Candidate Clinton Praises Ambassador Clinton

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) answered a question at a town hall in Mason City, Iowa, about how to improve America's relations around the world by praising activists working on issues such as poverty. She singled out one.

"My husband is probably the most popular person in the world right now because of all the work he's doing," Clinton said.

The former president, however, should not be looking to do formal globe-trotting in a new Clinton administration. Asked if she would consider tapping her husband as secretary of state, Clinton cited a law passed after Robert F. Kennedy served in the Justice Department that prevents the president's close relatives from serving in Cabinet posts. She added, "I think he can be an ambassador around the world dealing with problems."

-- Perry Bacon Jr.

War Over War Vote Rages On

For Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (Ill.), their votes against the war spending bill were far from the last word on the issue.

The crowd of Republican presidential candidates dined out all day on the Democratic front-runners' "no" votes, decrying them as naive and reckless, an affront to U.S. troops.

"I was very disappointed to see Senator Obama and Senator Clinton embrace the policy of surrender," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who called their opposition "the equivalent of waving a white flag to al-Qaeda."

McCain missed 46 straight Senate votes -- six weeks' worth -- before showing up Thursday to support the $120 billion war funding package.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), another Democratic presidential contender, also opposed the funding bill. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), also in the Democratic field, supported it.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, offered this statement: "At a time when the men and women of our military fighting terrorism around the globe needed them most, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama cast a vote that singularly defines their lack of leadership and serves as a glaring example of an unrealistic and inexperienced worldview."