Patriotism spat tars latest round of Clinton-Obama battle

[Woodmonkey]

Patriotism spat tars latest round of Clinton-Obama battle


WASHINGTON (AFP) - The campaigns of the Democratic White House hopefuls braced for fierce confrontation Sunday, after former president Bill Clinton appeared to question the patriotism of his wife Hillary's rival, Barack Obama.

In the latest sparring match between the increasingly bitter fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, an Obama aide hit back by likening ex-president Clinton to communist-hunting 1950s senator Joseph McCarthy.

Just weeks before a crucial primary clash in the state of Pennsylvania, which will go a long way to deciding who will face off Republican John McCain in the November election, former president Clinton sparked a new row.

"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country," he told a group of veterans Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."

Clinton was apparently referring to his wife and McCain, leaving Obama out in the cold.

Obama advisor Merrill McPeak, a retired air force general, responded on Saturday saying: "As one who for 37 years proudly wore the uniform of our country, I'm saddened to see a president employ these kind of tactics."

"He of all people should know better because he was the target of exactly the same kind of tactic when he first ran 16 years ago," he told Obama supporters in Medford, Oregon, with the Illinois senator at his side.

McPeak, who was an Air Force chief of staff during the first Persian Gulf war, apparently referred to attacks Bill Clinton sustained in the 1992 campaign from then-president George H.W. Bush, who had raised questions about a trip Clinton took to Moscow in 1970 during the Vietnam war.

McPeak's criticism was even blunter on Friday, when he said, according to television reports, that Bill Clinton's comments "sounds more like McCarthy."

"I grew up, I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it," he said.

Hillary Clinton's campaign swiftly denounced McPeak's comments as "a pathetic misreading" of the president's remarks.

"Comparing Bill Clinton to Joseph McCarthy is an outrage and ought to be retracted," Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said.

The New York senator's campaign further railed on the Obama camp for an "unremitting assault on her credibility and character," accusing him of attacking her to detract from incendiary statements made by his pastor.

Obama's campaign has regained momentum in recent days, starting with an endorsement from the country's only Hispanic governor, New Mexico's Bill Richardson.

He has re-taken the lead in the latest Gallup poll, showing 48 percent of support compared to Clinton's 45 percent, and new figures reveal his financial edge over his rival in the most expensive US presidential election ever.

Obama's campaign out-fundraised and outspent Clinton's campaign in February, and finished the month with significantly more cash in hand as the pair rev up for 10 more nominating clashes.

The latest monthly financial reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show Obama took 55 million dollars in contributions in February, with minimal debt.

New York Senator Clinton raised 35 million, but has outside debts of 3.7 million -- not including the five million dollars of her own money she lent her campaign in January when it was in trouble.

Obama had nearly 39 million dollars on hand at the end of February, compared with 33 million for Clinton, and her campaign acknowledged that all but 11 million was ring-fenced for use in the general election campaign.

Estimates show Obama leading the former first lady in nominating delegates 1,628 to 1,493. But Clinton, who also trails in the popular vote, hopes to build a case for her candidacy with a triumph in the April 22 primary in delegate-rich Pennsylvania, where she leads in opinion polls.

A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination.

The Source