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'Shame On You, Barack Obama'

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By BETH FOUHY, The Associated Press

Published: February 24, 2008

CINCINNATI - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton angrily accused her Democratic rival Saturday of deliberately misrepresenting her positions on NAFTA and health care in mass mailings to voters, adding, "Shame on you, Barack Obama."

Clutching two of Sen. Obama's campaign mailings in her hand, the former first lady said, "Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook."

Obama rejected Clinton's complaints a short while later as a political ploy.

"These are accurate," he said of the mailings. He said Clinton supported NAFTA when it passed during her husband's administration and has herself said she may try to go after the wages of Americans who do not purchase health care under her proposal.

The long-distance clash erupted as the two Democrats campaigned separately across Ohio, one of two big states with primaries on March 4.

Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and some of Clinton's supporters have said she must win both Ohio and Texas next week to keep her hopes alive of winning the party nomination. Recent polls show Ohio is close, and Texas closer.

Clinton's frustration was evident as she criticized Obama in unusually strong terms - a few days after ending a debate by saying she was "honored to be here with" him in a historic race between a black man and a woman.

She said that by his actions, Obama was giving "aid and comfort to the very special interests and their allies in the Republican Party who are against doing what we want to do for America."

"Meet me in Ohio," she said. "Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign." The two are scheduled to debate Tuesday in Cleveland.

Plan Would 'Force' Insurance

Clinton's advisers have repeatedly criticized the mailings, both of which went out in the past several days.

One says her plan for universal coverage would "force" everyone to buy insurance even if they can't afford it. Her plan requires everyone to be covered, but it offers tax credits and other subsidies to make insurance more affordable.

Obama's plan does not include the so-called "individual mandate" for adults, and he has argued that people cannot be required to buy coverage if they can't afford it.

The Illinois senator's plan does include a mandate requiring parents to buy health insurance to cover children.
NAFTA Was Economic 'Boon'

The second mailing, on the North American Free Trade Agreement, quotes a 2006 Newsday article suggesting Clinton thought the agreement had been a "boon" to the economy. NAFTA and other trade agreements are unpopular in Ohio, which has suffered an exodus of blue-collar jobs to other countries in part because of such agreements.

It's a particularly sensitive matter for Clinton, whose husband championed and pushed for passage of the agreement as president. She is counting on the support of white, working class voters in the state.

"I am fighting to change NAFTA," she insisted. "Neither of us were in the Senate when NAFTA passed. Neither voted one way or the other."

Clinton said Newsday had corrected the record about her views on the agreement. Indeed, the paper published a blog item earlier this month saying Obama's use of the word "boon" was unfair.

"Obama's use of the citation in this way does strike us as misleading," the paper said. "The quote marks make it look as if Hillary said "boon," not us. It's an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try to win an office."

As evidence of their concern about the issue, the Clinton campaign released two new ads in Ohio, including one featuring John Glenn - a former astronaut and U.S. senator - saying Clinton would fix trade agreements like NAFTA.

Clinton said she felt good about her prospects in Ohio and Texas but refused to say whether she needed to win both states to stay in the race.

"Let's let the people of Ohio vote. Let's actually have an election and then we can look at the results," she said.

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