing she did in the White House that someone could say "this is what she did that changed peoples lives" besides the failed health care plan, that in the end had the opposite effect and made it harder to get a national health care plan.
Posted by: tina | Nov 27, 2007 2:00:23 PM
Judging by the behavior it may have been more convenient for some in the White House that her face was out of the country during those eight years.
Posted by: anthony fiano | Nov 27, 2007 2:44:55 PM
Mrs. Clinton floated around the world in her little bubble cocoon...
Riding elephants and doing photo ops...
Nope not buying the "experience story"...
Not till we see the First Lady records locked up in Arkansas...
Posted by: Cate | Nov 27, 2007 7:24:21 PM
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