Michelle Obama launches attack on ClintonBy Toby Harnden in Las Vegas
19/01/2008
Michelle Obama, who could become America?s first black First Lady, has launched a
scathing attack on her husband?s opponent Hillary Clinton, stating she represents "the same old thing over and over again".
Whereas Barack Obama preaches a message of hope and transcending differences that is more kumbaya than combative, his wife, like him a lawyer and a Harvard graduate, did not hesitate to take his main opponent on in an appearance at a Las Vegas.
Michelle Obama could be crucial in wooing the female vote.
On her 44th birthday, and less than 48 hours before today's crucial Nevada caucuses, Mrs Obama spoke passionately about racial slurs against her husband and the symbolism of having a black family in the White House.
In a fiery comparison between his 2004 Senate campaign and this year's presidential race, she said: "You know what they were saying about him then? They said he was too young. They said he was too inexperienced. They said he should wait his turn.
"They said he couldn't build a political machine to match the might of a family in Illinois that had been running for years. They said he couldn?t raise the money. They said that he was too black. They said that he wasn?t black enough. Sound familiar?
"They said that his name was too funny. They said there was no way that white folks in downstate Illinois and vote for a man named Barack Obama. They said it because when power is confronted by change, they will say anything."
Mrs Obama could be crucial in wooing the female vote that cost her husband the New Hampshire primary last week.
A Zogby poll in Nevada that gave Mrs Clinton a five-point overall advantage found that she led among women by 46 to 36 per cent.
Born into a working-class black family on Chicago's South Side, she could also be a key factor in bringing out black voters for Mr Obama, among whom he led in the Zogby poll by a startling 81 to 16 per cent in Nevada.
The poll was taken at the end of a week that began with a
bitter row over several racially-based comments made by allies of the Clinton campaign.
Obama advisers fear that the row could have damaged their candidates among whites and particularly Hispanics, on whom the Nevada caucuses could hinge.
Mrs Clinton made rare comments about the Monica Lewinsky scandal this week.
In an interview with the talk show host Tyra Banks, she gave an account of her response to her husband's unfaithfulness that could help shore up her support among women.
"I really had to dig down deep and think hard about what was right for me, what was right for my family," she said. "I never doubted Bill's love for me ever, and I never doubted my faith and my commitment to our daughter and our extended family."
Though she never mentioned her by name, Mrs Obama pointedly argued that Mrs Clinton represented a status quo that had done nothing for ordinary people.
"I get confused when people say there are a lot of choices in this race," she said. "There are so many more experienced candidates. My response is, no, that?s not true. You?ve got two choices in this race.
"You?ve got the same old thing over and over again that hasn?t worked for regular folks in my lifetime. And then we have Barack Obama."
At a rally the same night, Mr Obama seemed to take a leaf out of his wife?s book after she had introduced him, drawing
a sharp contrast with Mrs Clinton, suggesting she was not truthful and was "willing to say anything to get elected".In what bordered on a comedy routine, Mr Obama chuckled and the crowd of 300 roared with laughter as he mocked his opponents in Monday?s debate, John Edwards and Mrs Clinton, for their responses to a question about the candidates? biggest weaknesses.
He recounted how he had answered honestly "because I?m an ordinary person" that "I don?t handle paper that well, my desk is a mess" after being given the question first.
"The other two, they say, 'I?m just too passionate about helping poor people' [Mr Edwards], 'I am just too impatient to bring about change in America' [Mrs Clinton]. If I?d gone last, I?d have known what the game was.
"And then I could have said, 'Well, you know, I like to help old ladies across the street. Sometimes they don?t want to be helped. It?s terrible'."
He then
poured ridicule on Mrs Clinton for saying in the debate that she had voted for a bankruptcy bill but "I was happy that it never became law".
Mr Obama could not conceal his mirth as he said: "What does that mean? No seriously, what does that mean? If you didn?t want to see it passed, then you can vote against it! People don?t say what they mean."
He concluded that "you know what I?m saying is true" before turning to those in the audience who still had not made up their minds and telling them: "Undecideds, remember now, remember what I?m saying."
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