Bullet-Proof Barack

The Illinois Senator, author and presidential wannabe came out swinging:

"My Republican opponent won't be able to say that we both supported the war in Iraq, because I didn't," Obama told a crowd packed into a high school gym.

"My opponent won't be able to say that I haven't been open or straight with the American people or that I've flipped and flopped my positions, because I haven't. I've been consistent this whole time..."

"...My Republican opponent won't be able to say that, 'Well, we really agree about using the war in Iraq to justify military action against Iran, or about a diplomacy of not talking and saber-rattling, because I don't agree with those approaches," he said.

The not-so-thinly-veiled jabs at both Sen. Hillary Clinton and President George Bush (and to an extent, John Kerry) didn't go unnoticed...by the Clinton camp:

Hilarie Grey, spokeswoman for Clinton's campaign in Nevada, said that unlike Obama, Clinton has a plan to deliver universal health care and is the "candidate that voters trust the most to end the war in Iraq."

"Its unfortunate that Senator Obama is abandoning the politics of hope and instead employing the same old attack politics as his campaign stalls. Nothing says politics as usual more than that," she said.

Of course, what Ms. Grey didn't say is that Obama has a compelling argument: a GOP opponent will be hard-pressed to find solid contradictions in Obama's stance on Iraq and Iran.