'Preparedness' and the Democratic Nomination

March 14, 2008 — -- In the race for the White House, theatrically both Democratic presidential candidates have pushed their individual preparedness to be commander in chief.

As a key claim to that argument, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama cites judgment while New York Sen. Hillary Clinton cites experience in foreign policy, simultaneously pushing the notion that Obama hasn't passed the commander in chief threshold.

Having visited more than 80 countries as first lady, Clinton says she is prepared to answer the proverbial 3 a.m. phone call reporting a crisis and Obama is not.

But Obama's foreign policy adviser Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs during former President Clinton's presidency, says the former first lady exaggerates her experience.

"There is a pattern of Sen. Clinton overstating her role in a number of specific instances to justify this notion that as first lady she garnered crisis management experience," Rice said.

Speaking at a rally earlier this month, Clinton touted her role on the international stage, "I've been able to participate in peace processes from the Middle East to Northern Ireland and was particularly involved in bringing peace to Northern Ireland."

Experts say Clinton's small but significant role was to engage women's groups and bring them into the peace process.

"Undoubtedly, engaging women's groups in the peace process was a valuable contribution, but it is not the same as saying she helped negotiate the Northern Ireland peace agreement," Rice said.

Clinton foreign policy adviser Jamie Rubin, assistant secretary of state for public affairs and chief spokesman for the State Department from 1997 to May 2000, disagrees with Rice's assessment.

"Sen. Clinton didn't say she brought peace to Northern Ireland alone, she said she helped," Rubin said, "and a Nobel Prize winner, the negotiator and the women on the ground have attested to the fact that she did indeed help."

In December 2007, Clinton told a story about a 1996 trip to Bosnia, "we landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire."