Clinton Ad Accuses Obama

1st\NW Quadrant The Approval Matrix

The six-week Pennsylvania presidential primary drew to a contentious finish with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton invoking images of Pearl Harbor and Osama bin Laden in a television ad that questioned Senator Barack Obama's ability to lead in a time of crisis.

As she sought to make a comeback in the Democratic nominating contest, Clinton warned voters not to "take a leap of faith or have any guesswork" as they cast ballots Tuesday [April 22, 2008]. The Obama campaign accused its rival of employing the "politics of fear."

While Obama spent nearly twice as much money as Clinton on television ads in the final days of the race here, her new commercial used historic images and threatening moments to ask voters whom they could trust in the White House. It did not mention Obama by name, but closed with a question: "Who do you think has what it takes?"

Obama, after three days of criticizing his opponent with some of his sharpest language of the campaign, did not directly engage Clinton. His campaign hastily responded with an advertisement of its own, asking voters: "Who in times of challenge will unite us - not use fear and calculation to divide us?" -- International Herald Tribune