Time is running out for Obama

Republicans side with Hillary Clinton in Iowa
By Toby Harnden in Des Moines

Republican candidates vying for the White House formed an unlikely alliance with Hillary Clinton today when they branded Barack Obama reckless for suggesting he might bomb Pakistan.

“He’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr Strangelove in one week,” said Mitt Romney, to laughter and applause, during a Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

“He went from saying he’s going to sit down for tea with our enemies but then he’s going to bomb our allies.”

Jumping ahead in the article:

Candidates rounded on Mr Obama, who trails Mrs Clinton in national polls but is on the rise in the key early states, for saying he would not use nuclear weapons in “any circumstance” in Pakistan or Afghanistan - before pausing and adding “involving civilians” and then asking the reporter to “let me scratch that”.

John McCain, whose tough stances on Iraq and the war on terror remain his only hope of reviving his flagging candidacy, said: “It’s naive to say that we will never use nuclear weapons.

It’s naive to say we’re going to attack Pakistan without thinking it through. “What if Musharraf were removed from power? What if a radical Islamic government were to take [his] place because we triggered it with an attack?”

Mrs Clinton called Mr Obama “naïve” and “irresponsible” last week for telegraphing his intentions to America’s enemies and potentially undermining the West’s alliance with Pakistan, which lodged a protest about his remarks.

The broadsides against Mr Obama perhaps reflect a sense that he might be gaining on Mrs Clinton, the favourite to become Democratic nominee.

But it was chiefly because the Illinois senator had made what Republicans view as a big mistake.

“He was just the easier target this week,” said Professor Dennis Goldford of Iowa’s Drake University, on hand to provide instant analysis in the post-debate “spin room”. “Everybody’s auditioning for commander-in-chief and Obama didn’t do too well in his audition,” said Senator Lindsay Graham, a McCain loyalist.

But the Republican attacks could boost Mr Obama’s prestige among Democratic voters.

Ironically, by sharing Mrs Clinton’s analysis on Pakistan and the nuclear issue, the Republicans might help her show that she has the right experience and judgment to deal with foreign crises.