Obama: The Gloves Come Off

Putting up his dukes with the Clintons
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2008 6:42 AM CST
Obama: The Gloves Come Off
Chelsea Clinton and Michelle Obama both attended Bible Way Church of Atlas Road in Columbia, S.C., Sunday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)   (Associated Press)

Barack Obama is ratcheting up the aggression in his campaign, lashing Bill and Hillary Clinton both for “unbelievable falsehoods” about his stance on Iraq and his praise for Ronald Reagan. The new tone was evident in appearances yesterday and in an interview aired this morning on "Good Morning America" in which he said the former president "has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling.”

He vowed, going forward, to "directly confront Bill Clinton when he's making statements that are not factually accurate.” Obama, who claims to be less divisive than other candidates, risks losing credibility if he continues to pursue a war of words with the Clintons, Politico notes. But his chief strategist tells Politico the campaign should have hit back harder in Nevada. "We need to be even more aggressive in calling out what are shameless falsehoods and distortions." (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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