Clinton Hits Obama On His Reagan Comments

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.”