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Hillary has 'record of winning'
20/08/2007 07:54 - (SA)
Des Moines - Democratic
presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton acknowledged on
Sunday that many voters do not like her, but she blamed it on
years of Republican attacks and insisted she has a record of
winning despite her negatives.
Clinton's remarks came as the eight candidates for the
Democratic presidential nomination debated in the critical
early voting state of Iowa and just days after President George
W Bush's political adviser Karl Rove said the former first
lady was flawed for having high negative ratings.
Clinton and top rival, Illinois Sen Barack Obama, came
under fire early in the debate at Drake University when other
candidates were invited to comment on their perceived
weaknesses - Clinton's high negative ratings in the polls and
Obama's inexperience in foreign policy.
"I don't think Karl Rove's going to endorse me," Clinton told the audience at the debate, which was aired by ABC News' This Week programme. "But I find it interesting he's so obsessed with me. And I think the reason is because we know how to win."
She tackled the issue of her high negative ratings head-on,
saying, "The idea that you're going to escape the Republican attack machine and not have high negatives by the time they're through with you, I think, is just missing what's been going on in American politics for the last 20 years."
Polls have shown Clinton holding double-digit leads over
Obama in their effort to be the Democratic candidate in the
November 2008 election.
Obama criticised over foreign policy
But a recent CBS News poll showed 39% of all voters
nationwide had an unfavourable view of Clinton, while only 20%
viewed Obama negatively. Other polls have had Clinton's negative rating even higher.
Obama, who had a narrow lead in ABC News' Iowa poll, was
criticised for his recent comments on foreign policy, including
saying he would meet with US rivals without preconditions and
suggesting he might authorise attacks inside Pakistan without
that country's permission.
"The only person that separates us from a jihadist
government in Pakistan with nuclear weapons is President
(Pervez) Musharraf," said Sen Chris Dodd of Connecticut. "I thought it was irresponsible to engage in that kind of a
suggestion here."
Clinton said she thought Obama was wrong in saying he was
willing to meet without preconditions in his first year in
office with US adversaries such as Iran.
Obama dismissed much of the criticism as political
maneuvering and quipped "to prepare for this debate, I rode in the bumper cars at the state fair". But he tried to paint
Clinton's criticism as outdated thinking.
'We have different positions here'
"I do think that there's a substantive difference between myself and Senator Clinton when it comes to meeting with our adversaries," he added. "I think that strong countries and strong presidents meet and talk with our adversaries. We shouldn't be afraid to do so. We've tried the other way. It didn't work."
Asked about the recent turbulence in the financial markets
as a result of the crisis over subprime mortgage lending, most
candidates applauded the Federal Reserve for lowering interest
rates for banks but called for steps to protect those facing
the loss of their homes.
New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson called the crisis the
"Katrina of the mortgage-lending industry," comparing it to the hurricane that devastated New Orleans. He, Delaware Sen Joseph Biden and others called for greater transparency and regulation of hedge funds, which are playing a role in the crisis.
The candidates clashed over ending the Iraq war, Richardson
arguing all US forces should be removed and others cautioning
that withdrawal from Iraq would be messy, difficult and
time-consuming.
"We have different positions here," Richardson said. "I believe that if you leave any residual forces, then none of the peace that we are trying to bring can happen."
Former North Carolina Sen John Edwards said withdrawing
US troops would be difficult to do quickly, but "I think we
can responsibly and in a very orderly way bring our troops out
over the next nine or 10 months."
- Reuters
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