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Clinton, Obama Trade Fresh Barbs

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By NEDRA PICKLER and MIKE GLOVER, The Associated Press

Published: January 31, 2008

DENVER - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency would be a step back to the past, turning her husband's image of a bridge to the future against her. The former first lady decried the tenor of his comments in an interview with The Associated Press.

"I know it is tempting," Obama said, "after another presidency by a man named George Bush, to simply turn back the clock and to build a bridge back to the 20th century.

"... It's not enough to say you'll be ready from Day One; you have to be right from Day One," the Illinois senator said in Denver in unmistakable criticisms of Clinton, who often claims she is better prepared to govern, and her husband, who pledged during his own presidency to build a bridge to the 21st century.

Within hours, Hillary Clinton pushed back - and got in her own dig.

"That certainly sounds audacious, but not hopeful," said Clinton, in a play on the title of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope." "It's not hopeful and it's not what we should be talking about in this campaign," Clinton said, suggesting that Obama was abandoning the core of his campaign.

"I would certainly, through you, hope we could get back to talking about the issues, drawing the contrasts that are based in fact that have a connection to the American people," she said.

In his speech, Obama depicted Clinton as a calculating, poll-tested, divisive figure who will only inspire greater partisan divisions as she sides with Republicans on issues such as trade, the role of lobbyists in politics and national security.

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