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SOUTH BEND, Ind — For the first time in her long public career, Hillary Clinton sat down with Mr No Spin himself — sparring with Factor host Bill O’Reilly during a feisty interview on everything from raising his taxes and the effectiveness of torture to the dangers of Iran and Afghanistan and how to define sanctuary cities.

But the news was mostly in her reaction to the latest controversy over comments by Rev Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor, including equating the US with al Qaeda and speculating that the federal government might be behind HIV/AIDS. Obama distanced himself fully from Wright yesterday, and on the Factor, Sen Clinton agreed with his decision.

Asked about Wright’s comments, she said “I think it’s offensive, and outrageous, and uh, you know, I’m going to express my opinion. Others can express theirs, but it is part of just an atmosphere that we’re in today where all kinds of things are being said, and people have to decide what they believe. And I sure don’t believe the United States government was behind AIDS.”

Aides say she had fun with the verbal jousting, which you can watch tonight and tomorrow night at 8pm. It was definitely on her mind at the next event in Portage, IN — where she plugged the sit-down before a skeptical union crowd . “I just taped an interview that’ll be on Fox tonight with Bill O’Reilly,” she said, drawing a decidedly mixed reaction. Hillary grinned at the response, saying “hey, I’m running for the toughest job in the world!”

“We got into a little back and forth,” she said, “because he said ‘you’re going to raise my taxes, aren’t you?’ I said ‘I sure am.’ If you make more than $250,000 you’re going to go back to paying the tax rates you paid in the 1990’s.” Standing up to O’Reilly was obviously more popular with the Democrats in attendance; check out their reaction above…

…and read excerpts from the interview after the jump.

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Sen Clinton may not be taking questions from the national media today, but our own Bill O’Reilly found a way around that — he stopped in to a Hillary Clinton event in Penacook, NH and had an audience member ask for him. The question was on Iraq, and Hillary answered it for the young female questioner, and for Mr No Spin himself. Take a look.

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