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Recent Editorials |
Obama Tests Anti-Clinton Jabs in San Franby Josh Gerstein
One night before another nationally-televised debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Obama was in San Francisco testing out some anti-Clinton rhetoric at a fundraiser/rally with thousands of his supporters. In a 35-minute speech, Mr. Obama took swipe after swipe at Senator Clinton, but never actually mentioned her by name.The edgiest and perhaps riskiest of these attacks came when he spoke of problems, like health care, "that were festering long before George Bush ever took office, [under] Democratic and Republican administrations.....Problems that were talked about year after year after year after year." "In this election, running the same old textbook, conventional, by the numbers, Washington campaign, just won't do," Mr. Obama said. He also railed against "triangulating and poll testing positions." The excited crowd, many of whom had waited more than two hours to see the Illinois senator, seemed to love the anti-Clinton references. Many of the jibes were first rolled out by Mr. Obama over the weekend at a major political dinner in Iowa. The suggestion that the Clinton administration was in important respects a failure is not without risk. Many Democrats now view President Clinton's terms in office as the good ol' days and may not buy into Mr. Obama's implication that Mr. Clinton and by extension Mrs. Clinton let problems fester on their watch. The raucous crowd was in the thousands and at one point the lines to enter the downtown auditorium strecthed for a total of 8 city blocks. "it's insane," one woman standing near the end of one line exclaimed. The snaking lines were a measure both of interest in Mr. Obama (some contingents came from as far as Sacramento) and of the security measures the Secret Service has in place at his events. Of course, if Mr. Obama, who is in some respects running to Mrs. Clinton's left, cannot draw a decent crowd in the notoriously liberal Bay Area, he might as well fold up his tent. Mrs. Clinton is not conceding Northern California to Mr. Obama. In fact, she'll be back in San Francisco on Sunday for fund-raising and maybe some other activities. Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Obama was at the Googleplex, which is about 40 miles south of San Francisco. My story on his visit there is available here.Related Topics: Dem Primary |
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