The Wall Street Journal-20080123-Campaign -08- Washington Wire - Insight and Analysis From WashWire-com
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Campaign '08: Washington Wire / Insight and Analysis From WashWire.com
Clinton Answers Obama on Husband's Role
Sen. Hillary Clinton called a surprise news conference yesterday to discuss the economy, but the session quickly turned to the testy Democratic debate held in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Monday night.
"I think what we saw last night is that Sen. [Barack] Obama is very frustrated," Mrs. Clinton said when asked about her fiery exchanges with the Illinois senator. "What has happened in the last few days, particularly in New Hampshire and Nevada, has convinced him to adopt a different strategy. He clearly came last night looking for a fight. He was determined and launched right in."
Among other things, the two have clashed over President Bill Clinton's role in his wife's campaign. Mr. Obama has said that the former president has inaccurately attacked his record, a claim Mrs. Clinton defensively denied yesterday.
"I really find these questions to be just totally off topic, off- base, and I'll tell you why," she said when asked whether her husband is interfering, and whether he will support the Democratic Party if Mr. Obama is the nominee. "Each one of us who was on that stage last night have incredibly dedicated, passionate support from our spouses," Mrs. Clinton said. "But that has absolutely nothing to do with a unified Democratic Party around a nominee and full support of whoever our Democratic president will be. That's just the way it works."
The news conference was intended to give Mrs. Clinton a platform to discuss the stock market's drop and the Federal Reserve's emergency rate cut. "This is a global economic crisis," she said.
Mr. Obama, in an economic speech of his own in Greenville, S.C., hit back. "We can't afford a president whose positions change with the politics of the moment," he said. "We need a president who knows that being ready on Day One means getting it right from Day One."
-- Amy Chozick
McCain Taps Nixon Circle
Sen. John McCain announced his New York "leadership team," which includes some of President Richard Nixon's relatives and close advisers.
Mr. McCain's state chairman is Ed Cox, who wed Nixon's daughter, Tricia, in a 1971 Rose Garden ceremony. The campaign's executive director is Nixon's grandson, Christopher Nixon Cox. And honorary co- chairmen are Nixon's secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, and his commerce secretary, Pete Peterson, along with former Reagan administration Deputy Secretary of State and former Goldman Sachs Chairman John C. Whitehead.
Ed Cox, a New York lawyer, explored a run against Sen. Hillary Clinton in her 2006 Senate re-election but withdrew when then Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, endorsed another candidate.
Mr. McCain headed to New York last night, hoping to leverage his South Carolina primary win Saturday into campaign cash.
Like all the candidates, he needs to sweep up dollars as the race for the nomination heads into expensive media markets such as Florida and the "Super Tuesday" states
-- June Kronholz and Alex Frangos
