No new scandals, says Clinton

2008-02-12 07:12

Washington - Hillary Clinton on Monday assured American voters there would be no new scandals surrounding her husband ex-president Bill Clinton, as she hit out at rival Barack Obama's soaring rhetorical style.

As she battled to get her stalling White House quest back on track, Clinton was asked whether there were any hidden business or personal scandals about her husband which Republicans could use to derail her administration.

"That is not going to happen. You know, none of us can predict the future, no matter who we are and what we're running for, but I'm very confident that that will not happen," she told ABC television's local affiliate here.

The question, sent by a voter to the Politico website co-sponsoring Clinton's appearance, was one of the few occasions when the turmoil that wracked the Clinton White House has been directly raised in the 2008 campaign.

Her opponent Barack Obama has made broad calls to sweep away the fractured Washington politics of the past few decades, with his new message of hope and change - an implicit partial reference to the Clintons.

The former first lady also used her appearance on ABC on the eve of primary elections in Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland, all of which Obama is tipped to win, to take aim at her rival's hopeful rhetoric.

"You never hear the specifics," she said. "It's all this kind of abstract, general talk about how we all need to get along."

"I want to get along, and I have gotten along in the Senate. I will work with Republicans to find common cause whenever I can, but I will also stand my ground, because there are fights worth having."

Clinton was speaking a day after replacing her campaign manager and following Obama's sweep of five weekend nominating contests, which hiked pressure on her, in the neck-and-neck race for the Democratic nomination.

- AFP