Barack Obama has answered Hillary Clinton's ad calling for Obama to participate in a debate with her in Milwaukee at Marquette University prior to Wisconsin's February 19 primary.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Facing accusations from rival Hillary Clinton of ducking debates, the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama launched a statewide television ad that labels the flap "the same old politics of phony charges and false attacks."
The back-and-forth underlines an increased testiness in the campaign in the run-up to Wisconsin, where Obama is seeking his ninth straight primary win.
The Obama ad comes a day after a Clinton ad that calls on Obama to debate in the state before Tuesday's primary, and was announced less than two hours after Clinton herself made the case Obama is ducking a debate here.
Clinton suggested Obama is afraid of a side-by-side comparison of their health care plans and whether their economic plans address mortgage foreclosures by banks.
The Obama ad responds to both, pointedly using a statement by Robert Reich, the secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, to say Obama's plan "covers more people" than Clinton's plan.
I don't like Obama's ad at all.
It whines that there have already been 18 debates.
There hasn't been one in Wisconsin. More voters tune in to politics as Election Day approaches in their state. Wisconsinites are listening now.
I wonder how many Wisconsin voters have seen Hillary and Obama debate.
It's worth noting that although there have been a slew of debates there has only been one occasion when Hillary and Obama went head-to-head in a showdown.
Moreover, I don't think the ones that were really more like news conferences, the ones with Chris Dodd and Joe Biden and Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich, should be counted as debates.
I don't see why Obama refuses to discuss the issues with Hillary in Wisconsin.
It may make sense in terms of his strategy. Obama probably fears putting in a poor performance before the March 4 contests. He wants to stay in his comfort zone, putting in appearances at large and relatively large venues where he's not expected to talk specifics, places where he can deliver the sort of speeches that thrill Chris Matthews.
Hillary is right. He's ducking it and that ticks me off.
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Watch Obama's ad.
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