SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFP) – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought Friday over who would keep America’s children safe, waging a furious national security row, as a moment of truth loomed in their White House battle.
In the most explosive moment yet of the Democratic race, Clinton debuted a negative television ad, dripping with Cold War-style menace, suggesting Obama would be found wanting in a dead-of-night foreign policy crisis.
Her risky gambit came as she fought to keep her campaign alive, before two crunch nominating contests in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday, which could decide whether her faltering presidential quest can go on.
Within hours, the Obama camp had cut their own spot, saying Senator Clinton was wrong in voting to authorize war in Iraq, deepening a row more reminiscent of a Republican general election tactic than a Democratic primary skirmish. In the poignant Clinton ad, a telephone rings insistently over dreamy shots of young children sleeping soundly in their beds.
“It’s 3:00 am and your children are safe and asleep. But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing,” the male narrator says. “Something’s happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call.” The final shot of a business-like Clinton cradling the phone, suggested that only she could keep peril at bay.
Obama, on a roll after winning the last 11 nominating contests in the race to be Democratic Party nominee in November’s presidential election accused Clinton of fear-mongering.
“We’ve seen these ads before. They’re usually the kind that play upon people’s fears and try to scare our votes,” the 46-year-old senator told a rally in Texas.
“The question is, what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone? In fact, we have had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq,” he said.
His response ad used the same cutesy images of sleeping children, but with a different message. “Something’s happening in the world. When that call gets answered, shouldn’t the president be the one, the only one, who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start?” the ad asks.
“In a dangerous world, it’s judgment that matters.” In a valuable boost to Obama, Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, endorsed his colleague. “What matters most in the Oval Office is sound judgement and decisive action. It’s about getting it right on crucial national security questions the first time — and every time.”
“The indisputable fact is Barack Obama was right about Iraq when many of us were wrong. It was a tough call, and the single greatest national security question, and mistake of our time.”
Polls, ahead of the Texas and Ohio showdowns, as well as Tuesday’s elections in Rhode Island and Vermont, showed Obama moving into a strong position. A survey Thursday gave the Illinois senator a 48 to 42 percent advantage over the former first lady in Texas.
In Ohio, the Reuters/C-Span/Houston Chronicle poll conducted by the Zogby Institute showed Clinton ahead of Obama by just 44 to 42 percent, a lead within the poll’s margin of error, making the race too close to call.
The Clinton camp meanwhile attempted to massage expectations ahead of Tuesday’s contests, after admitting previously she needed to win Ohio and Texas to carry on. “Should Senator Obama fail to score decisive victories with all of the resources and effort he is bringing to bear, the message will be clear,” Clinton’s campaign said in a statement, saying Democrats were now having doubts about Obama. Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe shot back: “The Clinton campaign has one task on March 4 and that is to really, seriously erode our (delegate) lead, and they are going to fail miserably on that measure.”
In Indonesian Obama’s former schoolmates are to form a fan club, a report said Saturday. A group of up to 20 old friends of the Democratic frontrunner will form the club in a meeting Saturday to support Obama, whom they fondly remember as Barry, one of the founding members, who identified himself only as Arbi, told detik.com news website.
“The plan to form the club has been around for a while,” Akhmad Solikhin, deputy headmaster of the SDN Menteng 1 school in central Jakarta reportedly said. No information was given on activities planned by the club. Obama was enrolled at the school between 1968 and 1970.
He had said Indonesia left a lasting impression on him during his formative years On Friday, Obama was ahead of Clinton in count of delegates who will formally anoint the nominee, with 1,384 delegates to her 1,279. A total of 2,025 are needed for victory.
On the Republican side, John McCain is already anticipating a White House match-up with Obama, as he was poised to eliminate former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and clinch the Republican nomination on Tuesday.