Posted May 23, 2008 to GDN Headlines | Section Home | Print

Obama Strikes Back at Bush's Comments

By Eric Mayes

Special to the NNPA from the Philadelphia Tribune

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) - Sen. Barack Obama sharply rebuked President George W. Bush after the president denounced anyone who would negotiate with "terrorists and radicals" in a speech May 15 in Tel Aviv.

Bush did not mention Obama by name in his comments, made during a speech celebrating the 60th anniversary of Israel, but they were widely seen as a shot at Obama.

"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush said. "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

The White House press office denied that the president was talking about Obama.

The denial did not stop Obama from reacting angrily. In an e-mail statement sent to reporters, he accused Bush of making "a false political attack."

"George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel," said Obama in the statement.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain quickly echoed Bush, criticizing Obama directly.

"I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust," McCain told journalists at a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, according to The New York Times. "That's what I think Sen. Obama ought to explain to the American people.''

The flap came after a week of mixed results for the Obama campaign.

Despite losing by a large margin to Sen. Hillary Clinton in last week's West Virginia primary, Obama picked up the endorsement of three superdelegates and former Democratic opponent Sen. John Edwards.

The next day, Edwards threw his support to Obama saying: "Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I. There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America -- not two -- and that man is Barack Obama."

His endorsement was aimed at uniting the party as Democrats gear up to face Sen. John McCain in the fall. Edwards had 19 delegates when he withdrew from the race. They are not obligated to support Obama but Edwards' endorsement is likely to influence their decision.

The delegate race tightened with Clinton's West Virginia win. According to The Associated Press at Tribune press time, Obama had 1,887 delegates; Clinton had 1,718 delegates. One of the Democrats needs 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination.

Obama continued to lead in the superdelegate count with 290 to Clinton's 273.

Clinton swept through West Virginia by a 63 to 19 percent margin. The victory bolstered her campaign, which recently also won in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The win gave her 20 delegates and netted only 8 for Obama.

Clinton's victory had little effect on national tracking polls, which on Thursday still gave Obama a comfortable lead.

"The field period includes one day of interviewing following the May 13 West Virginia Democratic primary that Clinton won by a landslide. However, Gallup's May 14 results show no immediate movement toward Clinton in national Democratic preferences," wrote Lydia Saad, in an analysis of the numbers.

For the third consecutive day, Obama led Clinton by a 50 to 44 percent margin. That margin was down slightly from a gap of 50 to 43 percent.

Looking ahead to the fall, Gallup showed Obama and McCain neck-and-neck both with 45 percent of voters. If Clinton and McCain face off in the fall, Gallup found Clinton with a 3-point lead. She had 48 percent of voters to his 45. However, the poll's margin of error is 3 points either which means the two are in a statistical tie