Clinton Goes After Obama on Health Care

From CBS News' Fernando Suarez:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- During her first official campaign visit to Rhode Island, Hillary Clinton continued to criticize Barack Obama, taking aim at his experience and hitting him hard on his health care plan.

“Of all of our differences, the one that is just inexplicable is his refusal to put forth a plan for universal health care and his continuing attacks on my plan to do so," she said. "Senator Obama says one thing in speeches and his campaign does something else.”



“I don’t understand how someone can want to be our Democratic nominee and not be committed to universal health care," Clinton said.

“John Edwards had a plan, I had a plan, Chris Dodd had a plan, Dennis Kucinich had a plan, Bill Richardson had a plan, because we’re Democrats we stand for the principle that every single person should have quality affordable health care!”

Clinton’s comments come one day after she accused Obama and his campaign of purposefully sending out mailings that distort Clinton’s health care plan. A visibly angry Clinton scolded Obama yesterday saying “Shame on you, Barack Obama” for putting out the mailings.

Clinton, who spoke before a crowd of several thousand supporters at Rhode Island College, continued hammering away the point that Obama lacks the experience to be commander-in-chief on “day one.”

“The next president will walk in there and before the day is out will have to start tackling these big problems.” Clinton went on to mention the recent problems in Pakistan, Cuba and the turmoil in Serbia saying all those problems happened in just “one week, and our president needs to be able to handle each and every one of those.”

Clinton warned that voters in Rhode Island should be careful when choosing the next president, reminding them that it has been a while since the United States elected a wartime president.

“We haven’t had many wartime elections. And I think it is important that we do not lose sight of what it means to be a electing a president in the midst of not just one, but two wars,” Clinton said drawing applause form the crowd.

Clinton added, “None of the problems we face will be easily solved. I can stand up here and say, ‘Let’s get everybody together, let's get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.' Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions how hard this thing is going to be. You are not going to waive a magic wand and have special interest disappear.”

Before arriving to Rhode Island, Clinton decided to visit with the press cabin aboard her campaign plane after some eager photographers took to decorating the rear of the aircraft with balloons and other campaign paraphernalia.

"I actually came back to see the photogs and the camera guys. I wanted to get a little time with them," Clinton said cutting off questions from reporters who stopped Clinton on her way.

Clinton was asked about form Green Party and Reform Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader joining in the current 2008 race to which Clinton said, "Obviously it is not helpful to who our Democratic nominee is. But its a free country and I don't know what party he will run on ... his being on the Green Party prevented Al Gore from being the greenest president we could ever have and I think that was really unfortunate."

Clinton soldiers on, into a darkening horizon

To her longtime friends, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sounds unusually philosophical on the phone these days. She rarely uses phrases like “when I’m president” anymore. Somber at times, determined at others, she talks to aides and confidants about the importance of focusing on a good day’s work. No drapes are being measured in her mind’s eye, they say.



And Mrs. Clinton has begun thanking some of her major supporters for helping her run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“When this is all over, I’m really looking forward to seeing you,” she told one of those supporters by phone the other day.

Mrs. Clinton has not given up, in her head or her heart, her quest to return to the White House, advisers say. But as resolute as she is, she no longer exudes the supreme confidence that was her trademark before the first defeat, in Iowa in January. And then there were more humbling blows, aides say: replacing her campaign manager on Feb. 10, then losing the Wisconsin primary and her hold on the women’s vote there last Tuesday.

Cold, hard political realism

If she is not temperamentally suited to reckon with the possibility of losing quite yet, advisers say, she is also a cold, hard realist about politics — at some point, she is known to say, someone will win and someone will not.

“She has a real military discipline that, now that times are tough, has really kicked into gear,” said Judith Hope , a friend and informal adviser to Mrs. Clinton, and a former chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party. “When she’s on the road and someone has a negative news story, she says, ‘I don’t want to hear it; I don’t need to hear it.’ I think she wants to protect herself from that and stay focused.

“That said, she knows that there will be an end,” Ms. Hope said. “She is a very smart woman.”

Over take-out meals and late-night drinks, some regrets and recriminations have set in, and top aides have begun to face up to the campaign’s possible end after the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4. Engaging in hindsight, several advisers have now concluded that they were not smart to use former President Bill Clinton as much as they did, that “his presence, aura and legacy caused national fatigue with the Clintons,” in the words of one senior adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity to assess the campaign candidly.

