News

NEW YORK, NY February 29, 2008 —A new ad released by Senator Hillary Clinton in Texas and Ohio is drawing charges of fear-mongering from Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama.

REPORTER: The ad has images of sleeping children, and an an anxious parent and the sound of a ringing phone, ringing in the middle of the night at the White House.

COMERCIAL SOUND: It’s 3AM, and your children are sleeping. But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something’s happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call.

REPORTER: Barack Obama says Clinton is trying to "scare up votes." Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson says the ad is intended to stimulate a discussion about national security. Clinton's supporters have called next Tuesday's Texas and Ohio primaries "must-wins" for her campaign.

The ad resembles a famous one in 1984, in which former Vice-President Walter Mondale accused Senator Gary Hart of not having enough experience to answer the presidential “red phone” reserved for international crises.