On the five-year anniversary of the United States Senate vote to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, former Sen. John Edwards has renewed his call for Sen. Hillary Clinton to admit that her vote in favor of the Iraq War resolution was a mistake — something she has not been willing to do.  Edwards, who himself voted in favor of the resolution, said in his statement that "Unlike Senator Clinton, I have apologized for my vote in support of that bill."

Terry McAuliffe, who serves as Chair of Clinton's presidential campaign and was Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, helped shed light on why Clinton will not admit her vote was a mistake during an August 30 appearance at a coffee shop in Grinnell, IA.  Abby Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Grinnell College's Scarlet & Black student newspaper, was the only reporter present for McAuliffe's candid conversation, and she quoted him this way in the September 7 issue of the paper: 

McAuliffe declared that under no circumstances would she take back her vote.  “A woman?” he almost yelled.  “Can you imagine?”

Iowa Independent has verified from three other attendees of the event that McAuliffe was quoted accurately.  Ironically, those attendees also told us that before discussing the connection between Clinton's position on her war vote and her gender, McAuliffe noted that he could only speak so candidly because there were no reporters present — or so he thought.Clinton has proposed a plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, despite her reluctance to directly answer the question of whether her initial vote was a mistake.  Her plan has been criticized by both former Sen. Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson, among others, who have claimed that her plan would leave a large number of combat troops in Iraq to carry out certain combat missions.

S&B editor-in-chief Rapoport's full report of the McAuliffe appearance, in which Clinton's campaign chair speaks candidly about a number of other subjects, is reprinted below with permission.  It is also available on the newspaper’s web site.

Grinnell Coffee Company has a hip, artsy vibe with its black walls and its Venus Rising painting with a French coffee press.  But I walked straight to the back, where a small beige room stands in stark contrast to the warm and friendly coffee shop.  In the room, Grinnell community members talked in small clusters, awaiting the arrival of yet another politico to plead for their vote. 

Suddenly a wholly alien force took over the room.  Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Committee Chair and long time friend of the Clintons, arrived with an air of dominance, as all eyes focused on him. 

McAuliffe is tall, with a booming voice and a slick, used-car-salesman type charm.  His smiles and greetings, not to mention his slaps on the back of Wayne Moyer, Political Science, felt too self-congratulatory.  You guys haven’t won yet, I thought. 

As if on command, we all sat down at once, waiting to hear what McAuliffe would say.  Yet no one seemed more excited to hear him speak than McAuliffe himself.  I guessed it would have something to do with voting for Hillary, given the posters taped to the wall and the stacks of lawn signs in the corner.  But his tone was not quite what I imagined. 

After asking who in the room would be supporting Hillary and finding only four of the twelve attendees to be loyal, McAuliffe began by emphasizing the campaign’s currently successes, and its domination of the polls.  He almost seemed to gloss over the nomination process, eager to talk about the general election.

“A lot of people ask me, `Can she win the general election?’” he boomed.  The sweet older woman next to me seemed to perk up and nod at the question; presumably, she was asking it too.  “Well,” he continued, “that’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard.”  The woman seemed to stop nodding along. 

McAuliffe spoke for almost forty-five minutes, focusing mainly on the general election, an election, he announced, that the Clinton campaign was already fundraising for. 

“Anyone in the room who doesn’t think this isn’t going to be the most vicious campaign is nuts,” he proclaimed.  He seemed ready for the viciousness though.  Later, he declared that “If you defame this woman