The Obama camp issued the following statement following Pakistani President Musharraf’s announcement today:

“President Musharraf has made the right decision to step down as President of Pakistan.  It is in the interests of his country and the Pakistani people to end the political crisis that has immobilized the coalition government for too long.  I have long said that the central terrorist threat to the United States lies in northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan, and not Iraq.  US policy must focus on assuring that all elements of Pakistan’s government are resolute in shutting down the safe havens for al Qaeda and the Taliban. There can be no safehaven for terrorists who threaten the American people. A year ago, I advocated that the US move from a ‘Musharraf policy’ to a ‘Pakistan policy.’  I hope all of Pakistan’s friends will now seize the opportunity created by Musharraf’s exit to focus on the urgent issues of today: confronting the threat of extremist violence, dealing with food and energy shortages, and helping the Pakistani people build a stable, secure, democratic future, ” said Senator Obama.

Obama has long been critical of President Musharraf, most notably in August of 2007, when he said he would be willing to strike al Qaeda targets inside of Pakistan - with or without country’s permission. And last March, Obama accused the Pakistani president of “playing” the U.S. “We were giving him billions of dollars in economic aid, he was using it to repress his own people while trying to cut deals with terrorists.”

Columbus, OH — One night after he lambasted Sen. Barack Obama for promising a “holiday from history” and an “empty call for change,”Sen. John McCain kept up the attack on the IL Democrat Wednesday on foreign policy with some hits on public financing thrown in for good measure.

While Obama took a pledge in a September 2007 petition distributed by the Midwest Democracy Network to take public financing in a general election if his GOP rival did the same, his campaign now says they are still leaving the option open to use private funds instead (See: Obama raising $1.2 million-a-day in January). McCain is taking issue with what he perceives as wobbling by the Obama campaign–citing an oped by the Democrat in this morning’s USA Today—and is hoping to keep the financial playing field level in the general given his fundraising disadvantages.

Accusing Obama of “Washington doublespeak,” McCain said, “I committed to public financing. He committed to public financing. It is not any more complicated than that. I hope he will keep his commitment to the American people. That is not transparency nor is it keeping one’s word to the American people to take public financing. I will keep my word. I want him to keep his if he is the nominee.”

Asked if he would still limit himself to the $85 million in government cash and stay within the system if Obama decides to opt out, McCain said he would “need to reevaluate.”

Regarding foreign policy, McCain continued his line that Obama lacked the necessary experience for the Oval Office, citing the Democrat’s call this past summer to leave the option open to bomb al Qaeda camps within Pakistan.

“The best idea is not to broadcast what you’re going to do. That is naïve. The first thing is you do is you make your plans and you carry out your operations as necessary for America’s national security interest. You don’t broadcast that you’re going to bomb a country that is a sovereign nation and that you are dependent on the good will of the people of that country to help you in the war,” McCain said. “I know that we will continue to not to broadcast that we are going to attack another country when I am the President of the United States.”

Though McCain is not solely focused on Obama, noting that he believes both Democrats have foreign policy faults.

“Both of them were wrong when they said that the surge wouldn’t work. Both of them were wrong when they said that we should unilaterally withdraw from Iraq. Both of them were wrong when they said that the Iraq government couldn’t function effectively–politically,” McCain said. “So it’s very clear that their record on handling the war (and) the struggle against Islamic extremism that their wrong. And I will run on my record…there will be stark differences because they are liberal democrats and I am a conservative Republican.”

While her campaign spent much of the last two days seizing on an Obama aide’s comments linking her Iraq vote to the Bhutto assassination, Senator Clinton’s own remarks on Pakistan evolved from Thursday to Friday –  moving from personal remembrances of her meetings with the ex-Pakistani Prime Minister to an indictment of the Bush administration.

In Story City, IA, Clinton said Bhutto’s death “puts a very bright spotlight both on President Musharraf and the leadership of Pakistan, the business elite, the feudal landlords, the military leadership, as well as the failed policies of President Bush.”

“Even after President Musharraf shut down the independent judiciary, suppressed a free press, President Bush was saying he was still a reliable ally. Well the facts are different than that,” she said. “He has failed on two counts, trying to move Pakistan towards a stable democracy, which is what I believe is required, and waging the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban and their allies.”

While Pakistan has a history of instability, she said, “it is also clear the Bush administration policy of giving Musharraf a blank check has failed”

Recalling her last visit to the region, after which she called on the White House to send a presidential envoy to ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Clinton said “Like so much else when dealing with the Bush administration, the answer was no, we’re going to do what we’re going to do.”

She added “I hope in the next year President Bush is still in office he will change direction.”
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Sioux Center, IA–

The Romneys made their second stop on the “Strong America” bus tour at Casey’s Bakery here. They spoke to a small crowd of voters in this very conservative part of the state. The Romneys stuck to their new “closing arguments” stump and the former frontrunner here stayed away from attacking his rival Mike Huckabee, leaving that to the new ad launched today.

Romney did mention Pakistan in light of Former Prime Minister Bhutto’s assassination:

“There’s a new challenge of national security. It’s a challenge which involves an asymmetric foe, radical violent jihadists who just apparently carried out an attack, a murder in Pakistan, who have their tentacles throughout the world and are trying to bring down all moderate nations.”

He also spoke about change and innovation in the future in America and the big job that the next President will have in store for him:

“I think you’re going to see more change in the next 10 years than we’ve probably seen over the last 10 centuries. And so the next president is going to have to be able to draw on the strength of the American people and lift their eyes and optimism towards the opportunities we have and overcome the challenges honestly that we face, and at the same time draw on the innovative spirit in a nation and a world that’s changing.”

