Obama: Clinton getting 'a little desperate' and 'a lot more aggressive' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Monday March 3, 2008



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Print This Email This On the eve of the Texas and Ohio primaries, the Barack Obama campaign is "deeply confident," according to ABC News, and sees Hillary Clinton's recent campaign strategy as a sign of desperation. ABC's Terry Moran asked Obama about Clinton's "3 am" ad, which attacks Obama's readiness to respond in a crisis by asking "Its 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?" "I think she has got a little desperate towards the end of this campaign, and I think has been a lot more aggressive in her negative attacks," Obama responded. "And as I pointed out, we've actually had a pretty significant moment in the last several years that called people's judgment into question. and that was the war in Iraq. And she had a lot of time to consider it and made the wrong call. just as Senator McCain did." Obama added that "one of the things that I've known about myself for a long time, and I think that most people who have gotten to know me come to realize, is that in difficult or stressful moments, I don't get rattled." Clinton has described the ad as pointing to "a contrast that needed to be sharpened, because this is a big decision for people. ... I think we are helping to get out the differences and raise some issues that are important." This video is from ABC's Good Morning America, broadcast March 3, 2008.



Transcript via closed captions :: terry moran, anchor of "nightline" has been with barack obama and sat down with the senator in the final hours before the big primary voting. good morning, terry. :: reporter: good morning, chris. columbus, ohio, one of the last, perhaps, front lines in this battle between senators barack obama d hillary clinton. and you spend a little time with barack obama campaign, you can feel this is a candidate and a campaign deeply confident. they think they're on the verge of nailing this down, and they're increasingly focusing on john mccain. of course, hillary clinton isn't going anywhere yet. and barack obama still has a real struggle on his hands. :: hello! :: reporter: after 11 wins in a row, these gr days for barack obama. :: having fun? :: of course i am. :: reporter: and with polls showing obama virtually tied with hillary clinton in ohio and texas after being down by double digits two weeks ago, this candidate smells victory. :: if you win ohio and texas on tuesday, is that -- is it over? is it time for hillary clinton to get out? :: well, i think that will be up to senator clinton. but if we do well in texas and ohio, i think the math is such where it's going to be hard for her to win the nomination. and they'll have to make a decision about how much longer they want to pursue it. :: reporter: but hillary clinton is still coming after barack obama with this ominous ad calling into question his redness for a crisis. :: it's 3:00 a.m., your children are safely asleep. who do you want answering the phone? :: reporter: what do you think of that? :: well, i think she's got a little desperate towards the end of this campaign and i think has been a lot more aggressive in her negative attacks. and as i pointed out, we've actually had a pretty significant moment in the last several years that called people judgment into question. and that was the war in iraq. and she had a lot time to consider it. and made the wrong call. just as senator mccain did. :: reporter: what's the one thing in your life that you think prepares you best for that moment? :: i'm not sure it's one thing. i think it is a matter of temperament. you know, one of the things that i've known about myself for a long time, and i think that most people who have gotten to know me come to realize is that in difficult or stressful moments, i don't get rattled. and i don't get rattled during campaigns. :: reporter: the clinton campaign is also trying to rattle obama by talking about tony rezko, obama's longtime friend who goes on trial for corruption this week. obama bought his house at the same time rezko's wife bought a piece of the same lot. and that's raised a lot of questions. the clinton campaign has called on you to release all of the material in the purchase of your home on rezko's purchase of that lot. will you do it? :: well, look, terry, this has been a story that's been going on for a year and a half. we have seen more than 200 articles written about it. and we in fact released an e-mail just recently from the seller of the home that confirmed that mr. rezko had nothing to do with the price that i got for my house. he got into trouble. that was completely unrelated to me. and the trouble that he's in right now is completely unrelated to anything that i have done. :: reporter: will you release that material? :: there isn't much material to release. :: reporter: e-mails, correspondence? :: we have provided people with all of the information that's needed to make an assessment. terry, we have released all of the information, i don't know what information the clinton campaign is referring to. :: reporter: i think the bottom-line question for voters on this issue might be, you call yourself a reformer? :: right. :: reporter: you talk about your judgment. :: right. :: reporter: and yet, how could you enter into this transaction with a long-term contributor who at that time was known to be under investigation for corruption? what does that say about your judgment? :: well, i think, understand, terry, that this was a transaction that was completely above board. that was a standard real estate transaction. and i've already said that this was a mistake. and i've never made a claim that i've never made mistakes. :: reporter: obama's real concern may not be tony rezko, but sustaining his remarkable run. the crowds, the enthusiasm, the hope. enthusiasm is a transitory thing. is it possible that can could evaporate? are you concerned about that? :: no, no. :: reporter: do you see this rock star quality? :: this is what people have been saying for months. this is what people say when i first announced. they said, it's a flash in the pan. it will fade. i don't have a bunch of romantics here. there are a whole bunch of people in this crowd who have lost jobs, lost health care. they're not in it out of infatuation, they think this is now we're going to change the country and i think they're right. :: reporter: confidence, it's never been in short supply on the obama campaign. one final note, we asked senator obama about the portrayal of him on "saturday night live" by fred arminson. he said it was fine. his wife said he needs to smile more. his is a very somber obama. :: all right. thank you, terry. there will be a lot more on "nightline."



