In a Cabinet-style setting, surrounded by retired military leaders, Sen. Hillary Clinton said the public should ask whether Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama has met the criteria needed to become the nation’s commander in chief.“I think that since we now know Sen. (John) McCain will be the nominee for the Republican Party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. And I think it’s imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander-in-chief threshold,” the New York senator told reporters crowded into an infant’s bedroom-sized hotel conference room in Washington.
“I believe that I’ve done that. Certainly, Sen. McCain has done that and you’ll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy,” she said.
Calling McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee a good friend and a “distinguished man with a great history of service to our country,” Clinton said, “Both of us will be on that stage having crossed that threshold. That is a critical criterion for the next Democratic nominee to deal with.”Unveiling proposals to refocus the U.S. war effort on Afghanistan, including seeking a commitment from allies to join in increasing troop strength to fight a rebuilding Taliban and other terrorist forces, Clinton noted the Times Square explosion near a military recruitment office was a reminder that it was “imperative that we be vigilant as we continue to face threats at home and abroad” and she promised to provide law enforcement and the military what they need to protect the public.
Clinton has stressed national security in states with a large military presence, asking voters who is best equipped to be commander in chief on the first day of office without needing a training manual. Obama has questioned the depth of Clinton’s military expertise and foreign affairs knowledge from serving as first lady.
“There are certain critical issues that voters always look to in a general election. National security experience (and) the qualifications to be commander-in-chief are front and center. They always have been. They always will be,” she said.
She said she and McCain had traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan together as she repeated a line that surfaced from the campaign trail. She and McCain “bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign, Clinton said, while “Sen. Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002,” stating his opposition to the Iraq war as an Illinois state senator.
Preparing to campaign in Mississippi, which holds its primary on Tuesday, Clinton said she would leave it up to Michigan and Florida leaders to decide upon “the best approach” to resolving the issue of getting the state’s national nominating convention delegates seated in Denver in August. Both delegations are not allowed to be seated under national Democratic rules because both states moved their primaries in advance of Feb. 5.
Clinton “won” both states, although the Democratic contenders did not compete in either state and Clinton was the only major name to appear on the Michigan ballot.
Party leaders in Florida are looking at the potential of a new, but costly, primary to replace the primaries that cost the state all of its Democratic delegates and half of its Republican ones. In Michigan, there is talk of a potential caucus.
“I think it would be a grave disservice to the voters of Florida and Michigan to adopt any process that would disenfranchise anyone therefore I am still committed to seating their delegations and I know they’re working with the Democratic Party to determine how best to proceed,” she said.
“But it is striking that we had two elections where the votes in Florida were of great importance. 1.7 million Floridians turned out to vote. They clearly believe that there votes would count and I think there has to be a way to make them count,” she said.
But Clinton refused comment on a statement made earlier in the day by her chief spokesman, Howard Wolfson, who compared Obama’s more aggressive criticism of her campaign to Whitewater special prosecutor Ken Starr’s activities in probing her husband’s White House.
“I’m not going to respond to that,” she said.
