A new ad war between Obama and Clinton

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

After Bararck Obama opened a new line of attack against Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner in the Democratic race for president has shot right back.

Obama is arguing that Clinton has been less than candid on the trail, especially about how to fix Social Security, which is due to go into the red in 2017.

Clinton has refused to specify what she would do, saying first the government needs to become more fiscally responsible. Obama said this weekend that he would consider raising the cap on the Social Security tax, although he hasn't been all that specific himself.

In the new social security ad he unveiled yesterday to run in Iowa, he tells an eager audience of older folks, "I don’t want to just put my finger out to the wind and see what the polls say. I want to bring the country together to solve a problem."

Given her lack of a policy proposal, you might think Clinton would lie low on the topic. Not at all. Her campaign has quickly come back with a new ad to run in Iowa and New Hampshire touting her work on behalf of senior citizens, featuring documentary-style black-and-white closeups of senior citizens.

"When George Bush threatened to privatize social security, Hillary was there fighting every step of the way to stop him," says the announcer. "These days, it seems like every candidate on earth is coming here for you. But which candidate has been there for you all along?"