Analysis: Dodges undercut Clinton image

Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign slogan is "Ready for Change, Ready to Lead" yet she has adopted the time-honored, front-runner strategy of dodging tough questions, contradicting the image of a strong leader.

The former first lady and New York senator refused to take a position on a range of substantive issues during Wednesday night's debate, from Social Security reform to U.S. troop deployments in Iraq to whether Israel, if threatened, has the right to attack Iran.

She even ducked the question of which team she'd root for if her hometown Chicago Cubs met the New York Yankees in next month's World Series. "Well, I would probably have to alternate sides," she said.

Clinton's substantive knowledge of issues and strong debate performances throughout the primary campaign are among the reasons she's leading her rivals in national and most state polls. But last night's outing found her refusing to answer questions she deems "hypothetical," or saying she'll wait until she's president to outline specific policy proposals.

She also burst into laughter when pressed on certain points, such as when Mike Gravel said he was "ashamed" she had voted to in the Senate to boost pressure on a renegade group inside Iran.

Clinton's refusal to commit to some policy specifics is both tactical and principled, her advisers insist. They said that while she is reluctant to give Republicans ammunition to use in a general election, she also resists committing to specifics on many matters that could later impede her ability to do her job as president.

Analysts said that's a credible course of action for Clinton, but only to a point.

"It is a responsible position on some questions for a presidential candidate not to say precisely what he or she would do," Dartmouth political science professor Deborah Jordan Brooks said. "But others are things voters have a right to know. So over time, Clinton's evasions may wear thin, especially if she continues to play the experience card."

Examples of Clinton's evasiveness were manifest Wednesday night.

_ She refused to say whether she would pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2013, the end of her first presidential term. "It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting," she said.

_ Clinton ducked the question of whether Israel had the right to bomb Iran if the country posed a nuclear threat. She called the question a "hypothetical," and said, "That's better not addressed at this time."

_ She sidestepped a question about whether she would voluntarily disclose the names of contributors to Bill Clinton's presidential library. "You'll have to ask them," she said. "I don't talk about my private conversations with my husband."

The former president defended his wife's handling of that question at a news conference Thursday morning.

"She just thinks I'm entitled to speak for myself just like I think she is entitled to speak for herself," Bill Clinton said. "And she has got no business being asked to speak for me in a presidential debate just like I don't try to speak for her unless I know what her position is."

_ She dodged when asked what she would "put on the table" to save Social Security, such as a proposal to raise Social Security taxes on incomes above $97,000. "I'm not putting anything on the proverbial table until we move toward fiscal responsibility," she said, adding, "I don't think I should be negotiating about what I would do as president.

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said she considered Clinton's answer on Social Security to be "too clever by half," but said Clinton was holding her own in the debates even without committing to specific policy proposals.

Some people may have felt shortchanged by her answers, Brazile said, while adding that Clinton said enough to keep her current status as the front-runner.

"When you have such a substantial lead and so much credibility, you can afford to lay back."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Beth Fouhy covers politics for The Associated Press.

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