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 News from Around the Americas | March 2008 
Obama Admits Mistakes
 Tahman Bradley & Talal Al-Khatib - ABC News
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| | Barack Obama: Ken Starr and the Rose Law Firm Enter the 2008 Fray | | |
In reflecting on the results of Tuesday's primaries in Ohio and Texas, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News that his campaign has made some mistakes and that his task now is to answer the charges being leveled at him and to remind voters of why he got into the race.
"I think people started saying, 'well, maybe we want this to continue a little bit further.' They want me to earn this thing and not feel as if I'm just sliding into it. And, you know, I think we made some mistakes, as well, which is inevitable during the course of a long campaign," Obama told ABC's Charles Gibson.
"But what we want to do is make sure that, going forward, that people understand why I got into this race, they understand that when I opposed this war in Iraq from the start, or I decided not to take PAC money or federal registered lobbyist money, that that stands in stark contrast to the way business in Washington has typically been done."
Still maintaining a big advantage in delegates and fundraising, the Obama campaign has stepped up its engagement with Sen. Clinton over the past 48 hours since Super Tuesday II. And now, Obama signaled he's ready to flip the script, personally. "We're going to have to make sure that we're not just letting a bunch of charges go unanswered."
On her taxes, "You know, if Senator Clinton wants, for example, to talk about issues of transparency and vetting, then I think it's important for her to release her tax returns, as I have, and as many presidential candidates in the past have."
On experiences, "I think Senator Clinton, like Senator McCain, believes that life begins when you arrive in Washington. So she discounts all the work that I've done as a community organizer, as a civil rights attorney, as somebody who taught constitutional law, as a state senator, as well as a United States senator. Apparently, to her, that's irrelevant," he said.
"On the other hand, all her experience is relevant, work at the Rose Law Firm or her work as first lady. So that's something, obviously, that we're going to contest," he continued.
You can watch the complete interview Thursday at 6:30 pm ET on ABC's "World News".
Next stop - Wyoming. The Democratic presidential race blazes through the sparsely populated western state on Friday with Sens. Obama and Clinton glad-handing residents in advance of the statewide caucuses on Saturday. Former President Clinton visited Wyoming on behalf of his wife on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the Obama camp's retooled aggressive approach toward Sen. Clinton was meet with equal force. Clinton communications chief Howard Wolfson produced the line of the day. "I for one do not find that imitating Ken Starr is a way to win a Democratic primary election for president," Wolfson told reporters on a conference call.
Obama spoksguy Bill Burton responded by charging that the Clinton campaign is trying to be held to different standard than the one they've held Obama to. "We don't believe that expecting candidates for the presidency to disclose their tax returns somehow constitutes Ken Starr-tactics, but the kind of transparency and accountability that Americans are looking for and that's been missing in Washington for far too long," said Burton
The extra dynamic at play in the Democratic race -- Republican nominee-in-waiting Sen. John McCain -- threw fire at Obama also on Tuesday. At a press avail in Florida, he said he would not ever sit down with Cuban leader Raul Castro and slammed Obama for repeatedly saying he would meet U.S. enemies.
Asked if he believes that Obama is naïve in saying he would do so, McCain said, "I don't know if he is naïve or not, I know he is inexperienced, but that approach is something that I think would only serve to legitimize the person who has a many, many year record -- decades of record of cruelty and oppression to the people of Cuba."
Burton on this front. "John McCain and Hillary Clinton both have the experience of supporting a Bush Cuba policy that has failed America and the Cuban people for fifty years. Instead of empty rhetoric, Barack Obama actually has a strategy to help advance liberty for the Cuban people, starting with lifting all restrictions on family travel and cash remittances and pursuing direct diplomacy. Cuban Americans will be our best ambassadors for change, and will give the Cuban people more space from their regime."
In other news, the Obama campaign announced raising $55 million last month. Sen. Clinton, who brought in $35 million in February, announced raising $4 million online since Tuesday. |
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