Clinton "mis-speaks" About Obama's Iraq Record

Even if one were to employ this "Start Counting in January 2005" measurement she's suddenly using as a metric to attempt to prove she was against the Iraq war before Senator Obama was (yes, I know, it sounds fantastic, but work with me here) Clinton did not criticize the war in Iraq first.

Scrambling to support their boss's claim, Clinton campaign officials pointed to a statement Clinton issued on Jan. 26, 2005, explaining her vote to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State."The Administration and Defense Department's Iraq policy has been, by any reasonable measure, riddled with errors, misstatements and misjudgments," the January 2005 Clinton statement said. "From the beginning of the Iraqi war, we were inadequately prepared for the aftermath of the invasion with too few troops and an inadequate plan to stabilize Iraq."

Clinton is correct as quoted, and she certainly knows about misstatements. But, as reported by Jake Tapper on Political Punch, Senator Obama still offered his criticisms of the war in Iraq (directly to Secretary Rice) eight days earlier, during his first meeting with the Secretary of State as a new member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 18th.

Senator Clinton would be well advised to dispense with the tired platitudes, stop her premeditated posturing as we approach the Pennsylvania primaries in an attempt to appear more presidential than Obama and offer specific, concrete concepts about what she'd actually do to address the situation going forward. Voters are seeking more than politics as usual. Even Peter Idusogie, a candidate for congress from Minnesota, has advanced more cogent suggestions regarding the a resolution of our involvement there than Senator Hillary Clinton.

read Tapper's article | digg story