Obama criticizes Bush, Clinton while campaigning in S.C.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama told voters Saturday that in the wake of President Bush’s “catastrophic failure of leadership” the nation needs a candid leader like himself, not rival Hillary Rodham Clinton’s calculated politics.

Bush failed with handling of the Iraq war, spread fear and fumbled with Hurricane Katrina, Obama said.

“This catastrophic failure of leadership has led us to a moment where it’s not just Democrats who are listening to what we have to say, but independents and Republicans who have never been more disillusioned with what the state of our leadership in Washington has done to this country,” Obama told an audience of about 850 at Converse College in Spartanburg.

He said Clinton is running a textbook campaign based on political calculation, rather than a candid explanation of her policy positions. And, he widened blame for the nation’s problems to her husband’s and previous administrations.

The 2008 election is “a chance to come together and finally solve the challenges that were made worse by George Bush, but that in fact existed long before George Bush took office. Challenges like health care. Challenges like energy. Challenges like education.”

It was a subtle swipe at former President Bill Clinton, who campaigned in South Carolina for his wife earlier this week.