Clinton: Obama 'Irresponsible and Naive'

[IChing]

By RICK KLEIN
July 24, 2007



Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said today that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, her chief rival for the Democratic nomination, made comments that were "irresponsible and frankly naive" when he said in Monday night's debate that he would meet with leaders of rogue nations during his first year in office.

Clinton's response, made in an interview with an Iowa newspaper, marks the sharpest exchange to date between the top two Democratic candidates for president — and the first time Clinton has explicitly attacked another Democratic candidate.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3409544&page=1

[Jax]

1. Clinton, self serving and corporate kiss ass n/t

[Larkspur]

17. Agree

[cynatnite]

2. Like her or not...she was correct in her response.

She hit a home run on that one.

[peacebird]

6. so not talking with our enemies is the solution? I mean - it's worked so well this far - right?

:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Actually, she said she would talk to them.

:shrug:

[cynatnite]

10. She didn't say that...

She said preparation needed to be made first by using high level envoys, knowing what the discussions would be about, planning and all that. The questioner asked if any of them would meet certain leaders anywhere, anytime one on one. She didn't say no...she said that work would have to be done beforehand.

[killbotfactory]

26. The problem is that every candidate would do the necessary groundwork

Implying that Obama wouldn't comes off as arrogant to me.

[killbotfactory]

24. She tore down a strawman.

Apparently that impresses people.

Her stance on the issue of meeting with our "enemies" is not substantially different than Obama. She simply added in some qualifier about doing "diplomatic groundwork" before doing so and not specifying within a year, as if Obama's administration would not have.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. That's rich.

Didn't Clinton give pretty much the same answer?

[MonkeyFunk]

4. She didn't say Obama was irresponsible and naive

she said his comments on that one topic were.

[Madspirit]

5. I Don't Support Either of These People

I will vote for either of them if they become our nominee but I don't really care for either. Hillary is too conservative for me and Obama brings god into the equation far too often for me. That alone would make me support her over him. I will vote Kucinich in the primary and for the nominee in the general...

k&r..

Lee

[IChing]

9. I don't either ..I just took the headline & story how ABC framed it.

I wonder for you all that watch the evening news networks
if this will be the top story vs Gonzo's self devastating testimony?
They love crap like this.

[Grandrose]

8. Gloves off?

Why now....presumed leader according to all polls and so early in the primaries?:shrug:

[Madspirit]

13. Umm...maybe it's what she actually thought...n/t

[cynatnite]

14. It's a legitimate attack on an opponent...

over a policy question. If she hadn't said anything, I would wonder why she isn't making hay out of it.

[Firespirit]

11. I see

Let's not negotiate with North Korea about their nuke program. Or Iran. Let's not talk with Syria about the Middle East situation. What should we do, then? Bomb the shit out of them instead, Hil? This is a serious question, what would she advocate instead of talking to them?

What has happened to her? Who on earth is she trying to reach by advocating neocon points of view? Bill, for all his faults as a free market economics advocate, at least understood diplomacy.

[cynatnite]

15. That is not what she said

She said high level planning would have to go into it.

[Firespirit]

18. Why are you defending this?

Either way, it's indefensible.

IF she agrees with the premise that one must use diplomacy, why make an attack on Obama for expressing the same point of view? Does she honestly think Obama would unilaterally invite the Iranian president over for tea and idle chat? Of course not. It was just a slam for no reason, which is fast becoming her trademark.

IF she does not agree with the premise of diplomacy, then it is a neocon viewpoint.

[cynatnite]

19. Obama was wrong and she was right...

I like both her and Obama and both would make fine presidents, IMO. But the fact is that a lot of groundwork has to be laid before a president of the US meets with the leader of a nation we're not on good terms with. It's not like getting together for lunch.

Diplomacy isn't the simplistic manner that Obama laid out.

[Firespirit]

20. Please re-read my post.

Hillary is condescending and arrogant to imply that Senator Obama would (as I put) invite the Iranian president over for tea and idle chat. And it is insulting to suggest that Obama doesn't know about the necessities of diplomacy.

This is just Hillary being an insufferable know-it-all and seizing any opportunity to attack her opponents. It's what she did to Kerry instead of defending him against the right-wing smear machine in the wake of the Iraq joke. It's what Carville, her advisor, did with Howard Dean after the election. Obama isn't even my first choice, but since Hillary and her people seem determined to willfully misread others' comments, I would trust Obama with diplomatic efforts far before I'd trust her.

[cynatnite]

21. I prefer a know-it-all in the WH...

If Obama knew it, then he shouldn't have said he'd be willing to meet with dictators without preconditions.

Hillary gave an intelligent and reasonable answer.

[AndreaCG]

22. Obama's been in the Senate 2 1/2 years

Clinotn's been it for 6 1/2 yeears, plus 8 years of tutelage as Bill's first lady, who did make numerous (if less formal) diplomatic missions as First Lady.

I go with Clinton here.

[killbotfactory]

25. Exactly

Hillary is condescending and arrogant to imply that Senator Obama would (as I put) invite the Iranian president over for tea and idle chat. And it is insulting to suggest that Obama doesn't know about the necessities of diplomacy.

[w13rd0]

12. Irresponsible and frankly naive?

You don't make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.

Unless of course Senator Clintons interest is in perpetuating needless, ill-conceived wars.

[Firespirit]

16. I wonder if that's EXACTLY what her interest is

Hasn't she said she'd leave a military presence in Iraq to protect "U.S. interests"? By what right? A truly sovereign government can order them out.

[alarimer]

23. I think Obama has a good idea there

I mean, not talking to "rogue nations" has not worked very well so why not try engaging them?

[undeterred]

27. She's very well coached.

Is that really coming from her?