Feb 29 2008
Clinton plays fear card
Never let it be said that Hillary Clinton’s folks didn’t learn a lesson or two from Karl Rove and the Republicans…
HOUSTON (AP) - A stark new Hillary Rodham Clinton ad portrays her as the leader voters want on the phone when crisis occurs in the middle of the night, “while your children are safely asleep.” Barack Obama retorted that his Democratic rival already had her “red phone moment” and it helped draw the U.S. into a misbegotten war.
The ad, with its visuals of sleeping children, prompted an immediate denunciation Friday from Obama, who said it’s meant to scare people. The Obama campaign rolled out testimonials from national security supporters that the Illinois senator has the temperament and judgment for perilous times.
Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson contended the ad “speaks to what people really know in their hearts” about his candidate’s experience and, by inference, her opponent’s lack of it. “This is a legitimate matter for a presidential campaign,” he said. “We would be derelict if we didn’t raise it.”
The commercial stirred waters heading into the final weekend of the campaign for Ohio and Texas presidential primaries Tuesday that could make or break Clinton’s campaign.[..]
Obama responded that he called it right on the war, “the most important foreign policy decision of our generation, and that’s the kind of judgment I’ll show when I answer that phone in the White House as president of the United States.”
“We’ve had a red phone moment,” he added. “It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer.”
P.S. The “telephone in the White House” depicted in the ad rang six times before anyone picked it up. If there ever is an emergency that requires calling the President at 3 a.m., I hope someone is paying better attention.
UPDATE: Obama response ad…
Wow. That was quick.
UPDATE #2: Some are comparing the Clinton ad to Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy” ad in 1964. Johnson’s ad aired on the networks (there were only three back then) once before it was pulled by the campaign, but it was viewed by many due to the publicity it generated…
I think a nuclear bomb exploding is just a bit more powerful an image than a telephone ringing at three o’clock in the morning.
Update #3: Video of Senator Obama’s response to the Clinton ad here.
2 Responses to “Clinton plays fear card”
You persist in denying that national security has any relevance to the current condition of the United States. If that were the case, none of the measures taken since Black Tuesday could be justified. So: Why do you think you’re right, and the great majority of the nation, which supports all those measures, is wrong?
The usual leftist response is that nothing terrible has happened to the U.S. since Black Tuesday, therefore the security measures were unnecessary and the fears which propelled them were mistaken. It’s also the most laughable response. Let’s hear yours.
You are wrong, as usual, Francis. Your blind partisanship and rabid hatred of anyone who disagrees with you about anything do not allow you to see any point of view other than your own. Typical for a righty, though sad nonetheless. I have never, ever, said the things you say I said. I fully understand the need for national security. (When did September 11, 2001 become Black Tuesday?)
However, I simply refuse to live my life in constant fear. I am not going to run for cover every time a car backfires or an airplane flies overhead. I am going to continue to fight for the liberties I now enjoy and for which so many others have sacrificed and died. If you choose to roll over and play dead and let others steal your freedoms all in the name of your so-called “Black Tuesday,” that is your choice. Enjoy your life, such as it is or will be. I am definitely enjoying mine.