The campaign’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, and its communications director, Howard Wolfson , have expressed frustration with the difficulty of “running against a phenomenon” in Senator Barack Obama ; their attacks have not stopped Mr. Obama from winning the last 11 contests. Some aides said Mr. Penn and the former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, had conceived and executed a terribly flawed campaign, something Ms. Solis Doyle disputes. Both she and Mr. Penn have been especially criticized as not planning a political strategy to compete in the primaries after Feb. 5.

“I do believe we built a good organization — 700 people, $100 million, nationwide offices, and a strong base of support and endorsements that helped us win big states like California and New Jersey,” Ms. Solis Doyle said in an interview. “Every time people have written us off, like after Iowa, we’ve come back.”

Comeback less likely?



There is a widespread feeling among donors and some advisers, though, that a comeback this time may be improbable. Her advisers said internal polls showed a very tough race to win the Texas primary — a contest that no less than Mr. Clinton has said is a “must win.” And while advisers are drawing some hope from Mrs. Clinton’s indefatigable nature, some are burning out.

Morale is low. After 13 months of dawn-to-dark seven-day weeks, the staff is exhausted. Some have taken to going home early — 9 p.m. — turning off their BlackBerrys, and polishing off bottles of wine, several senior staff members said.

Some advisers have been heard yelling at close friends and colleagues. In a much-reported incident, Mr. Penn and the campaign advertising chief, Mandy Grunwald, had a screaming match over strategy recently that prompted another senior aide, Guy Cecil, to leave the room. “I have work to do — you’re acting like kids,” Mr. Cecil said, according to three people in the room.

Others have taken several days off, despite it being crunch time. Some have grown depressed, be it over Mr. Obama’s momentum, the attacks on the campaign’s management from outside critics or their view that the news media has been much rougher on Mrs. Clinton than on Mr. Obama.

And some of her major fund-raisers have begun playing down their roles, asking reporters to refer to them simply as “donors,” to try to rein in their image as unfailingly loyal to the Clintons.

Clinton's Wisconsin goal today: make up lost time

Sen. Hillary Clinton greets voters following a rally at St. Norbert College February 18, 2008 in De Pere, Wisconsin on primary eve. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

by Rick Pearson

DE PERE, Wis.—They say that there’s no do-overs in politics, but that’s exactly what Hillary Clinton is trying to do today—redoing a series of appearances originally scheduled for Sunday but canceled due to ice and snowy weather.

As light snow began to grow heavier shortly before 7 a.m. in Milwaukee, the New York senator embarked on a President’s Day campaign schedule that is supposed to trek from near Green Bay to Wausau to Eau Claire and on to Madison.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. By the time she took the stage at St. Norbert College outside Green Bay, she had originally figured to be campaigning in Ohio instead.

In Wisconsin, the Clinton campaign is hoping to at least finish competitive with rival Sen. Barack Obama in the ever-crucial convention nominating delegate count, if not pull off an upset in the Illinois senator’s neighboring state.

Clinton, seeking to acquire a populist-economic mantle previously held by former contender John Edwards, also is borrowing from the former North Carolina senator’s campaign playbook.

Clinton today unveiled “Solutions for America,” Clinton’s “economic blueprint for the 21st Century,” a compendium of previously stated positions on trade, economic policy and the home foreclosure crisis.

Clinton Shifts to Texas; Aide Exits

Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from El Paso, Texas.

Supporters greet Clinton at a campaign stop in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday night. Photo: Associated Press

Hillary Clinton’s deputy campaign manager resigned today as part of a wider shakeup inside the campaign that began Sunday when campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was replaced.

In an email sent to staff today, Mike Henry resigned, saying that the campaign needs to move quickly to build a new leadership team. Henry was hired by Solis Doyle and had been involved in early strategy decisions. He became known for a leaked memo he sent early in the campaign that suggested that Clinton skip the Iowa caucus.

“As someone who has managed campaigns, I share the unique understanding of the challenges that the campaign will face over the next several weeks,” Henry said in the email.

The news came just as Clinton fell behind rival Barack Obama in the states and Washington, D.C., that held contests today. With 74% of the votes counted in Virginia, Obama had 63% to Clinton’s 36%. Obama is also the projected winner in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Clinton didn’t stick around the Potomac area for the results to come in. Instead, she hopped an afternoon flight to Texas where she held a rally at the University of Texas in El Paso. The Clinton campaign has made the strategic decision to focus its efforts on winning delegate-rich Texas and Ohio, which go to the polls on March 4.

“I want to make sure every American who works hard has a minimum wage of at least $9.50,” she told the roaring crowd of more than 12,000 mostly Hispanic voters, shrugging off tonight’s results.

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