Hillary Hits Obama On Transparency, Style

This story was written by Mike Allen.

Clinton, speaking on WJLA Channel 7 in Washington and Politico.com, also promised there would be no new scandals involving her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

The senator was asked a question from a Politico.com reader in Santa Monica, Calif., who was seeking assurance that "no new business or personal scandal involving Bill Clinton" could erupt if she were in the White House and give fodder to Republicans.

"You know, I can assure this reader that that is not going to happen," she said. "You know, none of us can predict the future, no matter who we are and what we are running for, but I am very confident that that will not happen."

During the half-hour conversation, she said that when she hears Obama's oratory about a more civil politics, she wonder what fights he would avoid.

"You never hear the specifics," Clinton 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 also suggested that she was getting more fair coverage from Fox News than from MSNBC, which recently ran afoul of her campaign when correspondent David Shuster said her daughter Chelsea Clinton had been "pimped" out to help with the election.

"I really am troubled by this pattern of behavior and comments that you hear," she said.

Despite going 0-5 in recent contests, Clinton said she was winning in the big states where Democrats will need to prevail in the fall.

"I think things have gone well," she said. "I've been around a long time - so, you know, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. I've been through all of that. But I feel

Clinton added: "The history-making nature of my candidacy and Senator Obama's candidacy - it's just thrilling to me."

On other issues:

-About Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), she cracked: "Luckily, I agree with my party more than Senator McCain agrees with his party."

-She said the delegates she won in Michigan and Florida should count toward the nomination, even though the Democratic National Committee said the states would be punished for moving their contests so early.

Clinton was the only major Democratic candidate on the ballot in Michigan, and she was the only candidate to fly into Florida the night of the election.

"I think that both Michigan and Florida should count, because these are two states we have to carry," she said. "This is not about so much as the ins and outs of the Democratic National Committee as to whether the Democrats are going to win in the fall.

"In Michigan, all of us had a chance to leave our names on the ballot - I chose to do so," she continued. "My opponents ran a very vigorous campaign to get people to vote 'uncontested.' There was a campaign going on - it was a campaign against me, and I still won a majority.

"I think that the Democratic Party has to be looking very realistically about what it is we're trying to achieve here. We need to win in November. … I think that both in Michigan and in Florida, the Democratic Party should really give these people who came out and voted - they weren't involved in the rulemaking. Give them a chance."

- On Iraq, Clinton called the Bush administration's plan for a "pause" in planned troop drawdowns "such a disheartening piece of news."

"There is no military solution and it is time that the Iraqis understood that," she said after noting that U.S. troops had done everything they have been asked to do.

-WJLA showed back-to-back interviews with Obama and Clinton. Originally, the station had offered a debate, but Obama declined. Obama has accepted one debate in Ohio and one in Texas. Clinton said she hopes he will join her in accepting many more.

"It seems kind of strange because he's always talking about how we need to, you know, let the voters know where we stand," she said. "I think the debate really concentrates attention."

-Clinton said she eats hot peppers because "years ago, I was told that hot peppers would keep me healthy."

- "Jalapenos, banana peppers - any kind of hot peppers," she said. "I eat them raw, I eat them cooked. I don't whether it's for everybody, but it's worked for me.
By Mike Allen