ISSUE: The Clinton and Obama records

OUR VIEW: Clinton right to stress that more must be know about Obama

Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken a lot of heat for her assertions that Sen. Barack Obama does not have the requisite experience to be president of the United States. Her campaign has been built around the concept of readiness to lead based on more than three decades in public life. Not a surprising approach -- but one that may or may not work in 2008.

It's not unreasonable to question Obama's credentials to lead the nation. In fact, it is essential, with more than his opponent doing the questioning. He has been a U.S. senator from Illinois for two years. His positions are very similar to Clinton's yet he was not yet elected when such key votes as going to war in Iraq were taken. He has argued that had he been there, he would have voted against the war, unlike Clinton. Yet just as Clinton he has voted to continue war funding.

Clinton is stressing such votes and looking to put the Obama record under the microscope. That is exactly what should be happening. Every American should be looking seriously at a candidate on such a run of popularity with a genuine eye on the person being the national leader. If the hunger for change is so great among voters, Obama well could win the White House, but it should not be without a serious and thorough examination.

That kind of examination certainly has been there for Clinton. For months, as the presumed frontrunner, she has been the target of media scrutiny and even attacks by her fellow Democrats. And no candidate has the number of so-called haters as Clinton. With labels from "Jezebel" to "witch," Clinton has been and remains a top target.

Worries about critics charging that she was and is being unfairly targeted as a woman sound like the arguments of yesterday. Clinton is a candidate for president and has shown her toughness. The media and critics have responded by putting her to the test -- so much so that there may even be building a sympathy factor for the former first lady. In the context of her political past, that is hard to believe.

Obama is being treated differently. It remains to be seen whether he will be scrutinized as would any other contender or whether media will shy away or have a double standard based on the senator being an African-American. We hope for the former, as should every South Carolinian, every American, black and white.

Obama is a candidate being genuinely billed as the top contender for the presidency. He is attracting independent voters in sufficient numbers to win in states traditionally going to Republicans. Just as Americans have many preconceived notions about Clinton and a Clinton presidency based on her very visible record, we have no similar depth of record regarding Obama. That is reason alone enough for intense scrutiny of the candidate to learn in every way possible exactly what kind of president he would be.

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