Dec 20, 2007 10:20 pm US/Eastern
AP Interview: Obama Pans Campaign Tone
ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ―
Democrat Barack Obama said Thursday that the tone of the
presidential campaign has soured, but insisted he and his wife have created a
bubble around their two young daughters to protect them.
In recent weeks, Obama has faced criticism from
his chief rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. One of her top advisers resigned after
suggesting Obama would be vulnerable to questions about his use of illegal
drugs as a teenager. A Clinton
surrogate repeated the falsehood that Obama attended a "secular
madrassa" as a youth. And he and
Clinton are engaged in a mail contest about their health care plans.
"So far, I think, attempts to go negative
in a way that's not policy-based have backfired on the people who have gone in
that direction," Obama said during a brief interview with The Associated
Press after a town hall-style meeting at an American Legion hall.
"If people are arguing about policy,
that's part of politics and that's fair," said Obama, an Illinois senator.
Obama said campaign ads focused on policy, such
as his spot criticizing Clinton's
universal health care plan, are fair game and he will be aggressive about
making such comparisons. While not pleasant, he said he can't fault his rivals
for them.
"I would distinguish between ads that I
would say maybe mischaracterize my positions but had to do with policy, versus personal
attacks or attempts to go at my character or those things. In which case, I will answer them swiftly and
truthfully if they're false and trust in the voters," Obama said.
The back-and-forth between Obama and Clinton
has not affected his daughters, Obama said. The girls, Malia and Sasha, have appeared
with their parents at some campaign events and were included in a holiday
campaign commercial Obama released this week.
"Part of the reason that Michelle and I were
comfortable doing
this is our daughters are young enough. They're not watching
the
news," Obama said. "They're watching Nickelodeon.
You know,
they're 9 and 6. They're watching 'Hannah Montana."'
When his daughters have seen any negative
coverage, Obama said the girls go straight to him or their mother, Michelle.
"We've got a great relationship with our
girls where if something bothers them, they ask us. They ask us questions about
that. We don't want to stoke their fears about this stuff, but we want to make
sure anything that comes up, they come and they talk to us about it," he
said.
He said the family has "been able to
create a space for them where they are just living their normal lives like
little girls."
In New Hampshire,
Clinton leads
Obama 38 percent to 26 percent, according to the latest University of New Hampshire
poll conducted for CNN-WMUR, a local television station. In other polls,
however, they are running about even.
New
Hampshire holds the nation's first presidential
primary on Jan. 8.
Obama now turns his focus to Iowa, where he is in a tight contest with
Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards. This trip was his last to New Hampshire before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
