Clinton, Obama and Iran

I've talked before about possible military action against Iran and the effect it would have on the presidential race. There's a very interesting post from Chris Cillizza today about the strategies of Hillary and Obama in Iowa on Iran. Hillary voted for a resolution calling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Here's Cillizza:

Clinton was concerned enough about the hits she was taking from Obama and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) to send out a mailing seeking to put her vote in context. Obama, on the other hand, knows his Iran attack isn't an entirely clean blow (he skipped the vote, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, an Obama endorser, voted with Clinton) but sees it as an opening -- at long last -- to tie Clinton's vote in favor of the 2002 use of force resolution against Iraq to the future of American foreign policy.

Very interesting. This is definitely an opening for Obama in my opinion. Hillary has to be hawkish on military issues for the sake of the general election. Being a woman running for Commander in Chief, she absolutely cannot give ground on supporting the military. We could very well bomb Iran before the end of Bush's term, and the rally-around-the-flag effect could swing things in an unpredictable way. Hillary wants the option of supporting an Iran bombing if it comes to it. Hillary cannot look weak. She cannot be portrayed as an anti-military liberal. She really had no choice on the vote.