On the campaign trail in rural, western Iowa, presidential hopeful Barack Obama has gone out of his way to belittle Hillary Clinton's experience as first lady, according to an ABC News report.
"I think the fact of the matter is that Sen. Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own, except for the stuff that didn't work out, in which case she says she has nothing to do with it," Obama said.
Referring to his relationship with his wife, Michelle, Obama said, "There is no doubt that Bill Clinton had faith in her and consulted with her on issues, in the same way that I would consult with Michelle, if there were issues." He added, "On the other hand, I don't think Michelle would claim that she is the best qualified person to be a United States Senator by virtue of me talking to her on occasion about the work I've done."
With this line of attack, Obama continues to portray himself as the most "authentic" candidate -- whose real life experiences distinguish him from his democratic rivals.
"Our most successful presidents have been people who were successful not because of their wealth of Washington experience," Obama said, "but because of the life lessons and schools of hard knocks that they had gone through."
Obama also poked fun at the usual argument against his candidacy:
"I think this whole argument about 'He speaks well, he's got good ideas, but he needs more experience,'" Obama said to a crowd gathered in a School in Western Iowa. "What they really mean is I haven't been in Washington long enough. They want to boil all the hope out of me."