Clinton Hits Obama On His Reagan Comments

By: Fernando Suarez
Topics: Hillary Clinton

(CBS)

From CBS News' Fernando Suarez:

LAS VEGAS -- Hillary Clinton went after Barack Obama for comments he made this week about the legacy of Ronald Reagan.

"I think it's fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10-15 years in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom," Obama said in an interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure," he continued. "I think part of what's different are the times...I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. ... he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

During a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Clinton said, "My leading opponent the other day said that he thought the Republicans had better ideas than Democrats the last 10 to 15 years. That's not how I remember the last 10 to 15 years."

She continued on with a laundry list of reasons saying, "I don't think it's a better idea to privatize Social Security. I don't think it's a better idea to try to eliminate the minimum wage. I don't think it's a better idea to undercut health benefits and to give drug companies the right to make billions of dollars by giving prescription drugs to Medicare recipients. I don't think it's a better idea to shut down the government and drive us into debt."

During her remarks, Clinton also made a veiled reference to a recent lawsuit in Nevada which allows Vegas casinos to act as caucus sites, something the Clinton campaign says gives the members of Culinary Workers Union - many of whom work in the casinos - a leg up in the caucusing. The union has endorsed Obama.

Some in her campaign, including former President Bill Clinton, say holding caucuses at casinos amount to making some votes count more than others.

"I'll need your help tomorrow in the caucuses," Clinton said at her stop at A and B Printing shop in Las Vegas.

"I hope you'll come out and participate. This is part of the process by which we pick a president. Everybody should be encouraged to participate everybody's vote - their voice should be the same. But we can't do that without your help."

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by hargrove9 January 19, 2008 5:50 PM EST: Hillary must think we''re stupid!

Barack said "the Republicans were the party of ideas," The Hillary distortion was %u201C(Barack) . . . said . . . the Republicans had better ideas . . ." I would call what Hillary said a lie. Barack didn''t even say the Republicans had good ideas, never mind better ideas. As a matter of fact he analyzed their ideas as ". . .just (tapping) into what people were already feeling . . ."
This is not Hillary''s only deception in this campaign . . .

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/248854; Reply to this comment


by PulSamsara January 19, 2008 2:16 AM EST: Who are the defenders of the status quo ? Is that you ?
Reagan did spawn a ''sea change'' in American politics.
Obama hopes to spawn a new ''sea change''. Change based on the ideals of unity - not division (and certainly not modeled after Reagan''s ideas)
How can anyone look at the state of modern politics and the outlook for our country guided by our current stautus quo - how can this ''sea change'' of unified working government not make sense.
Anyone who has paid any attention knows what Obama is speaking of about the Republican Party being guided by ''ideas'' for the past 15 years... you don''t have to subscribe to those ideas but they are, none the less, ideas. The same could be said of the Democratic party of the late 50''s and into the 60''s - Kennedy Idealism. Both of these movements ran their course and were watered down by time. That explains the state of the Democratic Party in the 70''s and 80''s. It also explains the ''washed out'' state of the Republican Party today.
--- Why do ''we'' resent being talked to as if we had the capacity for knowledge. That is how Barack Obama is speaking to America... as if ''we can'' understand. Why would we sell ourselves short and believe that we are past our zenith... that we are a declining people. Come on people... Now is the time to show some strength of character.

Barack Obama for President of the UNITED States of America.; Reply to this comment


by rkref January 19, 2008 1:38 AM EST: I want a refund!

http://roadkillrefugee.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/obama-cites-reagan-as-his-inspiration-disses-president-clinton/; Reply to this comment


by rkref January 19, 2008 1:37 AM EST: I want a refund!

http://roadkillrefugee.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/obama-cites-reagan-as-his-inspiration-disses-president-clinton/; Reply to this comment


by jaykay221 January 18, 2008 10:57 PM EST: SO OBAMA IS GOOD AT PLAYING THIS GAME YOU KNOW. HE''S NO DUMMY. HE KNEW THAT PRAISING REAGAN WAS GOING TO HAVE TWO EFFECTS A) GAIN SOME ADMIRATION AND SUPPORT FROM REPUBLICANS/INDEPENDENTS, B ) DRIVE HIS OPPONENTS TO USE THIS ''EASY MEAT'' AGAINST HIM, BY SLAMMING REAGAN AND POLARIZING THEMSELVES TO ISOLATIONIST HARDCORE DEMOCRATIC POSITIONS, THUS VALIDATING HIM AS THE ONLY MAJOR CANDIDATE ON THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET TO HOLD ANY HOPE OF UNITING THE PEOPLE.

WELL PLAYED MR OBAMA; Reply to this comment


by jaykay221 January 18, 2008 10:41 PM EST: Smart move by Obama. He gave fair acknowledgment to Reagan%u2019s ability to mobilize and the ideas of Republicans - not approving end products, just giving fair acknowledgment. This is smart because any Democrat who does not avidly ''hate Republicans'' and who sees this as a fair call comment will not abandon him. Independents will see someone taking a weighted view on things and think ''maybe this is someone I can get behind''.
It%u2019s also true to Obama''s message of uniting people. You don%u2019t alienate half the populace by ignoring/disrespecting their heros. For blue leaning Republicans, here is a guy who does not demonize their hero and has shown respect and balance). That doesn''t mean Obama = closet Republican, rather he is trying to transcend the Republican/Democrat divide, get people to work together around tough issues that they need to come together on, uniting Americans.
Given a majority of Democrats are aligned to Clinton, unable to see past preconceptions of inevitability and having built up a fairy tale of the Clinton years when juxtaposed with the Bush Admin, and with growing short to keep getting Obama''s message out, increasing shifts we have already seen, then what Obama has effectively done is stack the deck with wild cards in the form of blue leaning Republicans and independents. This may be the unexpected edge that wins the day.; Reply to this comment


by susan10001-2009 January 18, 2008 10:19 PM EST: A much more insightful piece can be found in The Guardian, Remembering Reagan by Richard Adams. Summary: "In making historical parallels, Barack Obama came not to praise Ronald Reagan but to bury the Clintons." It also contains this, as a matter of interest: "Ronald Reagan of course died in 2004. And when he did, he was praised "for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people", a statement issued by - you guessed it - Bill and Hillary Clinton."
Arg

Steven, KDH, N.C. (Sent Friday, January 18, 2008 5:48 PM); Reply to this comment


by susan10001-2009 January 18, 2008 10:17 PM EST: A much more insightful piece can be found in The Guardian, Remembering Reagan by Richard Adams. Summary: "In making historical parallels, Barack Obama came not to praise Ronald Reagan but to bury the Clintons." It also contains this, as a matter of interest: "Ronald Reagan of course died in 2004. And when he did, he was praised "for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people", a statement issued by - you guessed it - Bill and Hillary Clinton."
Arg

Steven, KDH, N.C. (Sent Friday, January 18, 2008 5:48 PM); Reply to this comment


by jsilver2th January 18, 2008 8:11 PM EST: Well it was only weeks ago Bill said Hillary was going to send Bush 1 on a worldwide good will tour when she got back in the White House so go figure- they just wish they''d have given the speech first...; Reply to this comment


by kishaann January 18, 2008 5:57 PM EST: Its amazing she feels this way.. Her husband seems to agree with Senator Obama

Bill Clinton
"Hillary and I will always remember President Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people, and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere," their statement said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.health/index.html

Next time she needs to check with her husband before she says anything...; Reply to this comment