Hillary Clinton Sees GOP Blasts as ‘Dishonest’

Hillary Clinton says Republican attacks against her at last month’s convention were “totally dishonest” and bore no relation to her actual beliefs and opinions.

“They were not saying anything truthful . . . about me,” the Democratic presidential nominee’s wife told Jane Pauley in an interview to be aired tonight on “Dateline NBC.” “They were doing it for political purposes. I knew that some of the people knew better.”

Convention speakers last month accused Hillary Clinton of devaluing women who stay at home with kids; saying children should be able to sue parents who ask them to take out the garbage, and comparing marriage to slavery.

“They are using your words, your own words, against you in a rather shrewd way,” Pauley said.

“In a rather dishonest way. I mean it’s totally dishonest,” Mrs. Clinton replied.

She said her comparison of marriage to slavery referred to a time when women and children were literally the property of men, and said her writings on children’s legal rights applied to severe situations, such as when they are chained to radiators.

Mrs. Clinton said she once got a note from President Bush thanking her for bringing the problem of infant mortality to his attention and that Barbara Bush wrote a book that “was very complimentary about my role” in an Arkansas literacy program.

“They knew the kinds of things that I cared about and that I’ve stood for and worked for,” said Hillary Clinton, who until recently was chairman of the board of the Children’s Defense Fund, an advocacy group.