Clinton Allies Slam Obama on Ireland

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Clinton Allies Slam Obama on Ireland

March 19, 2008

By Debbie McGoldrick

SENATOR Hillary Clinton and her allies launched a major Irish offensive on St. Patrick’s weekend by sharply criticizing Democratic presidential opponent Senator Barack Obama’s lack of an Irish track record, and vowing that a Clinton White House will place Ireland front and center like never before.

In a conference call with reporters last Saturday afternoon, Clinton campaign spokesperson and strategist Howard Wolfson used the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day to “talk about the important work Senator Clinton has done in Ireland, and how she will continue that work as president.”

The call, which also included Congressman Richard Neal, chairman of the Friends of Ireland group in Congress, Congressman Joe Crowley and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, quickly turned to the controversy over Clinton’s role in the Irish peace process. Neal said there would have been “no Good Friday Agreement without the Clintons.”

The representative from Massachusetts said he is furious over reports emanating from the Obama camp claiming that Clinton had no direct role in securing peace in the North, and instead was only a bystander while her husband did the heavy lifting.

“She influenced the Adams visa,” Neal said. “She has been validated by John Hume, a Nobel Laureate, which is not only timely but tells the whole story.”

Neal also pointed out that former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize with Hume, was against the appointment by President Bill Clinton of then-Senator George Mitchell as U.S. peace envoy. Trimble recently claimed that it was “silly” to attribute a major role in the peace process to Hillary Clinton.

“David Trimble saying something bad about Hillary is actually going to gain votes for her in Pennsylvania,” said Crowley, referring to the April 22 primary in the state which boasts at 20% population of Irish American voters.

“Those involved in the Troubles will remember how she moved the process forward at vital moments,” added Crowley, who also maintains that Obama’s record on Irish issues needs more scrutiny.

“I would ask back in 1998 when Hillary was in Northern Ireland, and Senator Obama was a state senator in Illinois, what was he doing to bring peace with justice to Northern Ireland? I don’t know what his Irish record is, if any.

“This is just an over-reach on behalf of the Obama campaign to diminish Hillary’s credibility on Northern Ireland, and in foreign affairs.”

McCarthy says it’s a “major mistake” for the Obama campaign to distort Clinton’s record on Ireland.

“This is an attempt to diminish her in the run-up to Pennsylvania where there’s a large Irish population. They’ve made a major mistake, and that’s what we’re pointing out.”

Clinton’s deputy national policy director Jake Sullivan outlined several Irish policies that would be undertaken in a Clinton White House come 2009. He said Clinton would immediately appoint an American special envoy on Ireland who would maintain an office in the White House and report directly to the president.

Clinton would also firmly focus on economic development in Northern Ireland, Sullivan said, and have her secretary of commerce and other government agencies get involved in developing strategies for Ireland.

She would also, he stressed, work on immigration reform. “There are 50,000 Irish undocumented who need a path to legal status,” Sullivan said. “They need to be brought out of the shadows. Hillary as president will move quickly to make that happen.”

Obama’s sole Irish appearance over the St. Patrick’s period was a speech to an Irish women’s group in Pennsylvania. Crowley and Clinton’s other Irish supporters claim that he’s uninterested in issues of Irish American concern.

“If Senator Obama doesn’t care about Ireland fine, but he’s got some nerve taking Hillary to task on Ireland, considering all she’s done. They’ve got nothing good to say about her accomplishments there, so all they can do is go negative,” Crowley said.

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