Clinton, Obama play nice in remarks
Posted: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 2:42 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's Abby Livingston
Addressing the Communication Workers of America, a union that has yet to endorse a Democratic nominee, neither Obama nor Clinton seemed especially anxious to throw an elbow at the other this morning.
There were the usual jabs -- like when Clinton knocked Obama on health care or Obama repeated his “war that never should have been authorized” veiled shot at Clinton’s 2002 Iraq war authorization vote. Obama also added a seemingly innocuous statement about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, declaring his opposition “because when organizing workers puts an organizer's life at risk, as it does in Colombia, it makes a mockery of our labor protections.” Amid the context of the Mark Penn controversy, ears did perk up.
But generally speaking, in front of mixed company, both candidates played nice, saving their more fiery rhetoric for McCain and the Republicans. Hitting the Bush Administration, Obama declared, “We've got news for White House, we've got news for America. It's not the Department of Management, it's the Department of Labor, and we are here to take it back!”
The real story of the morning, however, might have been that although Clinton received a warm reception and was greeted with a homemade sign posted on the wall -- which said, “I like Obama, but I’m Voting For Chelsea’s Moma!” -- the crowd was in Obama’s corner. His red meat Bush Administration criticisms and labor affirmations drew standing ovations, cheers, and whistles.
