Hillary is jeered at California convention

SAN DIEGO — Over the jeers of some delegates to California Democrats’ state convention yesterday who wanted her to take a tougher stand on Iraq, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said America doesn’t know “half the damage” President Bush and his administration have done.

Hours later, Sen. Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton’s closest rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, had the crowd chanting in support as he promised to force an end to the war.

For the more than 2,000 delegates here in San Diego, the Iraq war remains the critical issue and a key dividing line as they size up their choices for 2008.

Mrs. Clinton, who repeatedly has blamed the president for misleading her into voting in 2002 for the resolution that authorized the war, said this week’s four-year anniversary of Mr. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln is a reminder of “one of the darkest blots” on American leadership.

“The only mission he accomplished was the re-election of Republicans. He used fear as a tool for political partisan advantage,” the New York Democrat said. “I don’t think we know half of the damage that he and the vice president have done to America.”

She said if the war is still going on in 2009, she will end it as president.

Although her wide-ranging speech was well-received, Mrs. Clinton seemed to falter on Iraq, drawing a tepid response and even some jeers from some at the convention, where T-shirts and banners with anti-war and impeachment slogans abounded.

Even as Mrs. Clinton strode into the room flanked by lines of supporters in campaign T-shirts, one man stood behind the line shouting: “Boo! Get straight on the war.”

“Why should I trust her to end the war then when she could end the war now,” said Linda Wymore, a delegate who had an anti-war sticker on her handbag.

But Mrs. Clinton’s explanation that she was misled did resonate with some Democrats here.

“I don’t believe it was a mistake because she was working on the best information possible,” said Norman Vaughn-Hulbert, of Merced, Calif.

And Peggy Herndon, a delegate from Fremont, Calif., said the war vote is not the deciding factor.

“I think we have to get past that. The majority of people in Congress at the time voted for the war and voted for appropriations,” she said.

Most of the Democratic candidates for president are here for this state’s convention, which gained an even higher profile after California moved its primary up to Feb. 5.

Four years ago, the convention helped elevate Howard Dean and his anti-war message to the top of the party’s presidential contest. This year, the war continues to dominate — something House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, emphasized in her speech by calling it “the biggest ethical issue” facing the country.

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