Obama Says He Can Unite U.S. 'More Effectively' Than Clinton; talks about future goals

[TeamJordan23]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401939.html

Obama Says He Can Unite U.S. 'More Effectively' Than Clinton
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Drawing a sharp contrast with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama said in an interview that he has the capacity she may lack to unify the country and move it out of what he called "ideological gridlock."

"I think it is fair to say that I believe I can bring the country together more effectively than she can," Obama said. "I will add, by the way, that is not entirely a problem of her making. Some of those battles in the '90s that she went through were the result of some pretty unfair attacks on the Clintons. But that history exists, and so, yes, I believe I can bring the country together in a way she cannot do. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be running."

Consistently trailing Clinton (N.Y.) in national polls, Obama (Ill.) has sought recently to draw more explicit contrasts between his views and what he has portrayed as the conventional thinking and behavior that have caused problems for the country, especially in the rest of the world. He did that again in the interview Monday afternoon, defending himself against criticism from Clinton and other Democratic rivals for a series of statements on foreign policy and arguing that Clinton's foreign policy views risk continued international perceptions of U.S. arrogance.

But he also made a broader argument that more than a change in parties is needed to fix the country's problems. At one point, Obama said he was not singling out Clinton in saying that he is better able to pull the nation together than any of his challengers, but over the course of the 40-minute interview he volunteered a number of contrasts between his views and Clinton's.

"Her argument is going to be that 'I'm the experienced Washington hand,' and my argument is going to be that we need to change the ways of Washington," he said. "That's going to be a good choice for the American people."

Obama said he has become a target for his Democratic rivals because they are determined to paint him as too inexperienced to serve as president and commander in chief. Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) have joined Clinton in questioning Obama's experience, but he focused on Clinton's criticism to explain why he is under attack.

"I think it's very clear what their political strategy is," he said of the Clinton campaign. "They want to project Senator Clinton as the seasoned, experienced hand. I don't fault them for that. That's the strategy they're pursuing, and my response is that what the American people need and what the Oval Office needs right now is good judgment. Experience can be a proxy for good judgment, but it isn't always."

He then repeated what he said during a debate in Chicago last week: "All the people who were on that stage in Chicago talking about their experience and criticizing me for the lack of it were the same people who went along and displayed incredibly poor judgment in going along with a war that I think has been a disaster."

Obama said he welcomed the debate that was touched off by comments he made about his willingness to meet with leaders of hostile nations without preconditions, pursuing al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan if there were actionable intelligence, and ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in such attacks.

"I'm happy to have that debate about what is the relevant experience you need to lead this country moving forward," he said. "It's not going to be a matter of mouthing the conventional wisdom for points on a résumé. It's really going to have to do with the capacity to inspire confidence in the American people to restore a sense of our values and our ideals."

Obama set forth two goals for the coming months. The first is to outline in greater detail the kinds of changes he would make in health care, education, energy policy and national security policy. The second, he said, is to show that his career proves he has the judgment and experience to be president. "If we do those two things, I think that this will be a very competitive election, and already in the early states it is," he said.

[Colobo]

1. BRING IT ON, SKINNY DOG!

[Tellurian]

2. Say What? Bring it!

[draft_mario_cuomo]

3. "Unity"=compromise with right-wing Republicans

Now is the time to fight for real change, not make a series of concessions to the right-wing because of an obsession with "unity." Either the "unity" theme is an election year ploy straight out of the Rove 2000 playbook (where you can also find a "new kind of politics", er, "changing the tone in Washington") or Obama will have to govern from the center, like Bill Clinton, because of the triangulation that "unity" requires.

[TeamJordan23]

6. lol, i love your hatred of Obama. nm

[draft_mario_cuomo]

7. How exactly do you achieve "unity" without making concessions to the people you seek to unite with?

[WCGreen]

4. How long has he been in the race... How long has HC been campaigning...

And John Edwards is still the only one of the top tier candidates who is spelling out consitently what he stands for and what issues are important to his vision of America...

[illinoisprogressive]

5. Obama has new and interesting ideas. shake up the failed cw of the insiders.

[AtomicKitten]

8. Obama's appeal is broad.

He is what he is; that isn't kowtowing to any faction. I don't agree with everything he says, but believe he is the future of the Democratic Party if we can get our sh*t together cohesively to best what is believed to be a done deal in the candidacy of the lovely Mrs. Clinton. I realize people are fully into the 'vote your heart' in the primary, but strategic voting in the primary is what it is going to take this time around.