Clinton plays down Bosnia-visit gaffe

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has declared she is “only human” and “misspoke” after she was accused of overstating her foreign policy experience on the campaign trail.

The former first lady claimed she had to run with her head down when she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire 12 years ago, but footage discovered by US TV network CBS showed her being calmly greeted by a young girl on the tarmac, with her daughter Chelsea at her side.

Mrs Clinton told reporters in Pennsylvania yesterday: “So I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I’m human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation.”

Earlier, she told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “I was sleep-deprived, and I misspoke.”

But Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for rival Barack Obama’s campaign, said that her story “joins a growing list of instances in which Senator Clinton has exaggerated her role in foreign and domestic policy-making”.

The 60-year-old New York senator, who has also been accused of overstating her involvement in the North's peace process, is on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, where the next primary election will be held on April 22.

Mrs Clinton also brought up the row over anti-American and racially-charged comments made in sermons by Mr Obama’s pastor Revered Jeremiah Wright, which have been broadcast on YouTube.

“He would not have been my pastor,” she said. “It’s time to stand up for what is right… Hate speech is unacceptable in any setting.

“We don’t have a choice when it comes to our relatives. We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend. Everyone will have to decide these matters for themselves. They are obviously very personal matters.”

Rev Wright, who conducted Mr Obama’s marriage service and baptised his children, described America as the “US KKK of A” and said that black people should sing “God damn America” rather than “God Bless America”.

Mr Obama addressed the comments made by his pastor in a well-received speech on how the US could not afford to ignore the race issue.

He refused to disavow the preacher, but said the pastor’s words “rightly offend white and black alike”.

The race for the Democratic nomination is likely to come down to so-called superdelegates, party officials and other leaders whose votes are not tied to the primary season results, as neither Mr Obama nor Mrs Clinton are likely to reach the magic number of 2,024 needed with pledged delegates alone.

Mr Obama has 1,620 delegates, compared with Mrs Clinton’s 1,499, according to the latest figures.

After Pennsylvania, where Mrs Clinton is favourite to win, the remaining nine contests in Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota and Guam only offer a total of 408 delegates between them.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate John McCain addressed the troubled US economy, the number one issue in the election, as he called on US banks to help their customers in the same way as they have been helped by the US government.

The former Vietnam prisoner of war and Arizona senator, who has admitted the economy is not his strongest point, said US banks should be passing on to their customers the benefits of heavy doses of federal assistance.

On the campaign trail in California yesterday, Mr McCain, 71, said he was calling upon banks “to help their customers, and their nation, out”.

Mr McCain, the Republican Party’s likely nominee this summer, said: “I will not play election-year politics with the housing crisis.

“I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now.”

The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, essentially bailed out the US investment house Bear Stearns last week.

Mr McCain said the government was not in the business of saving and rewarding banks or small borrowers who behave irresponsibly, and added he wanted to leave the door open to a wide array of proposals to address the problems.

“I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,” he said.

“Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.”