The presidential hopeful has made his stump much shorter today and hasn’t been taking questions. This is rare for a Romney campaign stop, but this allows the camp to control their message and preserve the on/off moving feel of the bus tour.

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Asked about top Obama adviser David Axelrod’s insinuation that her Iraq vote in 2002 may have had something to do with Benazir Bhutto’s assassination by distracting attention from the fight against al Qaeda, Hillary Clinton declined to respond — telling CNN, “I really regret that anybody would try to politicize this tragedy.”

But her surrogates aren’t biting their tongues. In a written statement,  former Supreme Allied Commander and ex-presidential candidate Wesley Clark says “This is a time for leadership, not politics. Senator Obama’s campaign seems to believe that Senator Clinton’s actions led to the tragic events in Pakistan. This is an incredible and insulting charge. It politicizes a tragic event of enormous strategic consequence to the United States and the world, and it has no place in this campaign.”

The Clinton campaign is walking a fine line in dealing with the Bhutto assassination; it’s widely seen as politically helpful, since it reminds caucus goers of her foreign policy experience and strength against extremists. But she has to be careful not be seen as exploiting Bhutto’s death and her personal relationship with the former PM by playing her hand too aggressively.

Axelrod’s comments allow her to accuse Obama of being exploitative, and still keep the story (and her foreign policy credentials) in the news for another day.

Hillary Clinton called for an independent, international investigation into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today. “It needs to be international, it needs to be independent. It needs to have credibility, and nothing that would happen inside of Pakistan would,” she said.

She also said too much American involvement would politicize the process. “I’m reluctant to say it should be an American investigation where we send our law enforcement personnel, because I’m not sure that would have credibility for a different reason.”

Meanwhile, Sen Clinton is back on the stump in Iowa with a distinctly domestic focus today. She’s talking about the housing crisis today, and has a new ad called “President” up in Iowa emphasizing her long commitment to fixing the problem — and contrasting it with George Bush’s inaction. Take a look.

(more…)

Who are the winners and losers?
John McCain says that’s the question the U.S. needs to ask, following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. In his opinion, the winners are radical Islamic extremists.

However, McCain rejects the idea of threatening to cut off American aid to Pakistan. He thinks Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has tried to cooperate with the U.S. Here’s what McCain would say to Musharraf:
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McCain played up his national security credentials at several town hall meetings in Iowa Thursday. He spoke at length about Bhutto’s death and how to handle the fallout. Reporters asked him several times if the situation in Pakistan affects the presidential campaign.
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Senator Clinton responded to the death of fmr Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Lawton, Iowa — saying “I grieve for her family, particularly her two children, and I grieve for the people of Pakistan who deserve to have an opportunity to vote for leaders of their choosing.”

“If there is any opportunity for the government and people of Pakistan to respond to this tragedy appropriately, it would be to move more steadfastly and determinedly toward democracy,” she said. “She has given her life for that hope, and I know that the people of our country stand in solidarity with those who believe as we do in the rights of people to be heard at the ballot box”

Senator Clinton met Bhutto in 1987 as First Lady of Arkansas, and took her daughter Chelsea to meet the then-Prime Minister in 1995. She learned about the assassination attempt from advisers, who later confirmed the sad news through their contacts in Pakistan.

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Romney Comments on Bhutto’s Assassination

Nashua, NH

Governor Romney just commented on Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Romney seemed unsure whether her death was confirmed or not citing conflicting reports:

“We have all heard with great alarm and concern the reports of additional tragedy in Pakistan. At this stage, there are conflicting reports about whether Madame Bhutto has been killed or not. But there is of course the very risk that she has been killed.”

The New Hampshire frontrunner explained that her death shows the threat that radical Islam is to the world, but made sure to mention that it is still unclear who is behind the attack:

“This points out again the extraordinary reality of global violent radical jihadism. We don’t know who is responsible for this attack but there is no question that the violence we see throughout the world is violence which is not limited to Iran, excuse me, Iraq, and Afghanistan but is more global in nature. . . The world is very much at risk by virtue of these radical violent extremists and we must come together in an effort in great haste and with grat earnestness to help overcome the threat of the spread of radical, violent Jihad.”

The presidential hopeful was asked about General Musharraf’s potential involvement:

“At this stage, we don’t know the nature of this particular attack and time will find out and so at this stage we can only speculate as to what might’ve been the source of this particular attack. Of course attacks have been ocurring over the past several weeks in Pakistan and the turbulence there certainly flows from the instability associated with northwestern Pakistan and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in that part of the country.”

Romney was also asked if America has put too much trust in General Musharraf:

“I don’t know that we can assess the political process that has been underway in Pakistan to determine exactly where we put our greatest support. Obviously we have also encouraged a political process which included Madame Bhutto and Mr. Sharif and we have had interest in seeing a progression towards more democratic leadership and governance in Pakistan.”

Romney responded to the situation while he was campaigning at Norton’s Restaurant in Nashua. He is often asked about Pakistan on the trail, even commenting on the turbulent situation last night at a town hall event in Merrimack, NH.

***UPDATE***

In a statement sent out later by the campaign Romney sent his condolences to Bhutto’s family:

“At this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers go to the family of Benazir Bhutto, and to all the people of Pakistan who are fighting against extremist forces that would commit such heinous acts as the whole world has witnessed today.”