Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign has directly attacked Sen. Barack Obama after "weeks of being buffeted by criticism in liberal circles for her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war," writes New York Sun's Seth Gitel. The hit came from Clinton pollster Mark Penn who appeared on stage at a Harvard forum next to Obama strategist David Axelrod. Penn accused Obama of saying during a 2004 Democratic convention interview that he didn't know how he would have voted on the war resolution because he wasn't in the Senate and that there's little difference between Clinton and Obama on Iraq.
Axelrod said the quote was taken out of context and called for a unifying, honest campaign. "Are we going to spend 10 months savaging each other, or are we going to try to lift this country up?" he asked.
The Boston Globe's Rick Klein writes that Obama may cast himself as having been totally against the Iraq war from the beginning, although his voting record of the past 26 months "reveals that he has taken a more nuanced and cautious position on the war than the full-bore opposition."
Staying in the foreign arena, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the Bush Administration has ignored Latin America and that a settlement to the war in Iraq needs a regional solution that includes Syria and Iran. As president, Richardson said he would meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the leaders of Syria and Iran.
As John Edwards tours South Carolina today he's "struggling to hold onto his previous support" among state Democrats who are gravitating to Clinton and Obama. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain has enlisted 14 former Bush fundraisers in the state. Possible Republican vice presidential candidate SC Gov. Mark Sanford gave his support to a bill that would mandate women have ultrasounds before abortions, The State's Ken Knelly reports. This is a rare endorsement given that Sanford "does not often weigh in on legislation he did not propose."
Get the rest of today's political news at RCP's Politics and Elections page.
--------------------------------------------
Follow the RCP Blog on Twitter.
Become a fan of RCP on Facebook.
--------------------------------------------
