Clinton: Debate nothing compared to White House

While Hillary Clinton left most of the post-debate commentary Thursday to Barack Obama, she weighed in this morning, suggesting that Obama's complaints about the questions and criticisms lobbed his way shows that he might not be tough enough to be president.

"We were both asked some pretty tough questions and that’s part of what happens in a debate and in a campaign," she said on the Fox affiliate in Philadelphia. "And I know he spent all day yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked. Being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressures you face inside the White House. In fact, when the going gets tough, you just can’t walk away because we’re going to have some very tough decisions that we have to make. I think we need a president who can take whatever comes your way. You have to stand strong; you have to fight for the American people – because it will not be easy to stand up against the special interests."

At a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, Obama declared that Clinton "looked in her element" during the contentious debate and twisted the knife. He argued that voters want discussion of key issues -- not the questions that dominated the first half of the debate in Philadelphia over campaign controversies involving his former pastor and his comments about bitter small-town voters.

Clinton today said she was asked "some pretty tough questions" on Thursday and in prior debates.

"That goes with the territory, having been inside the White House, I know the pressures inside the White House, I know how hard it is every single day," she continued. "When the going gets tough you can’t run away. And it’s going to be tough going to deal with these hard problems; getting out of Iraq in the right way, turning the economy around, getting universal health care, ending our dependence on foreign oil. The special interests are going to be a lot tougher than 90 minutes of questions from two journalists and we need a president who is going to be up there fighting everyday for the American people and not complain about how much pressure there is, and how hard the questions are."

UPDATE: The Obama campaign responded today with a compendium of news stories and video clips of Clinton and former president Bill Clinton complaining about getting tough questions during debates.

During the previous debate last month in Cleveland, the campaign reminded, Clinton said pointedly that she was fielding the first question again and referred to a "Saturday Night Live" skit by saying the moderator should ask Obama whether he needed another pillow.

"The Clintons and the Clinton campaign have been complaining about the media and tough questions and the like for months. It's one of their talking points, for the love of Pete," the Obama campaign statement said.