Clinton Performs Another Calculating Kerryaoke To Defend Her Iraq War Authorization

Hillary Echoes Sen. John Kerry - Claims "Mistake" Was Trusting President Bush:
In Sunday's Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) Defended Her Vote To Authorize War In Iraq Claiming "It Was A Mistake To Trust George Bush." Clinton: "[I]t was a mistake to trust George Bush that he would do what he told all of us he would do." (Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, CNN/WMUR/Union Leader Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Manchester, NH, 6/3/07)

Defending His Iraq War Vote In 2004, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Said His Mistake Was "To Trust What The President Said" About Iraq. "[O]n C-Span, Kerry responded, 'If you haven't made mistakes, you're not a living human.' By way of an example, he pointed to his own Senate vote, in October of 2002, for the Iraq war resolution. His mistake, he said, was 'to trust what the President said' at the time." (Philip Gourevitch, "Damage Control," The New Yorker, 7/26/04)

Clinton Campaign's Extensive Kerryaoke Catalogue:
January 2007: Clinton Advisor Terry McAuliffe Asserted Her Vote For Use Of Force Was Vote For Negotiations. Terry McAuliffe: "[S]he voted to give the President the authority to negotiate and to have a stick to go over there and negotiate with Saddam Hussein." (NBC's "Today Show," 1/22/07)

Kerry Made A Similar Claim When Announcing His Candidacy In 2003. Sen. Kerry: "I voted to threaten the use of force to make Saddam Hussein comply with the resolutions of the United Nations." (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks At Announcement Of Candidacy, Mount Pleasant, S.C., 9/2/03)

February 2007: Clinton Claimed Use Of Force Vote Was "Cleary Intended" As Support "For Going To The United Nations" And "To Put Inspectors In Iraq." Sen. Clinton: "I have taken responsibility for that vote. It was based on the best assessment that I could make at the time, and it was clearly intended to demonstrate support for going to the United Nations to put inspectors into Iraq." (John DiStaso, "Hillary: I Didn't Vote For War," The [Manchester] Union Leader, 2/10/07)

In Late 2003, Kerry Also Said Use Of Force Vote Was Vote "To Go The United Nations" And Noted Importance Of Getting Inspectors Back In Iraq. Kerry: "I voted to do the responsible thing for America, which was to have a threat of force to hold Saddam Hussein accountable and to go to the United Nations. We would not have had Hans Blix and the inspectors in Iraq were it not for the pressure that we brought to bear." (CBS' "The Early Show," 9/2/03)

May 2007: "Calculating" Clinton Vote "Wasn't Quite A John Kerry Moment" But It "Came Pretty Close." "It wasn't quite a John Kerry moment for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but she came pretty close. As is her tendency, Clinton muddied her stance on funding the Iraq war, the latest test of which mustered just 29 votes in the Senate this week. ... Clinton didn't commit a Kerry-like gaffe -- in 2003 he said he voted for an Iraq funding bill before voting against it -- but her tendency to be coy (calculating?) about her Iraq position caused a stir. " (Editorial, "Playing Coy: Clinton Tap Dances On Iraq Funding," The Oklahoman, 5/18/07)

Clinton And Kerry Voted In Favor Of Deadline For Iraq Withdrawal And Cutting Off Funding For Troops. (H.R. 1495, CQ Vote #167: Motion Rejected 29-67: R 0-47; D 28-19; I 1-1, 5/16/07, Clinton And Kerry Voted Yea)

The Politico's Roger Simon: "When She Talks About Her Iraq Vote, However, She Sounds Closed, Guarded, Calculating And Defensive." (Roger Simon, "Does Hillary Have Something To Be Sorry About?" The Politico, 2/12/07)

---

Tags: Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, Iraq War, John Kerry To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!