CBN News - Hillary Clinton Talks to The Brody File

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CBN News - Hillary Clinton Talks to The Brody File

It was quite a Sunday in Rhode Island, not because it was nearly 40 degrees in February, but because I held a really nice, substantive interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The interview took place at Rhode Island College. We talked about everything: those Obama mailers that she's very angry about, how her faith got her through her marital difficulties, the Barack Obama sensation, and some tough words for now presidential hopeful Ralph Nader.

On Obama Mailers:

I was frankly offended yesterday morning when I was in Cincinnati and a woman in the crowd handed me these two mailers that she had received in the mail. One of them I had never seen before. The other I had and it was the same false, misleading discredited attacks on my health care plan that had been sent out in previous states. I believed maybe from reading in the press or for some other reasons they had changed what they were sending out. And they hadn't, and so it really did spark something in me.

The information he's sending out is a contradiction to the speeches he gives. In his campaign he says he's for universal heath care, and he's not. But then he attacks my plan, which is universal, in a way that is just false. And it bothered me a lot because I have some pattern here, where he says one thing and campaigned as something else.

If you're not wiling to be pinned down, if you continue to put forth misleading information about one of the most important issues we face, namely how to get everyone health insurance, then what is it that people are really hanging on to as people cast their votes?

I think there is a big difference between talk and action. And there certainly is a difference between the words of Sen. Obama's speeches and the actions of his campaign. When you send out these mailers which are kind of below the radar screen and they're filled with misleading and false and discredited information, it seems like the politics of hope is hoping no one will notice, that people will not call you on it. I don't think that's the kind of campaign we should be running.

On the Barack Obama Phenomenon

I think that there is a certain phenomenon associated with this candidacy, and I am really struck by that because it is very much about him and his personality and his presentation. And that's perfectly legitimate in politics, or any other walk of life, but I think it dangers or oversimplifies the complexity of the problems we face, the challenges of navigating our country through some difficult uncharted waters. We are a nation at war. That seems to be forgotten.

Hillary Clinton on the War on Terror

This is not just a phrase for me. This is very real. This kind of goes to the core of what I think the next President has to do, which is to protect and defend our country in a smart way. I do not doubt President Bush's devotion to protecting and defending America, but I have grave doubts about the strategies he has deployed.

Is Obama Ready to be Commander in Chief when it comes to National Security?

I think I am ready…I think it's up to the voters to determine how they judge this, but I think it's important that voters think hard. We have no margin for error.

Is Obama Getting a Free Pass from Media?

Brody: Do you believer the media has given him somewhat of a free ride?
Clinton: Well I think that certainly is the topic of a lot of conversation, probably for good reason. I'm not going to tell the media how to do your job or anyone's. But I think it's again a disservice first to the voters in the Democratic primaries, then to voters in general, not to hold each of us to a very tough standard. Because we're vying for the toughest job in the world.

Is Hillary Clinton Misunderstood?

Brody: Are you misunderstood? And if you are, why?
Clinton: You know, I have to believe I am because, time and time again, people who have been criticizing me in very harsh and personal terms, once they have gotten to know me, have apologized to me and have asked even for my forgiveness. And I think what happened during the 90s was incredibly hurtful for the country, and for people directly involved, to be caricaturized and in a sense dehumanized.

And I learned a lot during that time about how important it is to be constantly trying to live by the Golden Rule, to just put it very simply, but profoundly, and not to take so much of it personally. But there is an agenda at work for a lot of people, you know, some people do it for ideological reason or partisan political advantage, and some do it for commercial, you know, just to kind of use me as a kind of target to stir up emotions and passions and get people to tune in and listen to them, or whatever the commercial purpose might be. And you know I maybe have gotten too used to it.

Hillary on her Faith and Marriage

Brody: How did your faith get you through some of those marital difficulties?
Clinton: I believe that there is a purpose to everything that happens. You may not know it. You may not like it. And it is through that foundation of faith being so firm for me that I was able to sort of work my way to a resolution that was right for me. I was well aware of everyone else's opinion and everyone else's second guessing, but my faith protected me and gave me the space and the time to really come to an understanding of what was right for me and my family….

Forgiveness is just a word unless you're really confronted with the necessity of having to exercise it. And then it is the hardest work you are ever called upon to do.

On Reports of Low Morale in the Clinton Camp

We know that we had a kind of back and forth in this campaign. We came back in New Hampshire, Nevada, we came back on Super Tuesday. And so it's been a real tight rope walk for us. But I have a tremendous group of supporters and staff, volunteers in the states that are coming up, and I feel very good about where our campaigns are.

Hillary on Ralph Nader

His campaign in 2000 cost Al Gore the election. He claimed he was in it against corporate interest and because he cared about the environment. I think he may have been on the Green Party ticket, and he basically deprived America of the greenest president we could've had. And someone who I don't believe would have made a lot of the mistakes that unfortunately we've had to live with from President Bush.

I don't know what he's up to other than seeking attention or some other personal motivation, or maybe with maybe being unwitting about it. He truly is helping the Republicans because clearly, that's what his candidacy would mean and I think it's regrettable.

On John McCain

John McCain is a friend of mine. I deeply admire his service to our country. He's a good man with the wrong ideas about what needs to be done in Iraq and elsewhere with the economy, with health care.

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