Bill Clinton Says Obama Isn’t Ready
By PATRICK HEALY
Former President Bill Clinton made an unusually direct attack Friday night on Senator Barack Obama, one of his wife’s leading rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, suggesting that voters who would support someone with Mr. Obama’s experience were willing to “roll the dice” on the presidency.
Appearing on “The Charlie Rose Show” on PBS, Mr. Clinton repeatedly questioned Mr. Obama’s preparedness for the White House, noting that he took office in January 2005 and became a presidential candidate about two years later. (Mr. Obama was an Illinois state senator before that.)
“When is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?” Mr. Clinton said. At another point, he appeared to compare Mr. Obama to a “gifted television commentator” running for president. “They’d have only one year less experience in national politics” than Mr. Obama, he said.
When asked about Mr. Clinton’s comments Saturday in Waterloo, Iowa, Mr. Obama smiled and read words Mr. Clinton used in 1992 — “the same old experience is irrelevant” — to answer questions about his own presidential candidacy. It is the second time recently Mr. Obama has used that remark to push back against the former president.
“I’ve been involved in government for over a decade,” Mr. Obama said. “The notion that there is a particular kind of experience that he has had or his wife has had that is more relevant, I would dispute. I believe that I have the experience that the country needs right now.”
During the Charlie Rose interview, Mr. Clinton looked agitated at times as he talked about recent campaign problems faced by his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and her tough race against Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest on Jan. 3. At one point, Mr. Rose said that, in his control room, aides to Mr. Clinton were trying to persuade the show’s producers to end the interview.
In Iowa on Monday, Mr. Clinton praised the Democratic candidates as a great field. But on Charlie Rose, he criticized Mr. Obama for making “derisive” comments about Mrs. Clinton, including saying that she had long planned to run for president.
By PATRICK HEALY
Former President Bill Clinton made an unusually direct attack Friday night on Senator Barack Obama, one of his wife’s leading rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, suggesting that voters who would support someone with Mr. Obama’s experience were willing to “roll the dice” on the presidency.
Appearing on “The Charlie Rose Show” on PBS, Mr. Clinton repeatedly questioned Mr. Obama’s preparedness for the White House, noting that he took office in January 2005 and became a presidential candidate about two years later. (Mr. Obama was an Illinois state senator before that.)
“When is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?” Mr. Clinton said. At another point, he appeared to compare Mr. Obama to a “gifted television commentator” running for president. “They’d have only one year less experience in national politics” than Mr. Obama, he said.
When asked about Mr. Clinton’s comments Saturday in Waterloo, Iowa, Mr. Obama smiled and read words Mr. Clinton used in 1992 — “the same old experience is irrelevant” — to answer questions about his own presidential candidacy. It is the second time recently Mr. Obama has used that remark to push back against the former president.
“I’ve been involved in government for over a decade,” Mr. Obama said. “The notion that there is a particular kind of experience that he has had or his wife has had that is more relevant, I would dispute. I believe that I have the experience that the country needs right now.”
During the Charlie Rose interview, Mr. Clinton looked agitated at times as he talked about recent campaign problems faced by his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and her tough race against Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest on Jan. 3. At one point, Mr. Rose said that, in his control room, aides to Mr. Clinton were trying to persuade the show’s producers to end the interview.
In Iowa on Monday, Mr. Clinton praised the Democratic candidates as a great field. But on Charlie Rose, he criticized Mr. Obama for making “derisive” comments about Mrs. Clinton, including saying that she had long planned to run for president.
Seems like I read somewhere else that toward the end of this interview, Bubba was so het up that his hands were shakin' and his face was turnin' red. This shoot out could get plumb interesting the next few weeks.... These primaries have been a long time coming, sure glad they are about here.....
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