Daily News (New York)
December 4, 2007 Tuesday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION
HIL LETS GO AT OBAMA 'People want a doer, not a
talker,' she sneers; 'Barack doesn't need lectures,'
his team replies
BYLINE: BY HELEN KENNEDY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 19
LENGTH: 435 words
DES MOINES - Even as ice grips Iowa, the Democratic fireworks just keep heating
up.
Hillary Clinton stepped up her attacks on rival Barack Obama's character and record
yesterday, suggesting he doesn't have the nerve to take on tough issues.
A day before the two candidates meet face to face at another Democratic debate,
this one sponsored by NPR, she accused Obama of ducking votes on abortion and
Iran, seeking a trillion-dollar tax hike and raising the retirement age for Social
Security.
"I don't think people want a lot of talk about change. I think they want someone with
a real record: a doer, not a talker," she said. "They don't want false hope, they want
real results."
Obama did not reply directly, but his campaign spokesman said, "Barack Obama
doesn't need lectures in political courage from someone who followed George Bush
to war in Iraq."
The Obama team also set up a Web site to document Clinton's slams and sent out a
fund-raising e-mail, urging supporters to donate money "to make them think twice
about these attacks."
On Sunday, when a Des Moines Register poll trumpeted Obama moving into the lead
in Iowa, Clinton launched what she called a month-long campaign to inform Iowans
about Obama, starting with harsh comments questioning his character and courage.
In a speech in Clear Lake yesterday, she laid into him again with relish.
She bashed Obama for skipping a Senate vote on Iran, a vote she said called for
"aggressive diplomacy." He has criticized her yea vote, comparing it with the 2002
vote authorizing war on Iraq.
"If he really thought it was a rush to war, why did he rush to campaign and miss the
vote?" she asked.
And she picked on Obama's tenure in the Illinois Legislature, where lawmakers can
vote "present" instead of yes or no on a bill. Obama, she noted, voted "present" on
seven abortion measures.
"A President can't vote 'present.' A President can't pick and choose which challenges
he or she will face," she said.
Obama's camp passed out statements from Illinois pro-choice advocates saying
Obama's "present" votes were not a failure of nerve but a normal part of the
legislative process.
Obama shrugged off questions at a Des Moines event but took a swipe at Clinton's
suggestion that a kindergarten essay he titled "I want to be President" shows he's
more calculating than he pretends to be.
"It's silly season. I understand she's been quoting my kindergarten teacher," he said.
Clinton's attacks came as an Iowa State University poll found her at 31%,
John Edwards at 24% and Obama at 20%. And a Pew poll had Clinton at
31%, Obama at 26% and Edwards at 19%.
hkennedy@nydailynews.com