General says Bill Clinton off-base

Arms crossed and eyes cast down, Sen. Barack Obama stood on a stage Saturday as a retired general defended his patriotism in response to a comment former President Clinton made a day earlier.

It was an unusual approach for the Illinois senator, who has typically used his own voice to respond to questions about his patriotism. He has also routinely verbally battled with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s husband and top campaign advocate.

The flap started Friday when the former president made a comment to a group of veterans that some saw as suggesting Obama is not fully devoted to his nation.

“I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country,” the former president said in Charlotte, N.C. “And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics.”

Gen. Merrill A. “Tony” McPeak, an Air Force chief of staff during the Gulf War and an Obama advisor, read that quotation and then initially offered kind words for the New York senator as well as presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

“We will have such an election this year because both Barack Obama and John McCain are great patriots who love this country and are devoted to it -- so is Hillary Clinton,” McPeak said. “I’m saddened to see a president employ these kind of tactics. He of all people should know better because he was the target of exactly the same kind of tactic when he first ran 16 years ago.” In Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, he was accused of dodging the Vietnam War draft.

On Friday, McPeak had compared the former president’s statement to Joseph McCarthy, the 1950s-era Communist-hunting senator. He did not repeat that suggestion Saturday while speaking next to Obama at a community center.

“Comparing Bill Clinton to Joe McCarthy is an outrage that doesn’t pass the laugh test,” Hillary Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said in a statement.

Singer said the former president was trying to talk about the importance of issues, rather than falsely questioning any candidate’s patriotism.