White House calls Clinton ad ‘outrageous,’ unfair to Bush

The White House rejected as “outrageous” a new campaign ad by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that accuses President Bush of treating as invisible the needs of ordinary Americans.

The 60-second ad, which opens with a view of rolling Iowa farmland, shows the New York Democrat meeting variously with farmers, factory workers, single mothers, children and senior citizens.

“You know, if you are a family that is struggling and you don’t have health care, well, you are invisible to this president,” Clinton said in the ad. “If you’re a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to work, well, you’re invisible, too. And I never thought I would see that our soldiers who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan would be treated as though they were invisible as well.”

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino rejected Clinton’s accusations as unfair.

“This is a president who, first and foremost, has helped millions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at a much lower cost,” Perino said, referring to a Medicare Part D program that has been widely criticized as a costly and confusing burden.

“As to whether or not our troops are invisible to this president, I think that is absurd and that it is unconscionable that a member of Congress would say such a thing,” Perino said.

“Apparently I’ve struck a nerve,” Clinton said in response. “I will keep saying it because I believe it.”

Clinton repeated the video’s message during an afternoon speech in Dubuque, Iowa.

“When I’m president, there will be no invisible Americans,” Clinton said. “You will be an army of very visible citizens at the forefront of the changes we need.”