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April 17, 2008
Posted: 03:13 PM ET
From CNN Political Producer Chris Welch, CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN)-–Democrat Barack Obama said Thursday that rival Hillary Clinton was "in her element" at Wednesday night's debate, telling a North Carolina crowd she "took every opportunity to get a dig in." He used his hands to motion brushing his shoulders off. "That's her right to kind of twist the knife in a little bit," he said, before adding that he understands why she's using what he calls the tactics of the GOP. "That’s the lesson that she learned when the Republicans were doing that same thing to her back in the 1990s. …So, I understand it," Obama continued. "When you're running for the presidency then you’ve gotta expect it and you know you’ve just gotta kinda let it—" He paused, brushing his shoulders off with his hands before doing the same to his knees and pant legs. "You know, it's what you gotta do," he said, to wild cheers from the Raleigh audience.
Obama's attacks echo a theme his campaign has been hammering, as well. In a conference call with reporters Thursday morning, campaign manager David Plouffe said Clinton's recent negative ads in Pennsylvania are part of a "relentlessly negative campaign." But before Obama directly took on Clinton, the Illinois senator took a swipe at the debate itself, sarcastically calling the back-and-forths the two have been having lately "inspiring events." He added that Wednesday's set a new record in his book. "It took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people." All this at a time when it remains unclear whether Obama will commit to an April 27 debate in North Carolina. Coincidentally, an audience member asked him why he hasn't committed to that one yet. Obama, as he has in the past, downplayed the relevance of recent broadcasts. "I’ll be honest with you," Obama started, "you know we now had 21, and look, I mean the previous three, you know, we did very well, so its not as if we don’t know how to do these things." Filed under: Barack Obama Hillary Clinton
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